Troy, NY – Troy Foundry Theatre’s Half-Baked Festival of Emerging Work launches in Troy, NY on June 14, 2023. This is the first year for the city-wide theatrical fringe festival produced by Troy Foundry Theatre, and it will run for seven days across several venues in Troy, NY including The Arts Center for the Capital Region, The James L. Meader Little Theater at Russell Sage College, Alias Coffee and The Studio Troy. The festival will highlight some of the in-process Troy Foundry Theatre projects selected for the 2023 TFT Company Creation Initiative, as well as other selected submissions from artists outside the company. The pieces presented at Half-Baked will all be in some stage of the development process and will benefit from public consumption as a part of that process. Full festival passes can be purchased and admission at the door is $20 (sliding scale) for each individual event.

TICKEING INFORMATION:
Full Festival Pass: $65 (plus online fees)
Single Tickets: Available at the door for $20 each (we will operate on a sliding scale). CASH OR VENMO ONLY.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
Wednesday, June 14
6:00pm
Child(ren)
at The Arts Center of the Capital Region, Black Box (265 River Street, Troy, NY 12180)

8:30pm:
Foundry F*cks with Farce
at The Arts Center of the Capital Region, Black Box (265 River Street, Troy, NY 12180)

Thursday, June 15
8:00pm
In Camera
At Alias Coffee (219 4th St, Troy, NY 12180)

Friday, June 16
8:00pm
Elected Remains
by Leah Barker
directed by Yvonne Perry
At The Arts Center of the Capital Region, Black Box (265 River Street, Troy, NY 12180)

Saturday, June 17
5:00pm
Child(ren)
at The Arts Center of the Capital Region, Black Box (265 River Street, Troy, NY 12180)

8:30pm:
My Soul is in Command
created and performed by Bob Carlton
at The Arts Center of the Capital Region, Black Box (265 River Street, Troy, NY 12180)

Wednesday, June 21
6:00pm
In Camera
at Alias Coffee (219 4th St, Troy, NY 12180)

8:00pm
Foundry F*cks with Farce
At Meader Little Theatre, Russell Sage College

Thursday, June 22
7:00pm
Room Rituals
At The Studio (2213 5th Ave Troy, NY 12180)

8:30pm
Picnic Among Tall Grasses/A Patch of Grasses (working title(s))
by Matt Sekellick

directed by David Girard
James L. Meader Little Theater, Russell Sage College (65 First St. Troy, NY 12180)

Friday, June 23
8:00pm
Hard Candy and Misdemeanors
by Cris Eli Blak
directed by Angelique Powell
At The Arts Center of the Capital Region, Black Box (265 River Street, Troy, NY 12180)

Saturday, June 24
6:30pm
CLOSING FESTIVAL PARTY at 518 Craft

PROJECTS DESCRIPTIONS:

Child(ren)
*A TFT Company Creation Initiative project
Kristoph DiMaria: lead artist, Troy Foundry Theatre
Kelly Artis: lead artist, Troy Foundry Theatre
Connor Armbruster: lead artist, Troy Foundry Theatre
Nina Schwartzman: re/source/search, participant, social media
Yi Zhou: re/source/search, participant
Michael A. Lake: performer, collaborator
Jennifer Kotary: re/source/search, participant

Child,
This is not a performance. It is
Theatrical experience. Intervention. Exploration.
Conflagration. Appreciation. De-escalation.
Ovation. Standing up. Empathy.
Movement. Dance. Feeling. Thinking. Sharing.
With us. For each other. For yourselves.
~ (Ren)

Child(ren) asks us to consider the origins, experiences, and outcomes of our formational moments. We will engage you through the Canvas, the Fool, and the Hands. We will all have the opportunity to put something in, get something out, and discover together what Confucianism, clowning, dreams, trauma, and Internal Family Systems have to do with altruism and the child within. Breathe. Listen. Touch. See. Child(ren).

