Dear Friend,
I am excited to reintroduce you to Raised Spirits Theater, which creates theater by, for and with ALL sorts of people with a focus on the classics. We staged Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a radio drama version of Coriolanus, and a workshop where we explored Midsummer Nights Dream. Now we’re producing our first original piece, HENSLOWE! We’ve raised $400 so far toward our goal of $7,500 and I’m reaching out to ask you to consider making a donation to our project.
HENSLOWE! is a look at Phillip Henslowe, the Elizabethan entrepreneur who built the Rose Playhouse where Shakespeare’s early plays were first performed. It tells the story of one man’s struggle for meaning and recognition in life, something we all can identify with. It opens our eyes to a little known period of Renaissance history and pulls back the curtain on how theater actually works, both then and now. It is a remarkable, in-depth portrait of a deeply driven man. After an extensive workshop process that included two readings and innumerable rewrites over fourteen years the piece is at a critical juncture in the production process. HENSLOWE! will have its world premiere at the Torn Page at 420 West 22nd Street here in NYC on October 1st.
We’ve now come to a place where the key to moving forward is money. This show cannot happen without your financial help. Theater rental is $1,600 (of which $800 is necessary for a deposit and is due as soon as possible), the publicity runs $2,100, costume rental and props an additional $2,000, technical & design fees $1,000, $800 for insurance, artist fees are $2,500 (we ALWAYS pay our performers and creative staff).
Knowing that you’re contributing to the end product is incredibly important to us here at Raised Spirits; after all, theater doesn’t exist unless there’s an audience. Your support makes that work possible.
Thank you in advance for your generosity
Alexander D Carney
Artistic Director
Raised Spirits Theater