InterAct & Mural Arts on the Red Carpet at the Barrymores

Check out this interview with Seth Rozin, InterAct Producing Artistic Director, and Jane Golden, Mural Arts' Executive Director, during the Actors' Equity Association Red Carpet pre-show at the 2010 Barrymore Awards ceremony. InterAct and Mural Arts went on to win the award for New Approaches to Collaborations Award for CITY OF NUMBERS by Sean Christopher Lewis:

CITY OF NUMBERS Wins Prestigious Smith Prize

InterAct is pleased to announce that CITY OF NUMBERS: mixtape of a city... (since renamed KILLADELPHIA: mixtape of a city...) by Sean Christopher Lewis has been named one of two winners of the National New Play Network's 2010 Smith Prize, an award that goes to the best new play focusing on American politics.

Established in 2006 and funded by a gift from screenwriter, novelist and playwright Timothy Jay Smith and a number of other socially-conscious donors, The Smith Prize has been administered by NNPN, and is awarded annually to a play that asks: Who are Americans as a people? What are we becoming? What are our global responsibilities? Previous Prizewinners are Y York's take on the Rodney King riots, ...AND L.A. IS BURNING; Seth Rozin's satire on Big Oil, BLACK GOLD; and Peter Gil-Sheridan's TOPSY TURVY MOUSE.

This year, KILLADELPHIA: mixtape of a city... shares the award with Martín Zimmerman's WHITE TIE BALL, an explosive story of two Latino brothers set against the backdrop of Southwest politics. This is the first year since the Prize's inception that more than one winner has been selected; Lewis and Zimmerman will share the $5,000 cash prize.

For more information about National New Play Network or present and past winners of The Smith Prize, visit these links:

National New Play Network's Smith Prize Announcement

The Los Angeles Times Smith Prize Article

Blog Post from CITY OF NUMBERS Playwright/Performer Sean Christopher Lewis

So, two weeks in and two weeks left to go...

It's been a total experience coming back to Philly with CITY OF NUMBERS- ups and downs... It's been strange in terms of coming to a place you once lived, walking around the places that you used to know, seeing people you once hung out with everyday. There's a ghostly-ness to that. It's unsettling in its own right.

Touring theater is not easy. And solo theater is even harder. You're by yourself, by design and all the good and bad that happens you basically have to sort through on your own. There is something to be missed about having cast mates nearby to make a joke with, get a beer with- to have community with. I think many of us who get into theater do it for that reason- community.

My hope was to have that with the audience. They are basically your acting partner in a show like this and the audiences have been wonderful: word of mouth, numerous twitter, facebook and blog posts, lengthy talk back sessions and emails thanking me. That's been amazing. Last night we had a girl from Deborah Block's theater class at Temple who said: "I didn't like plays before this class and I heard this was a one man show and I didn't want to go but this was amazing. And I'm so glad I did." This may seem self congratulatory at first- but I share it for a specific reason: this is why you do plays. This is why you share them.

A few nights ago a woman I mention in the piece named Meg Guerrerio- a close friend of a victim discussed in the play came and stayed for the talk back and said: "thank you." In a week or so I should be going into her school near Kensington to move some desks out of the way and do the piece for her students. A group out of Constitution High invited me in the other day and it was fantastic to do the show for them and then work with those students as well... kids from areas that I talk about in the piece- kids who don't ever see the verbatim story of their neighborhoods on stage.

We've had sold out houses which is wonderful. We've had a few great reviews, a few mixed and a few antagonistic and that's always, well, not disappointing but a reality.

You know artists never want to talk about the bad reviews (the good ones we're usually cool with! lol) but the bad are important too. If only to remind you about the process of this career. When I chose this route it wasn't for fame (and clearly not for fortune) but more specifically for the pursuit of a more honest and realized self. Heady right? I liked that as a craftsman you continued to grow in your work and that each piece led to the next. And crafting art, as we know, has no grading scale. Basically, the same show the girl from Temple loves is the same one a critic attacks and is the same show still that another few critics in Ohio and NYC loved.

In the end if you believe anything that anyone says- you believe it all.

So, you are again, left with yourself.

I can say quite honestly the piece is the best and most challenging thing I have done. As a performer the run has been a gift. I've seen myself grow within the piece- all the muscles of an actor developing under the stress of no net- my writing continuously informed by the thoughtful and lively discussion afterwards.

I'm thinking now this is probably not the blog post I was expected to write! I'm sure it'll be a bit of "don't write about that!" But I see this really as an open letter to people who want to do what I'm doing. I mean that's how I learned: by reading about Bogosion and Spalding Gray, devouring interviews and dreaming of working in that tradition. I learned from how they dealt with being loved and being reviled (often for the same show in the very same city) and saw their strength and determination as something worth emulating.

And this run has been an experience in that. So, fruitful and eye opening. Like I said- a true gift. Yet, it's important to talk about the realities of what we go through when we live a life like this.

