Amid the charged media coverage of Hurricane Katrina, little attention was paid to the process of rebuilding community arts education in New Orleans. The Katrina Project emerged out of the city's post-hurricane rubble to create theater opportunities for the local public schools.
For the final AU Players production of the year, the theater group will host a theater festival this weekend in the Katzen Arts Center Rotunda to support the Katrina Project. This will be the second year AU Players has raised money for this grassroots art education group. Department of Performing Arts faculty members Gale Sheaffer and Caleen Sinette-Jennings have been active in the organization's efforts.
"Theater creates new opportunities and perspective for all of us," said Ariana Hodes, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences and the outreach coordinator for AU Players. Hodes also spearheaded the festival. "Causes like this show students what theater really is," she said.
The festival will feature a staged reading of "The K Word," a post-production discussion and performances of 10-minute plays, as well as a Mardi Gras theme ball Sunday night.
Written by New Orleans' playwrights Lisa Brenner and Susan Trauth, "The K Word" tells the stories of Hurricane Katrina survivors through a series of vignettes. Director Mike Litchfield, a freshman in CAS, brings the play to life for this weekend's festival as a staged reading. The actors will perform with scripts and basic stage directions.
AU Players chose the piece because of its relevance, Hodes said.
"It's interesting to see a play that's so close to us," she said. "We already have a lens."
Both the festival and "The K Word" highlight the increased use of theater as a political tool.
"This production will speak to those who aren't necessarily theater people," Hodes said. "It asks the question of what role theater plays in our society."
AU Players sought to unravel the line between the real world and that depicted on stage.
"Theater has to evolve into something relevant," she said.
The festival begins Saturday at noon in the Katzen Rotunda, and the Mardi Gras ball will start Sunday at 7 p.m. Tickets for the festival are $10 and include entry to all of Saturday's events and lunch. Entry to the ball costs $5, or one can buy a ticket for all of the weekend's festivities for $12. All proceeds will benefit the Katrina Project.
You can reach this staff writer at agoldstein@theeagleonline.com.
