We are pleased to announce the availability of Five Plays by the TEAM, published by Oberon Books (London). Once described as “Gertrude Stein meets MTV,” this collection of the TEAM’s first five collectively-created plays celebrates the 10th anniversary of this internationally-acclaimed ensemble based in New York City. A book launch featuring a performance and book signing was held on January 31, 2015, at BookCourt, 163 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
“The TEAM are theatrical excavators of American culture, American dreams and the American psyche, understanding the intimate connection between past and present, celluloid and reality.”
—Lyn Gardner, The Guardian (London)
Five Plays by the TEAM includes exclusive production and rehearsal images as well as personal introductions to the plays by members of the devising ensemble. The collection also includes a foreword by acclaimed director John Tiffany (Blackwatch, Once). The TEAM’s unique collaborative method creates work by crashing elements of American history and mythology against modern stories in order to illuminate the current moment. The featured plays are Give Up! Start Over! (in the darkest of times I look to Richard Nixon for hope), A Thousand Natural Shocks, Particularly in the Heartland, Architecting and Mission Drift.
“How stimulating to wake up…in the hands of a present-tense theatre company who knows what it’s doing.”
—Ben Brantley, New York Times
The TEAM is Jessica Almasy, Frank Boyd, Rachel Chavkin, Stephanie Douglass, Jill Frutkin, Brian Hastert, Jake Heinrichs, Matt Hubbs, Libby King, Jake Margolin, Dave Polato, Kristen Sieh and Nick Vaughan. The company premiered at the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe, winning a Fringe First, and has since won multiple accolades—including ranking Best of 2013 on three continents—and received commissions from the National Theatre of Scotland, London’s National Theatre, the Edinburgh International Festival, and New York’s PS122.