PO Box 91521 Santa Barbara, CA 93190
805-962-1142 | Fax 805-962-1104
info@boxtales.org | www.boxtales.org

Founders
Marlyn Bernstein
Sheila Ehrman
Nancy Lynn
Anne Towbes

Board of Directors
Jeff Metcalfe
President
Marianne Clark
Secretary
Marlyn Bernstein
Debbie Schnepf
Roy Hunter
Bryan Field-Elliot
Carrie-Clark Kenny
Kristian Sorenson

Advisory Board
Patrick Davis
Michael Katz
Rod Lathim
Stephen Sharpe
Jeffery Speich
Susan Bower
Mo McFadden

Company Members
Michael Andrews
Jeff Mills
Matt Tavianini

After stock market crashes and local fires we haven’t sent out our normal updates on all things BOXTALES for a while. However, we’re still here and we thought it was high time for some GOOD news!

A BIG 2008
In 2008, besides performing and teaching in schools all over Santa Barbara, San Francisco Bay Area, Orange and Ventura County’s, BOXTALES was able to do an unprecedented amount of public shows, performing at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park, The Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, MacArthur Park, The Geffen Playhouse and the Getty Villa in Los Angeles, as well as Santa Barbara’s Earth Day Celebration in the County Courthouse Sunken Gardens, Lotus Land, and various smaller community performances in Santa Barbara. What a pleasure to be able to continue to give this gift. Thank you all, for either making this possible through your support or for coming out and being such a great, lively and engaged audience.

THE AGES PROJECT
In the fall we produced for the second time, our program called The Ages. The Ages was a 4 month, intergenerational program in which 50 Santa Barbara County elementary, middle school and Girls Inc. students interviewed 11 local elders about their lives, in an after-school format, (capturing it all on video). BOXTALES then taught theatre skills and directed the kids in creating original theatre pieces based on the elder’s life stories. This all culminated in a performance by the kids at the Lobero Theatre on December 13th, which also showed video clips of the interviews themselves and honored the participating elders. Some projects feel SO right…this was one of them! Putting these populations together is always magic. The honor, discovery, acceptance and love were enormous. We are honored to facilitate such programs!

OFF TO GREAT START
So far in 2009 we were asked back to the Geffen Playhouse twice in February (with SELL OUT shows!!!), and we had another great Bay Area school tour. Then in March we did a special event, collaborating with local non-profits: The Man Kind Project, Boys to Men, Wilderness Youth Project and The Pacifica Graduate institute, in which we performed our newest piece, “Iron John” followed by a panel discussion on the images and symbols in the piece and the relevancy of mythology and storytelling for modern times. We sold out 2 performances at the Center Stage Theatre and the discussions, which included the audience, were deep.  They ranged from lack of mentoring, initiation and rites of passage, our need for a healthier relationship to nature, our gang violence problem and the general difficulties of parenting and growing up in our modern society.

ROCKIN ADDITIONS TO OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS
We are pleased to announce 2 exciting new additions to our super-human board of directors: First the wicked smart and worldly, local businessman, father and ultimate Frisbee player Bryan Field Elliot. Then, in an effort to diversify our board while reflecting our demographic, we are proud to introduce our youngest board member and up and coming theatre colleague – the irrepressible, man about Santa Barbara High School and theatre major Kristian Sorensen. These are selfless, multi-talented individuals who after laboring hard all day in their own vocations ask themselves further, “what can I do next to make the world a better place?” BOXTALES is excited to have them aboard and looking forward to working together to do just that!

NEW WORK
Next BOXTALES will stage the first big-stage production since our 2005 version of Homer’s Odyssey. We are now taking on the Indian epic – The Ramayana! Gandhi called the Ramayana “the greatest book in the world.” The everlasting value of this epic tale has been extolled through the centuries, and it has helped to mold the Hindu character. In deed, reading the Ramayana from a western point of view, we find that it has just the medicine our culture so desperately needs at this time, in terms of moral code and ethics.

INDIA WORKSHOP
To prepare ourselves for the new piece, Jeff Mills and I will be attending a 3-week theatre intensive in Bangalore, India, put on by Theatre Mitu in collaboration with South India's Visthar Center for Social Justice and Peace. The workshop will allow us to steep in Indian mythology, philosophy and cultural, while learning new skills from an international faculty of master teachers and physically prepare for our theatrical adventure. The Ramayana will premier at the Lobero theatre the first weekend of October, so please mark your calendars now for this exciting new play!

As always, to find out more about what we’re up to please visit our ever expanding website at www.boxtales.org

Once again, thank you all for your support! We’re humbled and honored to be able to continue to serve our community in this way!

Michael Andrews
Executive Artistic Director
BOXTALES Theatre Co.
PO Box 91521
Santa Barbara CA 93190
www.boxtales.org
805-565-9135