Foundry F*cks with Farce
*A TFT Company Creation Initiative project
Shayne David Cameris, lead artist, Troy Foundry Theatre
Raya Malcolm, lead artist, Troy Foundry Theatre

We here at Troy Foundry Theatre feel we are well versed in the realms of the challenging; the off-balance; the obscure; the serious. But we’re always learning and exploring. Forever adventuring. And in that vein it’s time for us to spelunk into lands unknown ...into the world…..of c o m e d y. Yes, you read that right. The Foundry is about to try their hand at full out, non stop, gut busting comedy. But we’re, of course, going to do it the only way TFT knows how...tear it apart and put it back together again. So yes, it’s going to be a farce. But it’s going to have you laughing in ways you never thought possible.

In Camera
*A TFT Company Creation Initiative project
Camryn Beck, Lead artist, Troy Foundry Theatre
Mitchell Johnson, lead artist
Amber Wheeler: actor/deviser

“When you wake up, I'm here. It's always been this way behind closed doors. The early morning light creeps through a window, and the cycle begins again. It's been so long since I've noticed a new day, but I think I remember the sun in your eyes. At least, I will until tomorrow. You can't remember a time when I wasn't there to hold you, to soothe your fears, to make everything better. I don't think I know where you end. I don't think I know where I begin. Isn't it breathtaking? Isn't it suffocating?”

In Camera is a new piece that explores codependency, perception, and our most private conversations. Created by Camryn Beck. Written and performed by Amber Wheeler, Mitchell Johnson, and Camryn Beck.

Room Rituals
*A TFT Company Creation Initiative project
Raya Malcom, lead artist, Troy Foundry Theatre
Ethan Botwick, lead artist, Troy Foundry Theatre
Connor Armbruster, lead artist, Troy Foundry Theatre
Emily Curro, lead artist, Troy Foundry Theatre

Room Rituals explores the intersection of the mundane and the magical in routines and rituals through movement and sound.

FEATURED SUBMISSIONS FROM INVITED ARTISTS

My Soul is in Command: a Tragi-Comic Musical Creep Show
Created and performed by Robert Carlton
My Soul Is In Command: A Tragi-Comic Musical Creep Show, is an exploration, via cabaret, of self loathing and the lies we tell ourselves. A one-man show created and performed by Robert Carlton.

Hard Candy and Misdemeanors
A new play by Cris Eli Blak
Reading directed by Angelique Powell
After making an impulsive, life-changing mistake that could have landed her behind bars, angry and troubled teen Lilly Brewer is forced to move in with her cousin, Roxanne, a young woman who has found herself owning and running a small-town convenience store called The Quickie Shop. Over the span of a single day we see the complicated lives and relationships, as well as the regrets and insecurities, of Lilly, Roxanne, the employees of The Quickie Shop, and a young man who, for some reason, won’t leave the store even after being caught stealing

Elected Remains
A new play by Leah Barker
Reading directed by Yvonne Perry
In Washington, Helen provides a unique service for wealthy collectors. Her clients crave the ultimate in Americana: the body parts of deceased politicians. Though expectations are high, there’s little that Helen can’t deliver. But when she receives an exceptionally disturbing request, her livelihood is put in jeopardy. A darkly comic fable conceived for our current political climate, ELECTED REMAINS examines the relics of an ailing nation.

Picnic Among Tall Grasses/A Patch of Grasses (working title(s))
A new play by Matthew Sekellick
Reading directed by David Girard
A Patch of Grass/Picnic Among Tall Grasses (working title(s)) begins with two people meeting in a public commons, which is enchanted by their growing love and the memory of a famous poet. This project began pre-pandemic, and with the peaks of the housing crisis still looming ahead it grew from being a little love story-cum-chamber play into something much more ambitious about the nefarious forces of big money real estate capital. The public space? It's soon to be privatized by a real estate broker who himself is under pressure from an unseen, malevolent presence. And he has h̶e̶n̶c̶h̶m̶e̶n̶ l̶a̶c̶k̶e̶y̶s̶ assistants. Can this burgeoning love survive the loss of the place where it began? To be determined! When the pandemic struck, I no longer had any idea how to resolve this story. But maybe I'll know by showtime in June! Maybe we'll figure it out together! The first scenes were sketched out at a TFT workshop, so bringing it back to Troy for development makes it full, or rather half, circle. Did I mention there's a poet? Or maybe there won't be a poet anymore. Let's find out.