A new ATCA program: ATCA-OH18

A new ATCA program: ATCA-OH18

We’re thrilled to invite ATCA members and their guests to a regional ATCA weekend in Cincinnati, March 10 (or 9-11).

It is designed to offer a more intimate and immersive experience than the national conferences, with a lesser cost, travel, and time commitment. It is ideal for those whose work schedules and budgets are tight but who want to engage with fellow ATCA members, expand their professional horizons, see some terrific theatre, and have fun in the process.

The program is open to twenty members and their guests. The cost is only $30 for members and $40 for either guests (one guest per member limit) or prospective ATCA members. Lunch on Saturday is included. There may be some additional transportation costs.

If you need hotel accommodations, a special rate of $119 per night including a free breakfast buffet is available at SpringHill Suites Midtown Cincinnati. It’s a quick drive to the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park as well as to the three theaters in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood that will be the focus of the weekend. Click here to make your reservation by February 9, 2018.

Here’s what organizers Lou Harry and Rick Pender have planned:

 FRIDAY, MARCH 9 (Optional)

• 7:30 PM: Performance of Othello at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. 
• 10:30 PM: Post-show social time.  Location TBA.

SATURDAY, MARCH 10

• 9:00 AM: Registration at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company.
• 9:30 AM:  Welcome and ATCA update followed by a panel on Cincinnati theatre led by Rick Pender, theatre critic for Cincinnati CityBeat and past ATCA chair, with guest David Lyman, Cincinnati Enquirer stringer for theater and dance. 
• 10:30 AM: Tour of Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s brand new theater.
• 11:00 AM: Pizza buffet lunch for conference and panel participants.
• 11:45 AM: Shakespeare panel with Terri Bouris (general editor, The New Oxford Shakespeare), Brian Isaac Phillips (producing artistic director, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company), and Patrick Flick (executive director, Shakespeare Theatre Association). Open to the public by invitation.
• 1:30 PM: Tour of the newly expanded Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati. 
• 2:00 PM: Critical Ethics in Practice | A round-table participatory exploration of ethical issues in theatre journalism modeled on the Fred Friendly Seminars. Facilitated by Lou Harry, A&E editor for the Indianapolis Business Journal, ATCA Executive Committee member and New Plays Committee chair.
• 4:00 PM: Performance of the world premiere of Deborah Zoe Laufer’s Be Here Now at the Tony Award-winning Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. 
• 7:30 PM: Performance of Lolita Chakrabarti’s Red Velvet at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, a play about the first actor of color to play Othello.
• 10:00 PM: Casual nightcap gathering near theater. Location TBA

SUNDAY, MARCH 11 (Optional)

• 1:30 PM: Casual session.
• 3:00 PM: Performance of James Ijames’ Kill Move Paradise at Know Theatre. 

That’s two-to-four plays plus programming for $30 – and folks in the region can drive in and drive out in a day if you like.  Of course, if you have friends or family in Ohio’s Queen City, you can keep the cost down by staying with them!

Looking forward to seeing you in Cincinnati. You can register and pay online by clicking on the link below. (You do not have to have a PayPal account in order to register.) Please email Lou Harry or Rick Pender with any questions about ATCA-OH18 conference details.

REGISTER HERE