| Project Title |
Apollinaire in the Park 2024
|
| Project Date |
2024-08-09
|
| Amount Requested Minimum |
$15,000.00
|
| Amount Requested Maximum |
$20,000.00
|
| Location of Project |
Chelsea Square
|
| Time of Project |
6:00-10pm
|
| Is this a recurring project? |
Yes
|
| If yes, what is the time period? |
August 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, and 17, 2024
|
| Expected number of attendees |
1000
|
| If a recurring project, number of attendees in prior years |
930
|
| Will your project utilize volunteers? |
Yes
|
| If yes, please estimate the total number of volunteers and the number of hours donated |
20
|
| Briefly describe your audience(s) and mission as an artist or organization. |
Apollinaire Theatre Company is Chelsea’s professional theatre. We create unique encounters with plays that inspire and entertain. Our programs -Teatro Chelsea, Apollinaire Play Lab, Apollinaire in the Park, Resident Artist Program- complement our production season and cultivate an ecosystem of artists of all ages and career stages in our home for adventurous art, the Chelsea Theatre Works.
Our varied programs serve Chelsea and Greater Boston. The target audience for Apollinaire in the Park is the community of Chelsea, and of Greater Boston—all ages. Teatro Chelsea amplifies Latin voices, culture, and talent in Chelsea, including engaging Chelsea's small-business community. The majority of our Apollinaire Play Lab students are Chelsea youth, with students also joining from neighboring communities. Our indoor season attracts audiences from across Greater Boston and includes a strong base of Chelsea patrons.
•Apollinaire in the Park brings the community together for the shared experience of theatre. For three weeks in August, together with Teatro Chelsea and the City of Chelsea, we produce FREE, bilingual, theatre. These thrilling adaptations of classics beckon the audience to follow the action through the streets and green spaces of downtown Chelsea as the play unfolds around them in both English and Spanish.
The Apollinaire Play Lab serves children ages 4-16. We offer a variety of classes including acting, dance, and visual art, as well as opportunities to perform in youth plays. Our scholarship program ensures that anyone can participate regardless of a family’s ability to pay. Play Lab youth will perform a play as part of the pre-show for two Apollinaire in the Park performances.
•Our professional indoor season is known for adventurous contemporary plays, regional premieres, and for breathing new life into classics. We are proud recipients of several Elliot Norton awards and IRNE awards.
• Teatro Chelsea is Apollinaire’s Latin artist led program, increasing arts access and equity in our community by producing Spanish language and bi-lingual theatre. Teatro Chelsea has a strong focus on Chelsea residents as both creators and audience, while also becoming a hub for Greater Boston Latin artists and audiences.
|
| Briefly describe the project that will take place. |
Written by Aeschylus 2,500 years ago, “The Suppliant Women” is a play about refugees, the struggles of women, and democracy. We will produce a new translation by David Greig adapted for modern audiences. We will work with our Teatro Chelsea program to create a bilingual adaptation of Greig’s script that can be easily understood by speakers of both English and Spanish.
“The Suppliant Women” tells the story of 50 sisters who flee their homeland to escape forced marriage. At the gates of the city of Argos, they plead for asylum with the King and face off with their would-be their husbands. The city must decide whether to take them in – taking the matter to a vote.
We chose this piece for several reasons:
-Direct community involvement! The play is designed to be performed by professionals and amateurs together. The Suppliant Women themselves are played by a large Chorus of community members.
-Its Themes. “The Suppliant Women” raises awareness of millennia-old injustices that persist to this day, while filling its performers and audiences with empathy and joy.
-Presenting in the heart of Chelsea, one of the few sanctuary cities in Massachusetts, amplifies the powerful humanitarian message of this play about asylum-seekers.
2024 marks our 4th summer presenting in Chelsea Square! We will again have a Beer Garden with seating to watch the 90-minute preshow while enjoying takeout from local eateries. Last summer we worked closely with the Chamber of Commerce to maximize the benefit restaurants would see from the shows. We cross-promoted with local restaurants including featuring them on our Instagram and Facebook and promoting express menus that they created for the event. We hope to do the same this summer!
The pre-show will feature performing artists such as musicians and poets. On August 16 and 17, Apollinaire youth will perform a play as part of the pre-show.
Apollinaire in the Park productions are directed by Apollinaire's Artistic Director Danielle Fauteux Jacques. The Dig Boston’s piece discussing 2022’s Apollinaire in the Park heralded Ms. Jacques as “One of the most creatively thrilling visionary directors working in New England today.”
|
| Outline how you plan to market your project and the timeline you intend to follow. In addition, outline the audiences you intend to reach (be specific). You may attach an additional document if necessary. |
Marketing begins in April and continues throughout the performance run. We use a three-pronged approach: reaching out to the community, to audience members, and to the media.
As the large Chorus for “Suppliant Women” will be comprised of local amateur performers, each performer will draw their own network of friends, family, and colleagues to the event. This will bring even more of the community together!
We use English and Spanish language print media, outreach through our community
partners/organizations, email, social media, cable TV, and radio programs to promote the
performances. We also market to our regular Apollinaire audiences, who span across the Boston Area. Additionally, our Teatro Chelsea program reaches out to their network of Latin artists and audiences.
