Underground Railway Theater
are the distinguished recipients of the
2007 Massachusetts Alliance
for Arts Education Outstanding Artist-in-Residence Award!
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Underground Railway Theater (URT) was founded over 25 years ago in Oberlin, OH
(one of the Midwestern stops on the Underground Railroad), and is now based in
the Boston area. For over 25 years URT’s artistry has delighted audiences young
and old through the combination of acting, puppetry and music that explores
community concerns. The company is committed to presenting theater that
provokes discussion, builds bridges between people and reflects cultural
diversity.
URT
has toured nationally and internationally. National touring has brought the
company to fine art centers, theaters, community centers, and schools all over
the country. URT has enjoyed performances with most major symphony orchestras
in the country and their original puppet spectacles have been twice commissioned
by the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
URT
seeks to serve audiences in their hometown as well. The company produces the
annual Woman on Top Theater Festival of New Works by New England women theater
artists, offers teacher training workshops, in school and after school programs
for children and teens, and is in the process of opening a new theater facility
this year, in partnership with the award-winning Nora Theater Company, and in
collaboration with the City of Cambridge and the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.
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How Do You Spell Hope?
 Written
by Kennedy Center award-winning playwright Melinda Lopez, How
Do You Spell Hope? celebrates the power of reading and literacy. Hope weaves together three inspiring stories of courage and
compassion portraying obstacles people have overcome to learn to read.
Hope explores the historical
narratives of the great orator Frederick Douglass, a teenage star athlete who
overcomes dyslexia, and the struggles of a contemporary Hispanic immigrant
family. The set is a giant theatrical pop-up book and the turn of each page
reveals puppet stages, actor’s entrances, shadow puppet screens and much more.
Are You Ready, My Sister?
 Sister
is the story of Harriet Tubman, “great conductor” of the Underground
Railroad, and the Quaker women who helped her bring 300 slaves to freedom. This
historical adventure story features live music based on spirituals of the time,
dramatic scenes and audience participation. The
set is a giant patchwork quilt; as the story unfolds, each square of the quilt
comes to life with shadow puppets and painted backlit scenery.
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URT
offers workshops to teachers and students in a wide range of
theater-in-education topics, including:
Teaching
Critical and Creative Thinking Through the Arts
Multi-Disciplinary
Topics in the Arts: Entering Visual Art Through Theater, and Entering Music
Through Shadow-Puppetry
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Play-Making
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Shadow-Puppetry
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Masks
and Mime
Additionally,
study guides for Hope and Sister can be found by clicking the links below:
Please
contact Baylin Artists for
additional information. BACK
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Please
contact Baylin Artists for
technical information.
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