Are you proud to call Atlanta home?

THE LOCAL. Is a collaborative theatre project made of short pieces by different Atlanta artists. All the pieces are set in different Atlanta locations. There are also pieces based on real stories collected from local people. The stage is set f or the many locations through the use of projected photographs.

THE LOCAL is being produced by The Essential Theatre in July, 2012, as part of a three play festival performing in the King Plow Arts Center in Atlanta. The Essential has got the bare bones covered but this project wants to fly. There are playwrights, poets, choreographers, photographers, designers, songwriters, rappers, dancers, and more artists involved, all with wonderful creative ideas that need some financial fertilizing to fully flower.

So we’ve come to Kickstarter. A few thousand dollars will enable this project to be as beautiful as we are inspired to make it. Studio time for musicians, an urban street choreographer, and a specially constructed silk flame/feather dance veil are just three of the elements needed to fulfill our vision.

The show is lot about belonging (and the other face of that -- not belonging). Finding where you belong, how you belong, finding your place. How you shape the place you live, and how it shapes you. It's about where we live, physically and metaphorically.

There’s a long term vision for this project as well. Down the road, we’d like to take the project down the road. Imagine ten or twelve cities across the country doing their own LOCALS, then networking with each other to produce another set of shows composed of pieces drawn from all the cities. Each city would have a different show because each one would choose different scenes.

For instance, one city might choose to do all the Occupy scenes from all the different cities, each colored by the culture and the climate of its location.  Another city might choose to do all the scenes about favorite hangout joints. Or all the Gay Pride scenes. Another might just choose their favorite scenes, no matter what the setting. Performers from the original LOCALs would travel to the other cities to perform their pieces for audiences in other parts of the country and network with artists from all over America.  Each production would speak to both regional essence and the national zeitgeist and help to connect artists and audiences across the nation.

But that's down the road. Right now, we're raising money to make this first show. And we would very much like to have you help it happen with your financial support and to join us on stage by signing our graffiti wall with a personal message. Thanks!