We began in 1989 with the creation a children's folk opera, A Dog's Tale. Performed for children in the New York City Parks program run by Woodside on the Move.
In May of 1992 we produced two one-acts, Addictions and An Unknown Sleep, in New York City at Theatre North Collaborative on Canal Street. Azzizz incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation on December 22, 1992 and continued working.
In June 1993, Azzizz premièred its complex purgatory play Flywheel along with An Unknown Sleep at Workhouse Theatre in Tribeca.
In 1994, Azzizz created Silent Partners and along with Flywheel, self-produced another successful season at Workhouse Theater . in NYC. We also made the play part of our Community Out-reach Program, designed to bring performances to groups, such as the homeless, who normally have limited exposure to movement theater.
In 1995, Azzizz Theatre created its first full-length movement theatre play, Heaven and Hell and returned once more to Workhouse Theatre. August of 1995 brought Azzizz to Nova Scotia and The Atlantic Fringe Festival, Azzizz performed Human Rituals. In our attempt to move away from self produced shows Azzizz received critical acclaim and strong audience support.
In 1996 Azzizz expanded their presence in the North American Fringe Festival circuit. With the creation and presentation of the wildly successful and popular story of three strangers stuck in an elevator The Shaft. This play saw our first commisioning of original music score. John Akins Jr. who wrote, played, and recorded a wonderful blend of celtic and latin music seperated by the drone of elevator music. Azzizz attended The Orlando International Fringe Festival in April. In July we traveled to the middle of Canada to participate in The Winnipeg Fringe Festival. August saw our return to The Atlantic Fringe Festival in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Critical acclaim and wide spread word of mouth brought THE SHAFT “Best of the Fringe” and “Fringe Hit!” status.
For 1997 the new play Sexual Healing used music from the Scottish band Tartan Ameobas. In July we returned to The Winnipeg Fringe Festival followed by our first trip to the Saskatoon International Fringe Festival. We then returned home in NYC for the first ever New York International Fringe Festival. Immediately back on the road the end of August brough us to The Atlantic Fringe Festival, where we were the #1 show!
1998 started off with a big bang! For two weeks in January, Azzizz traveled to Santiago, Chile to participate in Festival Nuevas Tendencias (New Trends Festival). We were invited to perform The Shaft and to teach a workshop to 26 professional and amature actors from across Chile our creative process. The highly successful cultural exchange climaxed with a presentation of an 18 min. piece created with the student at the Festivals closing cerimonies. The tour was made possible with money from Instituto Chileno Norteamericano, the Foundacion Andés, the United States Information Agency, The U.S. Embassy in Santiago, Chile, the University of Chile's Theatre Department, and the Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation.
The rest of 1998 promises to be the biggest year ever for Azzizz. (Check out this year's Schedule) With hot new performer, Erin Dudley we have begun work on our newest play entitled, FourPlay about a woman searching for love in the pages of the personal ads. We're happy to once again be working with John Akins Jr. who this time will blend Bluegrass Strings, with Latin Horns and African drums. On Arpil 19th we will be showing a section of FourPlay at Spoke the Hub's Local Produce series in Park Slope, Brooklyn. We hope that this year's fringe curcuit will keep us on the road from the middle of July through the end of August, taking us from NYC to Winnipeg to Saskatoon to Edmonton back to New York, then ending in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
And in the Fall we will use money recieved from the NYC
Deparment of Cultural Affairs for our Community Outreach
Program's performances at Brooklyn Senior Citizen Centers.
And the money from New York State Council for the Arts
will go to fund A creative workshop sponsored by New York
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children that will
allow abused teenagers to express their inner thoughts and
feelings through movement and storytelling. Both of these grants
were made through the Brooklyn Arts Council's 1998
Re-Grant Program.
November 20, 1998, we will also be performing FourPlay at Spoke the Hub Re-creation Center, in Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY, USA. Erin will also be presenting her own choreography and we hope to have students from the BACA Workshop perform their piece prior to the show.
To be up
dated soon
Still under construction.
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