2008-09 School Year
Heron and Crane

This traditional Russian folktale became internationally known in the 20th century due to the work of award-winning animator Yuri Norshtein; Norshtein created a short film based on the tale in 1974, and went on to receive numerous accolades for his animation.

Kirk German, DA!'s Literary Manager, and one of our resident playwrights, has adapted this folktale to bring to Austin-area elementary schools; he also serves as co-director for the production alongside DA!'s artistic director, Heather Huggins. The rest of the creative team includes resident choreographer Lisa del Rosario, designers Jamie Rhodes and Paul Davis, and local musicians Travis Cooper and Melissa Jurrens, who have created a charming original score. Jude Hickey plays the role of the rambunctious Crane, and Michelle Brandt is the elegant Heron. The show is entertaining, interactive, insightful, and ready to tour to more schools! Read more about this educational program here.

December 2008
Relative Space
(new work by Lisa del Rosario)

Lisa del Rosario, DA!'s resident choreographer and an Austin Critic’s Table Nominee for Best Dancer in Austin for her performance in her work, “Dance with a Glass of Water”, will be directing and choreographing a site-specific work for the Collective at Hyde Park Theatre. Ms. del Rosario’s varied work as a choreographer, dancer, teacher, and Feldenkrais® ATM practitioner in Austin has been inspirational to many people for many years, and we feel that her exceptional talents more than merit an opportunity for her to showcase new movement work in a full-length format. Read more about this show here.

February 2009
57 Boyfriends

For her senior performance project last spring, Stephanie Denson, the newest member of the DA! Theatre Collective, sped across a darkened stage on her checkered scooter, opened a bottle of wine and a five-year-old diary, stripped to her skivvies, and jump-started a one-woman tour-de-force that brought the house down.

As part of our ongoing effort to cultivate new work and provide our members with the chance to take exciting risks, DA! is proud to sponsor the latest incarnation of Steph's sassy semi-autobiographical solo show. Don't miss the chance to see this lively writer's words come to brutally truthful life at the hands of an impeccable comic actress (who just happens to be the same person).

Heather Huggins and Kirk German are directing 57 Boyfriends as part of the Short Fringe for Frontera Fest, ASW and HPT's annual fringe festival, the very same venue where DA! had its first smash success in 2008 with Just Say Da!: Direct Object.

Ongoing
Just say DA!: Direct Object

DA! Theatre Collective is creating a full-length version of their Best of Fest production that will run in a monthly repertoire at HPT. Additionally, an abbreviated version of this show will be available for touring to middle schools and high schools. This production was modeled after a famous Russian production, World of Objects and People, created by Stanislavzki Prize Honoree Andrei Borisovich Droznin; the production has been running in Moscow and touring internationally since the early 1990s. The production will run in monthly repertoire at the Hyde Park Theatre.

Development
Anna Karenina

DA! Theatre Collective will be working with critically acclaimed director Christina J. Moore on the development of Anna Karenina, scheduled for production in fall of 2009.

This stage adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel was written by British playwright Helen Edmundson and was originally produced by Shared Experience Theatre in 1993 to great acclaim, followed by several British and international tours. DA! looks forward to developing this project during the Spring of 2009.