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The People’s Choice Award: Chris Colt
23: Chris Colt
Support rehearsals of the theater show, “Physics and Love”
Chris Colt went to Juilliard School of Drama, acting at the American Repertory Theater for two years, and spent fourteen years working as a public school drama teacher in New York. He wrote and produced three plays there, and wrote and directed a full length film.
He moved with his wife and three children to Vermont, 2008
Lost Nation Theater: Actor in four different shows, 2008-2012
He directed and acted in the “Blues Brothers” at The Blue Barn Theater and at the Barre Opera House, 2011
He wrote and directed “The Last Ride of Buck Corduroy” at the Barre Opera House, 2012
He directed and co-wrote The Green Mountain Film’s 24 Hour Short Film Winner “Sweet Heart,” 2012
He had a massive stroke which left his right side paralyzed and gave him a mild case aphasia, a speech defect. But he can still write and drive!
He wrote “Seed Wars,” ”Elgin Mann: The Musical”, The Blue Barn Theater, 2015-2017
He wrote “Mad as the Wind and the Sea,” “1849:NYC,” Calais Town Hall, 2019-2022
Project description
This is an ensemble musical comedy theater with a serious theme. American society, as are many societies and countries around the world, are faced with the new and evolving impact of social technologies such Facebook, TikTok, Instagram on our everyday lives. It is hotly debated what the effects will be of this new and life-encompassing multi-media computer technology will have on the next generation. Most people, like the man in the musical, don’t really understand the physics behind the cell phone. (Less than 5% of college graduates are engineers). This ensemble musical comedy is starting a conversation about the history of physics and the technology behind the iPhone. This play also discusses the social dynamics of kids having iPhones and parents managing behavior issues related to the impact of technology in their everyday lives.
Making an ensemble piece means we have all performers on stage throughout the performance. This is an unusual performance tactic that expresses and represents intimacy and the meta message of what is going on in the concerned parents mind. Having the performers on stage is demanding for the performers to create, perform and sustain the performative energy throughout the show. For performers and the director it presents new challenges around making a piece of work on the stage.
Previous work I have written have included versions of the ensemble devising method in theater “Mad as the Wind and the Sea” (2019) and it worked well, and I consider it a method best applied to my way of writing plays. Plus I employed and paid a professional director, rather than elected to direct myself, and found the process similarly rewarding and successful. For this new play I’d like to expand on that success by paying performers to find out how working with professionals in community theater improves on the work.
Mad as the Wind and Sea.
Seed War.
Sweet Heart.
August 4, 2023