The Amish Project

amish project 3

Simpatico Theatre Project made our week this week.

How?

Actor Janice Rowland in Simpatico's The Amish Project

By creating a set that contributed nothing to the waste stream.amish project 2

(A really striking set, we might add.)

The Amish Project, Simpatico Theatre Project’s recent co-production with The Renegade Company, was written by Jessica Dickey, directed by James Stover, and produced in The Walnut Street Theatre’s Studio 5. Here’s what they had to say about the show:

The Amish Project is a gripping and incisive exploration of the 2006 Nickel Mines schoolhouse shooting in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, that quickly polarized the nation, united a community and forged an unexpected path of compassion and forgiveness in its wake. Imbued with great poetry and surprising humor, this seven-character, one-woman show investigates a divided community’s attempts to reconcile crushing loss and tested faiths in spite of a sea of cultural differences.

Set Designer Chris Haig originally contacted The Resource Exchange seeking the lumber to build this project, but we didn’t have quite what he was looking for. We thought that might be the last we’d hear — until he and Lighting Designer/Production Manager Dany Guy contacted us again, this time to donate the material they had used.

The Simpatico Crew builds The Amish Project.

Simpatico Theatre Project used borrowed stock platforms for the stage floor, skinned with strips of lauan to create the look of floorboards. They built the set walls with 1×8 and 2×4. Upon completion of the project, the platforms went back to the theater they’d been rented from, and the lauan, 1×8, and 2×4 came to The Resource Exchange. By using screws and nails rather than staples or glue, they kept the lumber in good condition. This makes it easy to reclaim and reuse — no split ends or dried glue to contend with!

Dennis organizing the lumber racks, complete with the Simpatico donation.

This kind of conscientious design is exactly what we advocate at RE: design with demolition in mind. When you’re designing for theater and film, or any temporary art/event, it is essential that you also create a plan for what will happen to the material you use once your production is over. [For more on this, see our SETS guide on the Greater Philadelphia Film Office website.]

1x8 from Simpatico on the shelves at RE

Having seen the show, we can attest to the quality of the writing, design and performance. But what we love most about the project is that it wasn’t just great art; it was art that recognized its responsibility to its society and environment. A round of applause for Simpatico — sustainable sets AND social change. It doesn’t get much better than that.

PS — Many of the pictures above come from Simpatico Theatre Project’s facebook page — visit them there for a more in-depth look. Catch their next production, The Lysistrata Project, in May!