So, if somewhere there is someone reading this- manuscript, performance piece or anything else in their mind- I urge that young writer out there chiseling at their own masterpiece to be strong. Some people will love what you do. Some people will hate it. Some have more public voices than others but in the end you will be left with you. And the things you have made. People come through and review you every night when the show ends and they clap or they come up to discuss the work with you.

And it is work to remember. A task building towards something greater.

And on that note- thank you Philadelphia- you've been an incredible host.

Sean

CITY OF NUMBERS In the News & On the Web

Check out some of the media coverage that has appeared about CITY OF NUMBERS:

Philadelphia Inquirer, Annette John-Hall

... Culled from interviews with Graterford prison lifers who paint murals as a way to communicate with the outside world, [CITY OF NUMBERS] pulls in multiple perspectives, mixing the voices of perpetrators with those of media pundits, law enforcement, and loved ones left behind.

The questions are many, the answers are few. Should we judge 15-, 16-, 17-year-old killers as simply murderers who should be locked up forever? Should we view them as redeemable people even though they've committed murder?

And the most vexing question: What can one person do to help solve the problem of violence in our midst? ...

Philadelphia Daily News, Christine Fisher

Philly's Felons: One-Man Show Offers Unique Perspectives On Violent Crime In The City

... After interviewing lifers at Graterford Prison, talking with victims of crime, and observing the city and its politics, Lewis came to know Philadelphia as a city struggling with violent crime and the fear it generates. The play he wrote and stars in, "City of Numbers, mixtape of a city," captures the complexity of this urban issue.

... "City of Numbers," which opened last week, is a joint venture between the Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program and InterAct Theatre Company, and is the centerpiece of a month-long celebration of the transformative power of art as a tool for social justice. ...

Courier-Post, Sally Friedman

... [Playwright Sean Christopher Lewis'] purpose in creating this unusual production, one in which the voices of about 30 characters are heard solely through Sean Lewis' own voice in his one-man show, is to re-examine Philadelphia's daunting crime statistics through the lens of arts education.

"I wanted to listen in to the inmates for their perspective, to hear from the people of various city neighborhoods for theirs, and also really to explore inner city violence and its roots," Lewis explains.

..."I want people to feel a personal stake. I want this play to open important conversations about crime, about punishment, and about the way we live our lives." ...

Philadelphia City Paper, A.D. Amorosi

"It's the city that I see daily — a city that struggles but also overcomes." So says Jane Golden, director of Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program, which for the past three years has developed a Restorative Justice program encouraging prison inmates to create large-scale community art. It's that gentle notion of rising above, of the healing power of creativity, that sparked Golden's first conversation with InterAct Theatre Co. boss Seth Rozin in 2008. Their mission: Partner up on a play that tells these prisoners' stories. Their method: Interview "life-term" inmates at the State Correctional Institution at Graterford and to use those chats for a theater piece that details the experience of the sorrowful and the saved. ...

The Augustinian Spiritual Health Center Blog, Fr. Paul Morrisey, O.S.A.

Why You Must See CITY OF NUMBERS

... This is not a just [sic] sob-sister story about the basic humanity of prison inmates. Voices of victims cry out too. Victims often in the same world as those who harm them – ghetto worlds where children grow up on the street and learn to fight to stay alive. Sections of the city – some black, some white, some Hispanic – where a common poverty creates the environment for selling drugs to make a living. Selling bodies too. Selling souls if the devil offers you the right price.

... This play shows the “numbers” racked up each year in Philly of the murdered and the murderers. It is powerful when it gets inside the heads and hearts of those who are in prison for these crimes. Thugs? Brutal inhuman bastards? Heartless killers? More like you and me than we would think. The cry of the victims through the mouths of their survivors, pierce one’s heart as well. ...

Examiner.net, Samantha Clarke

Sean Christopher Lewis' and InterAct's Exploration for Something More

... Lewis envisions community and artist-based efforts to create a dialogue between despairing neighborhoods and the city at large that aren’t necessarily about the state bailing them out. Instead, it’s about the citizens and what we as people can do for one another by providing a voice and ensuring communication.

Across the board, Lewis demands the value of collaboration and the importance of the individual to create and stimulate communication through the arts. When asked what he feared was the greatest challenge and biggest disappointment in the arts today (“The reliance on other people to do it for you.”) it paralleled what he felt was the greatest worldly problem: “Apathy. We’ve seen in all the great movements: change happens on the individual level. But so many people think that [they] can’t do anything about the great issues of our time, believe it’s too big, that it’s for politicians, or they have enough on their plate already, but it’s amazing what happens when you believe in something. When you fight for something.” ...

Philly2Philly.com, Rachel Dukeman

City Of Numbers: A Philadelphia Story

... The City of Philadelphia has a unique, successful program that has placed art in the lives of its residents – all of its residents. From prison cells to the Avenue of the Arts, the Mural Arts Program has made in impact on the way Philadelphians see our own neighborhoods and our neighbors. And now, through an exciting partnership with InterAct Theatre Company, has developed a series of programs to shed light on our Philadelphia crime, Philadelphia neighborhoods, paintings on the walls and citizens that live behind walls.

