More about New Georges
New Georges was founded by women actors who got to talking about the scarcity of substantive roles for women. The women we knew were strong, witty, complex; women in plays seemed objectified and diminished. And where were plays that dealt with the things we cared about? By producing plays by women, we could create opportunity and herald a new perspective. Perhaps naively, we thought that once we met one woman playwright, we’d be on the trail of more. But it soon became evident that no such network existed — and from what playwrights were telling us, it wasn’t for lack of need. Creating that community became a major goal, and a cornerstone of New Georges’ quick evolution from an actors’ company to an organization with a much broader mission. From 1992 to 1994, we produced two seasons (six productions of new plays) at the Samuel Beckett Theatre on Theatre Row. This rigorous production schedule left little time or resources for exploring the play development process, creating a community of artists, or building relationships with the many promising artists who began knocking on our door. We asked playwrights what they needed from New Georges, and got one overwhelming answer: space in which to create. In October 1994, we founded The Room, a multi-use workspace, in an 850-square-foot commercial loft in Manhattan’s Flatiron District. The Room is home to readings, small-scale presentations and workshops, rehearsals and gatherings; it is a tool for supporting new work, encouraging experimentation, taking opportunities, and facilitating collaboration. In fall 2002, The Room moved to new digs at A.R.T./New York’s Spaces at 520 at 520 8th Avenue. Our initial impulse in founding The Room was to shift focus from producing to play development. But the volume of activity there has paved the way for more, and more varied, production opportunities than ever before. From 1995 to 1998, our resident theater was Walkerspace (Soho Rep) in Tribeca; in recent years, we’ve produced at The Living Theatre, HERE Arts Center, Ohio Theater, The 13th Street Theatre, The Culture Project, Baruch Performing Arts Center and were the first resident company at 3LD Art & Technology Center. New Georges has presented 33 full productions of new plays, and ten festivals consisting of short or commissioned plays, solo works and/or performance pieces. Pieces rehearsed or developed in The Room go on to venues throughout New York City. And New Georges has made its presence felt nationally. In recent seasons, playwrights we supported early in their careers have had productions of their work at major theaters around the country, and our affiliated artists have been the recipients of every award, fellowship and residency available to them. Plays we premiered are published by Faber & Faber, Samuel French, Playscripts Inc., Smith & Kraus, Seagull Books and Vintage. Honors include an OBIE Award, and awards from New York Women’s Agenda, Princess Grace Foundation/USA, Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation, Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays and FringeNYC. Artists we supported early in their careers work at major theaters throughout the country, and are recipients of every fellowship, residency and distinction available to them. For example, our 2007 production of GOD’S EAR by Jenny Schwartz moved Off Broadway to the Vineyard Theatre in 2008. Plays we produced won a 2007 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and the 2005 Kesselring Prize. New Georges is included in The Museum of the City of New York ’s Perform exhibition as one of a dozen theater companies labeled “The Innovators.”
More about 3LD Art and Technology Center
Five years after the destruction of our headquarters at 30 West Broadway on September 11th, 2001, 3-Legged Dog Media and Theater Group was thrilled to announce the launch of a new home in Spring 2006. 3LD Art & Technology Center is located at 80 Greenwich Street in Lower Manhattan, just 3 blocks south of the WTC site.
3-Legged Dog is the first producing arts group to sign a lease in the Liberty Zone and the first to rebuild downtown. A cultural anchor for the Greenwich Street Arts Corridor, 3LD Art & Technology Center provides complete production and presentation facilities for emerging and established artists and organizations that create large-scale experimental works, many of which incorporate and create new tools and technologies.
3LD Art & Technology Center is a community-oriented and artist-run production development studio. We offer artists a unique experience with specialized equipment, flexible space and expert knowledge, as well as the desperately needed time to fully realize their visions. If New York City is to remain at the forefront of experimentation, then its artists must have the means to create cutting-edge work. Since opening in 2006, we have offered the latest materials and innovative tools to more than 900 artists from veterans like Laurie Anderson to the newest prodigies like J. Reid Farrington, recently of the Wooster Group. We have structured programs to ensure the aesthetic and financial success of our residents. We are providing a critical resource and development home for these artists, who carry on the traditions of risk-taking and boundary-pushing aesthetics, a tradition that reaches back in New York City’s history to the late 1800s.