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August 21, 2010
Show About the Atlantic Yards Finds a Home Near the Atlantic Yards
New York Times
By Erik Piepenburg
This announcement of a show based on the Atlantic Yards fight describes Atlantic Yards as "eight million square feet of apartments, offices, stores and an arena for the New Jersey Nets." The arena is under construction. Except for one or two residential towers, it looks like the rest of the project will just be acres of parking.
The downtown company the Civilians has announced that its new show, “In the Footprint: The Battle Over the Atlantic Yards,” will open in November at the Irondale Center, a theater space not far from the future home of that planned 22-acre development.
“In the Footprint” is a series of songs and monologues about the conflicts over the building of the $4.9 billion Atlantic Yards project near Brooklyn’s downtown that is to include eight million square feet of apartments, offices, stores and an arena for the New Jersey Nets. The show’s material is taken from interviews that members of the Civilians conducted with Brooklyn residents, community organizers, business owners and politicians who are either for or against the project. Performances are scheduled to begin on Nov. 12 and continue through Dec. 11 at the center at Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church in Fort Greene.
Related coverage...
The L Magazine, Atlantic Yards Musical In The Footprint Premiering in Fort Greene in November
ArtsBeat reports that documentary theater company the Civilians will premiere their show In the Footprint: The Battle Over Atlantic Yards this fall at the Irondale Center in Fort Greene, a few blocks from the titular mega-development. The show, which combines songs and monologues drawn from interviews with local residents, activists, business-owners, developers and politicians on either side of the fight over the in-progress project to build condos and a basketball stadium along Atlantic Avenue, will begin performances on November 12 and continue through December 11. Can't wait that long? The Civilians will perform songs from the show during a cabaret night at Joe's Pub on September 10. Either way, unfortunately, it appears to be too late.
Atlantic Yards Report, The Civilians' theater piece about Atlantic Yards will debut November 12
In December 2008, the theater troupe The Civilians, which bases its shows on interviews but doesn't quite produce documentaries, debuted Brooklyn At Eye Level, its first (and preliminary) show based on its look into the controversy and passions of the Atlantic Yards project.
I thought the show was well worth seeing, though it also had gaps. Starting in November, we'll see how much the story has been updated and how many of the gaps will be filled in.
Posted by steve at August 21, 2010 8:09 AM