... [CITY OF NUMBERS] is full of personal narratives that are strewn together to poke holes in our city’s justice system –pointing blame for failing citizens on ‘both sides of the walls’ at everything from poverty to racism to police to parenting skills, without focusing on one fault as the root or solution. ...

Philly.com's MyCommunity Suburbs Blog, Stephanie Weaver

The city of Philadelphia has the largest number of mural displays in the United States. Each mural is more than just a giant painting; it often depicts a story from its creature or holds a message for its audience. ... The murals of Philadelphia are the city’s soul. They carry the stories of people long gone, and allow future generations a glimpse into the city’s past. Playwright Sean Christopher Lewis understands all of the tales that murals tell and has collaborated with the City of Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Project to create a screenplay based on them. ...

Rep Radio Podcast: An interview with playwright & performer Sean Christopher Lewis and director Matt Slaybaugh

"...This is great! This is the best... the absolute - hands down - best Rep Radio interview I've ever done. I love it..." - Jennifer MacMillan

Get your tickets to InterAct's CITY OF NUMBERS today!

InterAct Presents CITY OF NUMBERS, A New Drama About Crime In Philadelphia

In conjunction with InterAct’s mainstage production of THE RANT, Andrew Case’s thought-provoking new drama exploring the link between inner-city crime and personal bias, InterAct will present the first public performance of CITY OF NUMBERS, a new play addressing inner-city crime based on interviews with prison inmates, victims’ families, and other Philadelphia residents affected by violent crimes. Subtitled “mixtape of a city...” and written by Sean Christopher Lewis, who developed the play during his tenure as emerging-playwright-in-residence at InterAct last season, CITY OF NUMBERS is being presented as a collaboration between InterAct’s InterAction education program and The City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, funded by a grant from the Violette de Mazia foundation. CITY OF NUMBERS will be presented in preview performances on InterAct's home at The Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., on Thursday and Friday, February 19 and 20, at 10 p.m., with an opening performance on Saturday, February 21, at 2:00 p.m. The play will then be performed in Spring 2009 at St. Gabriel’s Hall and Graterford Prison, where much of the playwright’s research, including inmate interviews, were conducted.

ABOUT THE PLAY

The summer of 2008, the City of Philadelphia found itself in the midst of a murder epidemic. Comparable to that of a third world country, Philadelphia’s murder rate had become so pervasive that the city was commonly referred to as housing “more bodies than days.” Exploring the issue of crime through interviews and narratives, CITY OF NUMBERS introduces us to inmates at Graterford Prison, located just west of Philadelphia. These inmates are men who have been employed to create murals towards the beautification of the city, even as they serve life sentences for murder. Exploring multiple perspectives, CITY OF NUMBERS also presents the voices of victims of violent crimes and their families,as well as Mayor Michael Nutter, hip hop artists, ER doctors and people on the street – all to provide a clearer picture of the city in which we live. Culled entirely from interviews, blog entries, recorded, and documented television, CITY OF NUMBERS is a stunning and shocking portrait of the City of Brotherly Love.

Artwork by Luis ‘Suave’ Gonzalez, inmate, SCI Graterford

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT

SEAN CHRISTOPHER LEWIS is the inaugural recipient of the Rosa Parks Award for Social Justice in Playwriting from the Kennedy Center. A former National New Play Network Emerging Playwright in Residence at InterAct Theatre Company in Philadelphia, he has toured his critically-lauded solo shows I WILL MAKE YOU ORPHANS (Uno Festival of Solo Performance, Available Light 01 Festival, Equinox Theatre, Riverside Theatre, Center for Independent Artists, Galapagos Art Space, Hyde Park Theatre, TIXE Arts Center, Bowery Poetry Club) and THE GONE CHAIR (Penn State University's Cultural Conversations Festival, Openstage Harrisburg's Flying Solo Festival, Riverside Theatre). His other plays include MILITANT LANGUAGE (nationally-premiered at Know Theatre of Cincinnati, Halcyon Theatre of Chicago, Bang and Clatter in Cleveland and Theater for the New City in NY) and THE APERTURE (Cleveland Public Theatre). Mr. Lewis has been a playwriting fellow at the O’Neill Playwrights Conference and has had his work developed at the PlayPenn New Play Conference, Lark New Play Development Center, Orlando Shakespeare Festival’s Harriet Lake Festival of New Work and at the National Center for New Plays at Stanford University. Also a noted actor, he has worked Off-Broadway at the Pearl Theatre, in NYC at La Mama ETC, and regionally with companies like the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival and mostly recently in the feature films GOD COUNTRY and BLOOD FANTASY.

All three performances of CITY OF NUMBERS are FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. For reservations, call InterAct's box office at 215.568.8079. For more information, visit InterAct’s website at http://www.interacttheatre.org/ or Mural Arts program’s website at http://www.muralarts.org/.