THEATRE + COMEDY

DiverseWorks is proud to partner with Stages Repertory Theatre and Pick Up Performance Co(S.) to present the premiere of award winning writer, director and actor Ain Gordon's The Storm Show, a fictional account of a lone woman and her unbreakable bond with the devastating Galveston hurricane that decimated the Texas island in 1900, taking the lives of 6,000 in a single night.

She appears with little more than a glass and pitcher of water to tell her tale of the storm, and unravels with it the shocking truth behind her experiences of presidential corruption, pubescent despair, patriotic fervor, pre-marital passion, and otherwise unfortunate fits of writer’s block. Performances are June 4-6, 10-13 with Wednesday & Thursday performances at 7:30pm and Friday & Saturday performances at 8pm at Stages Repertory Theatre.

“We had committed to presenting this show in February of 2008, thinking that this show had a great potential to resonate with our audiences. Little did we know then, how personal the resonance would become,” stated Co-Executive Director Sixto Wagan. “The play is not just about the loss and devastation one feels after a storm, but also about the great change that was happening in the turn of the century – change that seems awfully similar to this moment in US history.”

“Additionally, this project seemed to have great potential in the collaboration with Stages Theatre. We have wanted to do a project that made sense to both of our audiences, and this work fits that bill. It’s a new, text-based work that capitalizes on the strengths of both organizations. We hope that we can build on this experience to expand the possibilities of theater and performance for all of our audiences.”

ABOUT AIN GORDON
While browsing at a flea market one day in 2004, Ain Gordon discovered The Galveston Flood, a book by M. Halstead published in 1900. He became fascinated with the “disaster book,” a literary genre which sensationally covered large and small disasters in early 20th Century America. These massively popular books covered everything from The Great Chicago Fire (1871) and the San Francisco earthquake (1906) to the sinking of the Lusitania (1915). The Storm Show imagines the one woman in this male-dominated field, and tells the story from her prospective, privileged in position, as well as disappointed in middle age, a once-popular artist in a culture devoted to youth as well as forgetting.

Gordon has been writing and directing since 1984. He is a three-time Obie Award-winning writer/director/actor, a two-time NYFA Fellow; and a John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellow in Playwriting. His most recent play, In This Place …, was produced in NYC by 651ARTS, opening their 20th anniversary season. Over the years, his work has been commissioned and toured all over the country. Gordon has also appeared in the Off-Broadway run of Spalding Gray: Stories Left To Tell, and has written for NBC’s “Will & Grace.” He has been Co-Director of the Pick Up Performance Co(S.) since 1992.

ABOUT DIVERSEWORKS Known for its groundbreaking artistic and education programs, DiverseWorks is one of the premiere contemporary arts centers in the United States. DiverseWorks has been a hub for the presentation of daring and innovative work, a commissioner of major artistic projects in all disciplines, and an advocate for artists worldwide. Founded by artists for artists, DiverseWorks continues its commitment to bold artistic exploration, creative risk-taking, and building audiences for contemporary art.

FUNDING CREDITS: Programming for the DiverseWorks’ 2008-2009 season is generously supported by: The Art Guys*;The Brown Foundation Inc.; CEC ArtsLink; Barbara Friedel McKnight & Catering by Culinaire; Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts; Cindy Bishop & David Donnelly; Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; HousEndowment Inc.; Jamail Foundation; KUHF (88.7 FM); Meet the Composer; Mid-America Arts Alliance; Nathan Sommers Jacobs & Gorman; National Dance Project; National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency); National Performance Network; Nightingale Code Foundation; Nimoy Foundation; Nonprofit Finance Fund; Origin Design; Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation; Louisa Stude Sarofim Foundation; Beth Secor*; Texas Commission on the Arts; Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation; The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; Lillian H.& Bob Warren; The Wortham Foundation, Inc.; DiverseWorks Major Donors and DiverseDonors. *In-Kind Donations