March 1, 2001

 

 

Dear Ensemble Members:

 

It’s time to think about our 2001 Gathering.  I am pleased to invite you to attend a week-long conference at Camp Winnebago in Fayette, Maine (near Augusta), from Sunday, 27-Sunday, September 2, 2001, hosted by the Irondale Ensemble Project.

 

The primary purpose of the conference is to expand and deepen the conversation among ensemble theaters and artists, and to place  the work we are doing within a larger cultural context. We are inviting representatives of other fields and artistic disciplines to join us for all or part of the week’s events. People who talk about, write about and think about our culture and our society will be part of the NET mix.  You should be too! Don't let the conversation go on without you.

 

Once again we will use the techniques of "Open Space Technology," a free-form process of interacting in which participants choose and form groups around issues they wish to discuss. Each day will include options for discussion, readings, performances, workshops or demonstrations.  We hope to move NET forward, by

picking up where last year’s conference left off and addressing new issues that have emerged during the course of the year: membership, touring, inter-ensemble collaboration and, of course, joint fundraising.

 

Daily activities will include:

·        Workshops led by various ensembles

·        Discussion and break out sessions about aesthetic, cultural, political and economic issues of concern to ensemble theaters and artists

·        Recreation and time to meet “on our own”

·        Evening showings of  “works-in-progress” from various ensembles

 

A tentative schedule is included with this letter; more definite plans will follow.

DURING LABOR DAY WEEKEND WE WILL PRESENT PUBLIC PERFORMANCES BY FOUR COMPANIES.  We'd love to do more, but we simply need to keep it within our producing infrastructure.


 

The conference is being produced by The Irondale Ensemble Project and is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, N.E.T. consortium conference fees, N.E.T. Company Matching Funds, Camp Winnebago, and other support being sought from foundations and individuals.  As of this writing, we have not received confirmation of NEA funding.  However we are hopeful that they will fund this year’s gathering as they have in the past. Contingency plans are being made to accommodate a gathering of some sort, even without NEA support.

 

Conference registration is $300 per person, and covers the following:

           

·        -“Bunkhouse” style lodging for 6 nights – bring a sleeping bag, but the camp has plenty of blankets, pillows, towels, bedding, etc. 

·        All meals – breakfast, lunch and dinner, beginning with dinner on Aug. 27 – breakfast on Sept.2, plus a daily “happy hour”.  Meals will be buffet style and vegetarians will be accommodated.

·        Children can be accommodated—day care will be provided if enough children come

 

Ensembles wishing to bring more than two members qualify for a discount.  After the first $600 each additional registration fee is $175 per person.  Children, are $100/for the week..

 

For those of us involved the work of ensemble theatre, this opportunity to meet and share with our peers is invaluable.  PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND PLAN TO COME! 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Terry Greiss

Irondale Ensemble Project

for the Steering Committee, Network of Ensemble Theaters

 

Encl.:   NET Manifesto

            Brief History of NET

            NET conference schedule

            Conference registration form

            Performance application form

           

FOR MORE INFO, CONTACT MARIA KNAPP AT  IRONDALE 1-718-488-9233.

 

PS  PLEASE NOTE:  YOUR RSVP BY MAY 30 IS NECESSARY IF YOU WISH TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR SUBSIDIZATION, SHOULD OUR FUNDING PERMIT.  If  you DO NOT RSVP by May 30, you may still attend the  conference as space permits.