The Awareness Project

What is it?

The Awareness Project is an online initiative intended to raise...awareness...of one of New York City's most enagaging cultural attractions, Off-Off Broadway, also know as Indie Theatre. We are thrilled to include the Awareness Project as part of our documentary Burning to Communicate.. The documentary traces the the development of the revolutionary Off-Off Broadway scene in NYC. We are exploring the creative question through archival footage and firsthand interviews with those there at the beginning and who currently create independent theater.

What's Up Next?

In addition to posting videos, we'll be adding resources, pictures and exclusive excerpts from our interviews, so check back often.

 

What is Off-Off Broadway?

We weren't very surprised that not many people could define Off-Off Broadway. It is a dynamic cultural experience that is always changing. What surprised us was that even many native New Yorkers don't take more advantage of this exciting form of entertainment.

Each year there are nearly 1,000 shows mounted in the New York City area alone. This includes musicals, straight plays, solo performances, and performance art.

What is Off-Off Broadway? :: Lower Manhattan

Click to watch some of the answers we received.

Define Creativity

Something from nothing. Taking what the universe has presented you and rearranging it into something new.

Society is in the midst of change. Change causes many to experience a sense of alienation and purposelessness. We have two choices: either to withdraw and panic, or to develop the courage to create a better society. — Rollo May, The Courage to Create

Define Creativity :: Lower Manhattan



Click to watch some of the answers we received.

Can you Define the Term 'Black Box'?

Theatre as a concept is not about the building in which it is performed or even the play or the text. Theatre is defined by its purpose for existence, and by how that purpose manifests. — Peter Brook,The Empty Space

What does the term 'Black Box' mean to you? :: Lower Manhattan



Click to watch some of the answers we received.

 

Shining a Light on Off-Off Broadway

November 13, 2010

The Wall Street Journal by Amy Zimmer

Filmmaker and Playwright's Documentary Is Center of Project to Bring Awareness to Often Overlooked Theater Scene

Each year, an estimated 350 Off-Off Broadway theater companies spend more than $30 million producing some 1,700 shows. Yet, when Frank Kuzler stopped to ask people on the streets of Lower Manhattan last weekend whether they had even heard of Off-Off Broadway, few had any clue.

Read the full article here...

   

DecadesOut Adds Two New Board Members

Jan Rozenveld, Sue Torres Join Board of Directors of DecadesOut Arts Organization

DecadesOut, Inc., a nonprofit organization that develops and promotes programs that examine the intersection of the arts and science, has named a pair of high-visibility members to its board of directors.

Jan Rozenveld, managing director at the Ace Hotel, and Sue Torres, owner and executive chef at Sueños restaurant in Chelsea, have joined the board as the group moves into its second year. They will contribute to the direction of the organization and provide comments on new projects and programs.

"It's exciting to have input from a pair of such successful, connected New Yorkers as Jan and Sue," said Frank Kuzler, executive director, DecadesOut, based in lower Manhattan. "They provide a valuable combination of artistic sensibility and business sense, and we believe they will play an important role in shaping and building DecadesOut in the years to come."

Read more: DecadesOut Adds Two New Board Members

   

Recent News

  • Lanford Wilson Honored with the 2010 NYIT Award for Artistic Achievement

    September 2010

    Lanford Wilson is considered one of the founders of the Off-off Broadway theater movement. Wilson began his active career as a playwright in the early 1960s at the Caffe Cino in Greenwich Village, writing one-act plays such as Ludlow Fair, Home Free!, and The Madness of Lady Bright.

    Watch the video!

     
  • Dixon Place: A NYC Home for Experimental Theatre

    Dixon Place Honored with the 2010 NYIT Foundation Stewardship Award

    Dixon Place was founded in 1986 by Ellie Covan to provide a space for literary and performing artists to create and develop new works in front of a live audience, and it remains at the heart of the New York experimental performance scene. Taking risks is crucial to the life of Dixon Place, its artists and audiences.

    Watch the video!

     
  • Shining a Light on Off-Off Broadway

    November 13, 2010

    The Wall Street Journal by Amy Zimmer

    Filmmaker and Playwright's Documentary Is Center of Project to Bring Awareness to Often Overlooked Theater Scene

    Each year, an estimated 350 Off-Off Broadway theater companies spend more than $30 million producing some 1,700 shows. Yet, when Frank Kuzler stopped to ask people on the streets of Lower Manhattan last weekend whether they had even heard of Off-Off Broadway, few had any clue.

    Read the full article here...