Our goal with marketing is not only to bring audiences to performances, but to hype the community. We are very proud of our Chelsea roots and Apollinaire in the Park is a way for us to show off our city!
|
| What benefit(s) will this project bring to Chelsea and its residents? How do you expect to engage the community? |
This summer, the community takes the stage! Using the techniques of Ancient Greek theatre, Apollinaire will recruit and train local amateur performers to play the Chorus, which in essence is the main character of the play: the Suppliant Women.
By stripping away language and financial barriers, Apollinaire in the Park provides vital and equitable arts access. It also introduces folks not from Chelsea to our exciting community!
Apollinaire in the Park activates Chelsea Square in the evening promoting safety and driving foot traffic to area businesses while illuminating community assets, such as Chelsea’s arts scene (highlighted by the 90-minute pre-show in the Beer Garden), outdoor spaces, public art, and diverse dining.
Additionally, Apollinaire in the Park builds social capital. Theatre is an incredible engine of unity, empathy, and examination, three things any community needs.
The research report Cultural Ecology, Neighborhood Vitality, and Social Wellbeing—A Philadelphia Project states, “Over the years, we’ve discovered many connections between the arts and social wellbeing, some of them quite surprising. It turned out that the arts were associated with preserving ethnic and racial diversity in urban neighborhoods, lower rates of social distress, and reduced rates of ethnic and racial harassment. Perhaps most surprisingly, we found that the presence of cultural assets in urban neighborhoods was associated with economic improvements, including declines in poverty and increases in population” (Stern & Seifert, 2013).
WBUR wrote about 2023's Apollinaire in the Park production of "Hamlet:"
"The best part was watching the crowd, who danced together in the pre-show, squeeze together on the street to watch Shakespeare on a warm summer night as cars slowed down to see what was happening. Presenting art for free that the community can enjoy together feels like it gets to the heart of the communal power of theater."
|
| Are you partnering and/or collaborating with other organizations? If so, name the organization(s) and their role(s) in the project. |
We are partnering with the City of Chelsea, with MassDevelopment, and drawing on the community connections and expertise of our Teatro Chelsea program. In the past we have partnered with La Colaborativa, The Neighborhood Developers, and GreenRoots, among others. We hope to collaborate with important community organizations such as these for Apollinaire in the Park 2024 for audience building, to help gather feedback, and to reach out to community members who would like to be a part of the Chorus of Suppliant Women, or work on the production professionally or as volunteers.
|
| Acknowledgement of the Chelsea Heritage Celebrations Grant by the CCC is mandatory on all advertisement and promotions. How do you plan to accomplish this? Be specific. |
•Chelsea Cultural Council logo will be added to posters and postcards for the event.
•Heritage Celebrations Grant will be acknowledged on our website and in all programs for the 2022/23 season, as well as in all email promotions for Apollinaire in the Park.
•Announcement on our social media platforms.
|
| How will you measure the success/impact of this project? |
• Audience totals
• Audience feedback
• Number of community/business partners and depth of partnership
• Community/business partner feedback
• Increased participation in our other programs- Did families sign their children up for youth classes? Are patrons using the Card to Culture program to attend our indoor season at a discounted rate? Are local artists interested in renting our Black Box theatre/co-working space to develop their work? Have folks become involved in Teatro Chelsea?
|
| How will the project be modified if the entire amount is not awarded? Be specific. |
If the entire amount is not awarded, we would look at scaling back elements of the production or holding fewer performances.
|
| 1. Artists / Project Fees |
$76,100.00
|
| Description |
Artist Stipends for Lead Actors (4) , Chorus Actors (35-70), Director, Assistant Directors (2), Stage Managers (2), Assistant Stage Managers (6), Designers (3), Assistant Designers (6), Front of House/Audience Services (4), Choreographer, Music Directors (2), Musicians (2-3), Technical Director, Set & Prop Artisans; Project Administration, Rehearsal Venue Expenses, Rehearsal and Production Supplies, Staffing for Set-up, Park Cleaning, and Trash Removal nightly for Dress Rehearsals and Performances (Project stipends $500-$2000)
|
| 2. Food & Beverage |
$0.00
|
| Description |
n/a
|
| 3. Advertising |
$2,880.00
|
| Description |
On-line & Email Advertising, Postering & Direct Outreach
|
| 4. Facility Rental Fees |
$0.00
|
| Description |
n/a
|
| 5. Equipment Rental |
$4,500.00
|
| Description |
Staging (see in-kind)
|
| 6. Supplies / Decorations |
$10,000.00
|
| Description |
Staging (see in-kind)
|
| 7. Royalties |
$1,440.00
|
| Description |
Script & Music
|
| 8. Lodging |
$0.00
|
| Description |
n/a
|
| 9. Transportation |
$0.00
|
| Description |
n/a
|
| 10. Printing & Postage |
$6,000.00
|
| Description |
Postcards, Posters, Flyers, Street-Pole Banners
|
| 11. Merchandise Expense |
$0.00
|
| Description |
n/a
|
| 12. Security / Police Detail |
$6,000.00
|
| Description |
Police Detail (2 per performance), Security for Parking Lots under the Bridge (4 people 5+ hours per performance)
|
| 13. Insurance Cost |
$1,600.00
|
| Description |
1600
|
| 14. Permit / Fees |
$200.00
|
| Description |
200
|
| 15. Translation Fees |
$4,000.00
|
| Description |
Script, Promotional and Audience Materials
|
| 16. Other Expenses |
$6,000.00
|
| Description |
6000
|
| Total expenses |
$118,720.00
|
