The MW Theatre Company

�Reviews

-- - Artem M., Artistic Director of The New Enterprise Theater (Boston, MA) wrote:

      "The play is a rich and sometimes funny, intense and dramatic. Two hours passed as if 15 minutes. I wish I lived in New York so I could go and see it one more time. The production with a big cast, tons of equipment to run, film, light and sound, -- all working together in a perfect harmony -- is not a small achievment for the beginners.

      Zoo, by Manwelyan and Rotondi is a direct and compelling antithesis to Jean Paul Sartre's No Exit. As in the French existentialist's play, we encounter a realistic rendition of the surreal situation. But while the characters of No Exit illustrate the idea, that "hell is other peolpe", the Zoo characters make us think that "it is our inability to reach other people and share with them is what creates hell".

      Zoo presents 4 young new-yorkers, trapped in a subway car, where in front of those "others" they are confronted with videotaped images from their own lives. These people became unwilling guinea pigs of the experiment, that some mad scientists concocted to prove the "hell is other peolpe" pattern, and to sell their sensational results to the real-life-drama hungry media. Opposite to their expectations, the subjects are able to find the emotional exit out of the trap."

-- - Jillian W., Theater Critic for NYC Drama Now, wrote:

"The future is here. Stand clear the closing doors."

And at their closing begins the MW Theatre Company's debut production, Zoo. With a grounded cast, an integration of drama, film, sound design, movement, and a social consciousness, the fledgling company has done Mama Non-Profit proud.

Four New Yorkers, trapped in a subway car, become the unwilling guinea pigs of a scientific study of violence and human behaviour. The four are made to watch surveillanced video footage of their most harrowing moments. Their struggle to make sense of brutality is viewed not only by the scientists, but also by the nation, broadcast reality-sitcom style. The result is a mottle of the dramatic and pop culture, of Survivor-meets-Sartre.

As stated by foundresses Jessica Rotondi, Renee Benson, and Margarita Manwelyan, MW promotes "affordable and imaginative theatre which reflects the contemporary young American experience as it is influenced by current events." Through "multi-medium" productions, they seek to "make theatre as fast-paced and varied as popular entertainment." As MW questions the way in which the "media provides focus on problems rather than solutions..... by sensationalizing images of aggression," so Zoo celebrates action's unraveling of human isolation.

Co-written by Rotondi and Manwelyan, ZOO is fresh. The video clips, dialoguing voyeurism and the notions of "public" and "private," are a welcome device. Theatrically, it's just plain fun to watch the ensemble [as scientist and home viewers] watch the four watch themselves. Also interesting is the limitation of the subway car as contrasted with the circus media's limitlessness.

Individual work is of note. Haskell King's grounded, honest Caleb adds pointed realism to more dramatic moments. Jay Curtis' Philip is subtly nuanced, particularly effective onscreen. Alva French blows the bellows for a fiery Tanya, while Margarita Manwelyan plays Maureen with fragility. The ensemble, tripling as toddler or talk show host or tycoon, is a romp. Kara Zeigon's minimal set skillfully highlights the actors. Rotondi directs with completeness.

Zoo attests that art is hope, and hopes that solutions can be imagined through art.
Go West, young company, and best of luck.

Zoo Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media contact:
Felami Burgess
(917) 568-6561

The Make It Work Theatre Company
Presents

Zoo
Written by Margarita Manwelyan & Jessica Rotondi
Directed by Jessica Rotondi


At
The New York International Fringe Festival
FringeNYC
A production of The Present Company


August 10th-26th
All Tickets: $12


In New York: (212) 420-8877
Outside of New York: 1-888-FringeNYC

New York, NY - August 2001 - The Make It Work (MW) Theatre Company, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to developing the original, often provocative, work of new, up-and-coming artists in staged "multi-medium" productions, is proud to present the release of the company's first original production, Zoo, at the 2001 New York International Fringe Festival.

Picture this: You are trapped... in the subway... suddenly a screen appears, showing surveillance recordings of the most intimate moments in your life... moments you'd never want to reveal and you'd just as soon forget. What would you do?

Modernizing the traditions of such socially thematic works as Jean Paul Satre's No Exit and Amiri Baraka's Dutchman, writers Margarita Manwelyan and Jessica Rotondi, demystify the emotional angst and travail of today's youth and effectively centralize the issues that presently confound them. Offering the audience, in the words of one reviewer, a "rich, intense and fascinating," yet oftentimes heart-breaking, view into the lives of four young strangers drawn into a warped experiment to quench an insatiable reality-based media frenzied public, in what Artistic Director and theatre reviewer of the New Enterprise in Boston calls, "a realistic rendition of the surreal situation," the central characters are brought together and confined to a New York City subway car where they are all at once forced to work out their grievances with themselves, each other and society at large.

Manwelyan and Rotondi, who, in addition to writing the script, co-founded MW Theatre Company, did so with the goal of modernizing the standard theatrical form in the need for theatre "to address a modern viewpoint" and "to reflect the current time." Both seem to agree that theatre, as it now stands, is in danger of dying out. Says Manwelyan, "The normative theatrical reality that is being generated today on Broadway is to simply revise and recycle what has already been done. In order for theatre to survive and flourish in an age of tremendous technological development, where audiences expect immediate stimulus, it is incumbent to theatre's survival that writers begin to incorporate such elements as cinematic footage, video and the Internet to keep the viewer engaged. It is our belief that text-based theatre alone is almost dead. Therefore, it is the ultimate goal of our company to reinvent and develop such new theatrical forms."

