The New Route Theatre
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PROVIDING PROVOCATIVE ORIGINAL, CUSTOM, AND ESTABLISHED PLAYS AND THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS.
New Route Theatre presents both new and established works that explore identity and the
nature of the human spirit. It proposes to develop a theatre that asks
questions, promotes discussion, and explores the individual's relationship to
community.
CALENDAR FOR THE 2011 ONE SHOT DEAL SERIES
PRESENTED IN CONJUNCTION WITH
EATON GALLERY
Mission Statement
To book a New Route Theatre production, e-mail Artistic Director Don Shandrow
or call him at 309-827-7330
THE NEW ROUTE THEATRE IS A MEMBER OF THE ILLINOIS THEATRE CONSORTIUM
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Author Barbie Docksteider discusses her work with audience members after NTR's presentation of excerpts from her book, And She Said |
| Praise for Send the Light |
"The play is outstanding!
The life changing impact of the rural electrification movement is artistically
displayed throughout the play. Along with the original music, the story line
allows you to feel the excitement, anticipation and dreams of those who so
desperately wanted the quality of life only possible through the modern miracle
of electricity."
N. Duane Noland, President/CEO Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives
"Send the Light accurately tells the energizing story of rural folks pulling together to bring electricity to the countryside. The story is well written, fascinating and historically accurate. The show's four actors put their heart and soul into Send the Light and they're temendous. And the music! Wow! the homespun blues/folk fusion sets the tone for the show and takes you back to the 1930s days before rural electrification. You've done a tremendous job with Send the Light and deserve every accolade that comes your way!"
Vice President/Operations
Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives
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Send the Light Described in Daily Pantagraph Feature on Play's Premiere:
[Don] Shandrow has fashioned an entire
theatrical work around the subject of rural America's electrification
during the 1930s, a time when most farms were still ending the day in
the black.
Literally.
Chores had to be finished on a
rigid timeline. Dangerous machinery couldn't be operated after sundown.
Everything that required clear vision ground to a halt.
Even
those farmers lucky to own a battery-operated generator ordered from
the Sears & Roebuck catalogue could only progress so far out of the
darkness.
Then along came Franklin D. Roosevelt's Rural
Electrification Administration (REA) to instigate the change that would
end up shining a perpetual light on America's heartland.
The
result of Shandrow's meditation, christened "Send the Light," is meant
to plug into the socially progressive folk-art style of the Federal
Theatre Project of the 1930s, not to mention the tradition of the same
era's Works Progress Administration (WPA) mural art.
Says
Shandrow, "I wanted that same kind of solid, muscular look and feel to
this -- a reality with a sense of the people and who they were.
"Send
the Light" is receiving its world premiere this month in a production
at the McLean County Museum of History. It's being staged by the
Illinois Theatre Consortium's New Route Theatre, which Shandrow heads
up as artistic director (the two-weekend run is at 7:30 p.m. April 20,
21, 27 and 28, and 2 p.m. April 22 and 29).
In Shandrow's words,
the play "is about the stories of those folks who decided to take
destiny into their own hands and organize rural electric cooperatives."
He
tells their saga via a four-actor cast (Rhys Lovell, Devon Lovell,
Irene Taylor, Brady James) and a succession of dramatic monologues with
a clear narrative arc.
"Send the Light" also boasts a strong
musical undercurrent, with original songs and lyrics by another
longtime fixture on the local theater front, Phil Shaw, who has been
crossing creative paths with Shandrow since their Illinois State
University days in the early '70s.
Feature written by Dan Craft. The full article is available at:
http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/04/17/go/doc461e50e25a729425237493.txt
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Rhys and Devon Lovell in "The Delineator"
Don Shandrow, Send the Lightplaywright and NTR Artistic Director |
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