9 minute read
THE 2021 HUMANA FESTIVAL
Actors Theatre of Louisville is an arts and culture organization as social enterprise, sharing experiences centered in a commitment to create a more just society. In pursuing this synthesis of art and service, we’ve taken a deep dive into digital production and have become an interdisciplinary laboratory for a storytelling (r)evolution.
The Humana Festival of New American Plays has always been about bringing together extraordinary artists and expanding the possibilities of form and content, and in that spirit, this year we’re transforming our annual celebration of world premieres into a 2021 virtual exhibition of new work and emergent technologies.
Adding to our growing library of digital experiences, we’ll be rolling out projects that seek to transport audiences into surprising, previously unimagined story worlds where you can journey with a powerhouse blues singer or with history-making athletes through virtual and extended reality, immerse yourself in an interactive video game that unfolds in four historic time periods, jam at an R&B concert in a virtual pub and supper club, join a community built online over email and ZoomOSC, and more.
Actors Theatre of Louisville’s unique creative innovation partners in this laboratory include narrative technology company Wolf 359; the Louisville-based game development studio Two Scoop Games; nurse, dancer, and Artistic Director Tara Rynders of The Clinic; and Crux Cooperative, a Black-led home for artists working in extended reality.
These remarkable collaborators, hailing from our home state and around the globe, share the aim of building new bridges across disciplines and communities. By bringing them together with many other formidable talents, Actors Theatre of Louisville is investigating how the intersection of art, civic discourse, liberatory practices of anti-oppression, and emergent technologies can aspire to bring about socioeconomic transformation, abundance, and prosperity in comprehensive health and wellness outcomes, through an investment in holistic human-centered service and creative artmaking.
Humana Festival projects will become available on a rolling basis over the coming months, and tickets for several offerings can be reserved now at ActorsTheatre.org. Read on to learn about all the upcoming experiences that are part of this innovative virtual exhibition.
BLOCK ASSOCIATION PROJECT
APRIL 20-MAY 1, 2021 Written by Michael Yates Crowley, Directed by Michael Rau, Created by Wolf 359 Welcome to the Oak Street Block Association, a group of neighbors fired up to work for the common good — if anyone can agree on what that means. Join our inaugural Zoom meeting and participate in neighborhood decisions in this funny, thought-provoking look at what makes a community, and what breaks it.
Tickets are available for purchase at ActorsTheatre.org. This is a live, interactive online event and space is limited, so sign up soon to reserve your spot.
THE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING COMPANY PROJECTS
APRIL 16-MAY 31, 2021 Created by the 2020-21 Actors Theatre of Louisville Professional Training Company This collection of boldly imaginative short pieces is the culmination of the Professional Training Company’s season spent learning how to create, film, edit, and produce their own work. The dynamic range of material — by turns satirical, meditative, and uncanny — illuminates the many ways we
Actors Theatre of Louisville's Professional Training Company. Photo courtesy of Actors Theatre.
interpret and communicate with the world around us through our senses.
Visit ActorsTheatre.org to reserve free tickets to stream The Professional Training Company Projects.
Watch for dates to be announced for the following projects:
STILL READY
Created and performed by Christina Acosta Robinson and Ken Robinson, Directed by Robert Barry Fleming, Commissioned by Actors Theatre of Louisville They met as acting students in graduate school, got married, and became parents. He writes songs, she’s a poet and visual artist, and both have navigated careers as Black performers on the Great White Way. This music-filled, three-part docuseries shares the creative partnership between the Robinsons, in love for more than a decade and still surprising each other all the time.
LOUISVILLE SESSIONS: FULL JAM
Featuring Tiny Tiny, Chanson Calhoun, Bridge 19, Kiana & the Sun Kings, Sasha Renee, Tez of 2Deep, JonJohn, Coyia, and more From bluegrass to hip hop to rock to jazz, Kentucky’s rich musical traditions have energized a wildly diverse range of contemporary recording artists. Louisville Sessions is a new series that celebrates the vast sound, feel, and artistry of our state, featuring local musicians responding to the current moment through an original song and video. Tune in to watch the entire compilation of sessions from these extraordinary artists.
The individual Louisville Sessions that have been released to date are available to watch at ActorsTheatre.org.
ALI SUMMIT
Written by Idris Goodwin, Directed by Robert Barry Fleming, Produced in collaboration with Crux Cooperative, Commissioned by Actors Theatre of Louisville In 1967, nobody could doubt the athletic strength of boxing champ Muhammad Ali. But what about the strength of his convictions? Inspired by the summit of prominent Black sports figures who questioned Ali about his conscientious objection to military service, this virtual project is a collaboration between playwright Idris Goodwin, director Robert Barry Fleming, and the extended reality storytellers and immersive artists of Crux Cooperative.
BEYOND THE CROSSROADS
Created by Candrice Jones and Ruffin, Produced in collaboration with Crux Cooperative, Commissioned by Actors Theatre of Louisville In this interactive adventure from the minds of playwright Candrice Jones and creative media technologies thought leader Ruffin, you can help a young blues singer chart her own path and liberate the music that’s in her heart. It’s a branching narrative journey that springs from the collaboration between two remarkable Black women, both innovative thinkers in their respective fields.
