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Synchronicity Performance Group (Atlanta, GA)
Founded in 1997, the Synchronicity Performance Group (SPG) of Atlanta, Georgia aims to support women artists, forge community partnerships, and develop new work for the theater. During SPG's premiere season, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution dubbed the company “a refuge where artists can take on challenging material and shape a production on their own terms.” As part of its community outreach program, the group conducts theater workshops at a local girls youth detention center and offers free and discounted tickets to low-income and refugee families and special-needs children. In FY 2004, SPG received an NEA Creativity grant of $8,000 to support Women + War, a community-based documentary theater project, in partnership with Refugee Family Services, around the impact of war. The project evolved as a response to the fact that more than 33,000 international refugees have moved to Atlanta over the past decade. Award-winning documentary filmmaker Carol Cassidy trained project participants in interview methods during a five-day workshop. Company members then developed the text for Women + War using interviews with nearly 50 women from the local community, including military personnel, human rights workers, refugees, journalists, and the families of Holocaust survivors. During the rehearsal process, SPG presented two public performances of Women + War and used audience feedback to refine the production. The finished theater piece debuted as part of the group's 2005 season. More than 2,000 people attended the mainstage run, which also included special performances for Atlanta's refugee community and a brown bag series of lectures/demonstrations for local community groups, businesses, and schools. (From the 2004 NEA Annual Report)
National Endowment for the Arts · an independent federal agency |