(For more information about Zoo or MW Theatre Company, please visit our website at www.mwtheatre.com.)

FOR RELEASE May 14, 2001

MW THEATRE ADDS MEDIA DIRECTOR TO ITS GROWING LINE-UP

New York, NY - Jessica Rotondi, Artistic Director of the New York-based Make It Work (MW) Theatre Company, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to producing innovative live theatre in multi-media form, today announced the appointment of Felami Burgess to Director of Media Relations and Special Events.

Ms. Burgess, who holds an honors degree in theatre from New York University�s Tisch School of the Arts, will head up promotions for the company's newly founded special events division within their PR Department. She will be in charge of establishing and maintaining press contacts, liasoning with the media and theatrical community and creating and organizing special events for the company.

"We are extremely delighted to have Felami on board with us in this capacity. She brings a multitude of artistic and professional objectives that are perfectly aligned with the mission of this company," stated Ms. Rotondi. "With the rapid advancement of our professional staff, we believe that MW is well poised to become one of the premier theatre companies for emerging artists in New York and beyond."

Prior to joining MW, Ms. Burgess did professional PR for an entertainment PR firm here in the city; most recently, helping to direct the public relations and marketing campaign for a major product launch for a Paris-based design firm. She also spent two years as recruiter. First, working as a legal search consultant, before moving on to work as a senior associate for an executive search firm that specialized in the placement of top tier management consultants into senior level industry positions. While in college, she worked as a literary assistant for the Women�s Project & Productions, an Off-Broadway theatre company dedicated to producing new works by and about women. Since receiving her degree, Ms. Burgess has appeared in four Off-Broadway stage productions and three feature films. This fall, she can be seen in acclaimed writer/director Robbie McCauley of SALLY'S RAPE (1992 Obie Award winner for "Best New American Play") and former STOMP cast member, Kamal Sinclair Steele's original ensemble production at the Grand Street Theatre.

"I am thrilled to have been embraced by this wonderfully talented community of artists who have made it their mission to deliver evocative and thoughtful theatre into the lives of ordinary people in the hopes of transcending whatever beliefs and concepts existed before+ I have every confidence that MW will continue to pave the way for new forms of theatre to emerge and develop."

Make It Work Theatre Company was founded in September of 1999 in New York City. It is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to bringing its audience affordable and imaginative live theatre that reflects the contemporary American experience of young adults as impacted by current events. MW is the first theatre company of its kind to exclusively produce original works in "multi-medium" form, combining cinematic elements with the standard theatrical forum.

FOR RELEASE April 23, 2001

MW THEATRE CO. EXPANDS, BRINGS IN MARKETING PRO

New York, NY - The Make It Work (MW) Theatre Company, which is dedicated to advancing the work of emerging artists in "multi-media" theatre productions, recently announced the hiring of marketing professional, Geoffrey Partel, to lead the company's marketing effort in the Northeast.

"We are in a growth mode," shared company co-founder and Director of Public Relations, Renee Benson, speaking on behalf of her co-creators, Jessica Rotondi and Margarita Manwelyan. "With the amazing success of our first multi-media production, "Zoo," we now have an eye on the future of the company, and that includes increasing our exposure through a directed marketing initiative. We are very pleased to have Geoff at the helm of it."

As MW's Director of Marketing, Mr. Partel, will be largely responsible for strategizing, developing and driving the creative process behind the company's professional imaging. In his three short weeks with the company, he has already devised a comprehensive marketing agenda that he assures will quickly put MW on the map by guaranteeing dramatic exposure throughout the Northeastern United States with the eventual aim of pushing its visibility westward.

"My plan is to call swift, effective attention to the projects that are currently being developed by the company and on the company as a whole, in such areas as; New York, Boston, Philadelphia and D.C., thus advancing our artistic mission and garnering further financial and artistic support in the Northeast, starting in New York. Once firmly established here, we will then extend our efforts to increasing our presence out west in the Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles theatre and film communities."

Mr. Partel, a native of Washington, D.C., graduated from the University of Denver with a degree in Mass Communications in 1992. He recently relocated to New York City, where MW is headquartered. He brings with him a breadth of artistic and business experience. His diverse career has included: writing and executing stories for the highly acclaimed Washington, D.C., "11 O'Clock Show," which has received favorable reviews from both the Washington Post and City Paper (D.C.'s equivalent to New York City's the "Village Voice.") He has done sales and marketing for two hi-tech start-up companies, one of which later went public. Additionally, he worked for an advertising agency out of New York helping to drive the marketing and PR campaigns behind several major product launches, including Johnson & Johnson and Welch's. Mr. Partel has appeared in nine feature films and several plays. He can be seen this summer in the theatrical production, Tea Leaves, running July through early August at the John Houseman Theatre.

Make It Work Theatre Company was founded in September of 1999 in New York City. It is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to bringing its audience affordable and imaginative live theatre that reflects the contemporary American experience of young adults as impacted by current events. MW is the first theatre company of its kind to exclusively produce original works in "multi-media" form, combining cinematic elements with the standard theatrical forum.

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