PLAGUE DOCTOR: CONTAGION 430 BCE–2020 AD
A video game developed in partnership with Two Scoop Games, Game design by Alex Bezuska, Story by Robert Barry Fleming and Jenni Page-White Athens, 430 BCE. Marseille, 1720. Philadelphia, 1918. Louisville, 2020. Four cities, each contending with a deadly epidemic capable of unleashing profound social, political, and cosmic upheaval. In this new interactive video game, explore the fault lines and inequities exposed by these monumental public health crises — and with the help of a mysterious stranger, race against time to control the outbreaks for the sake of humanity.
THE CLINIC
Artistic Director and Founder: Tara Rynders Actors Theatre of Louisville is developing a partnership with nurse and dancer Tara Rynders, Artistic Director of The Clinic, to support nurses in our region and help strengthen community within the healthcare profession. Through immersive experiences and resiliency moments that counteract compassion fatigue and burnout, this work creates space for frontline healers to rediscover the joy of caring for another human being.
THE KENTUCKY CENTER FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE
PRESENTS CELEBRATING WOMEN OF EXCELLENCE, CHARACTER, COURAGE, COMMITMENT
MARCH 1, 2021 KCAAH.ORG
CELEBRATING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN FROM KENTUCKY AND THEIR EXTRAORDINARY CREATIVITY, DETERMINATION, AND TENACITY. KCAAH WILL RECOGNIZE AND HONOR 24 WOMEN FEATURING BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION ABOUT THESE WOMEN ON KCAAH’S WEBSITE: WWW.KCAAH.ORG.
ALBERTA JONES • ALICE DUNNIGAN • ANNA CLARKE • AUDREY LOUISE GREVIOUS • BERTHA WHEDBEE • EFFIE WALLER SMITH • ELEANOR YOUNG LOVE • GEORGIA DAVIS POWERS • GRACE MARILYNN JAMES • HELEN HUMES • HELEN LAFRANCE ORR • JANE ROBERTA SUMMERS • MAE STREET KIDD • MARILYN YARBROUGH AINSWORTH • MARY ANN FISHER • MARY BRITTON STRIP • MARY CUNNINGHAM SMITH • MARY MERRITT • MURRAY ATKINS WALLER • NANCY GREEN • NANNIE HELEN BURROUGHS • NELLIE CONLEY • SARA MARTIN • WILLA BROWN CHAPPELL
BOURBONS BISTRO
Celebrating Kentucky's Native Spirit
by G. Douglas Dreisbach
Charcuterie Board Filet of Beef
Bourbons Bistro 2255 Frankfort Avenue BourbonsBistro.com 502-894-8838
Located on Frankfort Avenue among an array of fantastic eateries, you will find Bourbons Bistro, a one-of-a-kind restaurant that celebrates Kentucky’s native spirit. While the name may lead you to think you need to be a bourbon connoisseur to step into the restaurant, that is far from true. Owners John Morrison and Jason Brauner were on the forefront of Louisville's love affair with the popular spirit, and after 16 years, they continue to offer a dining experience that rivals any in the area with a wine and bourbon selection that is second to none.
Led by Executive Chef Jereme McFarland, the seasonal menu offers a variety of Southern-inspired flavors from seafood and vegetarian dishes to their fantastic filet and steak frites.
Grilled Chilean Salmon
APPETIZERS
Appetizers include the Garlic & Goat Cheese Spread ($10), a Charcuterie Board ($20) served with artisan cheeses and cured meats with French bread, fig and almond cookie, whole grain mustard, pepperoncini and olives, and you can’t go wrong with the Knob Creek Maple Bacon Wings ($9) glazed with a housemade maple bourbon BBQ sauce and chopped bacon that is out of this world.
ENTREES
Popular main dish selections include a grilled Chilean Salmon ($27) served over a butternut squash risotto, dried cranberries, pepitas, and crumbled goat cheese; Filet of Beef ($43) topped with sage brown butter and a balsamic reduction, herb and parmesan fingerling potatoes, and jumbo asparagus; and the Bourbon’s Burger ($18) served on a brioche bun with brie cheese, tomato jam, greens, pink peppercorns, honey, house cut fries tossed in herbs and parmesan. If you are a pork chop connoisseur, the Bourbon Chop ($26) just might be the best in the city, and there is a lot of competition in this category. The 12 oz. Frenched, bone-in pork chop is wrapped in prosciutto and topped with Asadero cheese and a bourbon veal demiglace, Yukon mashed potatoes, and garlic haricot verts.
DESSERT
Save room for dessert! House-made favorites include Chocolate Cake ($9), Apple Cake ($9), and the famous Bourbon Bread Pudding ($8) made with a custard soaked bread, bourbon caramel, and dried dark cherries soaked in bourbon syrup.
BOURBON
When it comes to bourbon, for a taste of the “brown water,” choose from over 130 labels including Bourbon Bistro’s own private-barrel selections as well as some of the most soughtafter brands in the world. Also be sure to check out the Flight of the Month, a rotating selection of interesting bourbons. It’s a great way to sample something new.
HOURS OF OPERATION:
Tuesday-Thursday 4:30 p.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday 4:30-11 p.m. Daily happy hour from 4:30-7 p.m., featuring $4 off appetizers, $3 off bourbon, $2 off wine. and $2 off bottled beer
Reservations are available through OpenTable and at BourbonsBistro.com or by calling (502) 894-8838.
