Let It Out
From Brendon Bates - Director, Project "Let It Out"
Full Circle Theatre Company is in the process of developing a new, innovative Outreach Program known as Project Let It Out! Project Let It Out! will eventually grow into an annual performing arts day camp in New York City, which will grant inner-city public school children of all ages the opportunity to take responsibility for their very own imaginations and, then, putting them into action. Each student in Project Let It Out! will receive a full scholarship to the camp, where they will work together in creating, writing, producing, and performing in their very own Story Theatre Production. Story Theatre is a style of performance wherein the text of a story is not only performed, but narrated as well.
As FCTC develops this community-oriented program, Brendon Bates, the Executive Director of Program Development, will lead a group of select associate members of FCTC into a public high school in the New York City Metro area (TBA), in which Brendon and his team will facilitate an afternoon of Spolin Games. The theatre games developed by the late Viola Spolin are the foundation of Brendon’s theatre training, as well as all the Associate Members of FCTC. This group of teachers will meet with these students once a week. Eventually, Brendon and the other teachers will guide the students through a process that includes the creation of an original play that incorporates the style of Story Theatre. Under Brendon’s guidance, the students will then write, produce, and perform in their very own original Story Theatre production that will be open to the public for a seven-night run. The Altman Building on West 18th Street in NYC, who is currently the host of our weekly Improv Shows, is kind enough to host the children’s show for a very reasonable rental fee that we are able to afford at this time. The generosity of such management will support us in developing Project Let It Out!
After Mayor Bloomberg's tax cuts last summer, it seems that the children of New York are in danger of missing out on opportunities in their creative education that jeopardizes their development as a youth. Our dream is that Full Circle Theatre Company will be able to provide a valuable education in the arts to inner-city children through Project Let it Out!
Through six years of teaching and directing experience, Brendon has developed a model for children which facilitates a creative process that leads to the creation of their own original play. We will apply this model, which has thus proven a success to "Let it Out!"
This is our obstacle: quite frankly, it takes finance to provide these children with such an opportunity. Because very few children in the New York City area specifically cannot afford such luxuries, someone needs to provide them. Brendon and his staff cannot do it on their own accord. We can, however, provide our expertise and devotion to this cause, and hope that we can receive some support in doing so.
Our goal is to raise $70,000 by December 15, 2003. We will use this funding to help further develop Project Let It Out! We wish to pay our instructors who are kind enough to volunteer at this time. We want to rent the space at the Altman Building for three straight weeks in the summer of 2004. The management at The Altman Building deserves the full rental fee for providing us with the support we need during the infantile stages of this program’s development. We want to provide a transportation service for our student. We want to have enough in our budget to purchase the materials the children need for their production. We want $1000 for the publicity of the production, which the children will take full responsibility for (under our guidance, of course). We want to provide one meal a day for the students and the faculty. These funds will also help us hire lawyers from New York City's "Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts", who can provide us legal guidance. We will also need $3,000 to purchase quality insurance. If you wish to view the projected budget for Project Let it Out! in the summer of 2004, you can e-mail Brendon at Brendon@FullCircleNYC.com. We have found a fiscal sponsor that will handle our funds. We’d like to emphasize that we are not doing this for personal financial gain or recognition. But something like this does require funding, which is where we arrive at these figures.
An organization called The Field will act as our fiscal sponsor until we are ready to incorporate. The Field is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization serving the New York City performing arts community. Contributions to artists through The Field are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. For more information about The Field, you may contact Jessica Reese Dessner by phone at (212) 691-6969 or email her at jessica@thefield.org. We also provide a link to The Field through our new website: fullcirclenyc.com.
All tax-deductible donations to Let it Out! need to be made through The Field. Please make checks out to The Field; in the bottom, left-hand corner of the check, earmark the donation to “Full Circle Theatre Company”. A visual aid of the appropriate check designation is attached to this document to eliminate confusion. Credit card donations can also be made on-line through the following websites: www.fullcirclenyc.com or www.thefield.org.
If you choose to donate to this wonderful project, please mail your check to the attention of Brian Mulcahy, Managing Director of FCTC, at:
Full Circle Theatre Company
42 Wayne Street, Suite #3
Jersey City, New Jersey
Any size donation will be valued, even your efforts or ideas. We can make this happen! Together, we can make a difference in New York City, and hopefully many summers to come.