OUR MISSION
New WORLD Theater is a regional arts leader with a national and international reputation as a visionary cultural institution dedicated to producing and presenting theatrical works by artists of color. We present high-quality theater that serves to educate, enliven and empower our diverse, broad-based audience and to foster a creative network of professional and community participants.

A program of the Fine Arts Center of the University of Massachusetts, New WORLD Theater has redefined the role of the arts in higher learning. It has purposely blurred the lines between professional and community, the arts and politics, scholarship and activism. For over two decades NWT has created, through arts-based grassroots organizing, a practice of creative collaborations with communities throughout Western Massachusetts. We have cultivated what many call the "new American audience", reflecting both onstage and in the audience, the realities, visions and dreams of intersecting communities.

We facilitate our mission through programs held in formal and informal settings. Our programs include:

• Producing and Presenting theater-based performances
• Performance Residency Workshops - supplemental exposure to artists and important social issues through workshops and panel discussions
• New Works for a New WORLD Summer Playlab- commissioning and developing new work
• Project 2050 - our youth initiative
• Intersection Conference - biennial gathering
• Multicultural Theater Practicuum - classroom and community based learning certificate program
• Summer Internship Program - hands-on experience in theater production.

PRODUCING THEATER
New WORLD Theater hosts two theatrical seasons each year featuring original productions and presented works of plays representing new voices in theater as well as plays from the traditional multicultural repertory. Typically, original productions involve student, community, and professional artists. Among our many built productions are: Undesirable Elements by Ping Chong and Talvin Wilks; blessing the boats by Sekou Sundiata; Blood Cherries by Dawn Akemi Saito; Slanguage by Universes; Sheila's Day by Duma Ndlovu; Flyin' West by Pearl Cleage; A Dream of Canaries by Diana Saenz (premiere);Sneaky by William Yellow Robe (premiere);WALLS by Jeannie Barroga;The Dance and the Railroad by David Henry Hwang; Encrucijada by Manuel Mendez Ballester; Florence and Mojo by Alice Childress and Unmerciful Good Fortune by Edwin Sanchez.

PRESENTING THEATER
New WORLD Theater has provided the region with a vital lifeline to the national and international artistic communities through the presentation of touring works or the remounting of professional productions. Through presentations and residencies, established and emerging artists have found a way station and an artistic home in the heart of New England. Among the many companies and artists who have visited New WORLD Theater are Urban Bush Woman, the Pomo Afro Homos, Onyx Theater, Pregones, Su Teatro, the Asian American Theater Company, Spiderwoman Theater, Ratan Thiyam, FOMMA, Junebug Prouctions Inc., Sistren, Carpetbag Theater, Pan Asian Repertory, the American Indian Dance Theater, Culture Clash, the Market Theater, Jomandi, Tadashi Suzuki, the New Federal Theater, GRUPO BRIDGES, the Native American Theater Ensemble, the East West Players, the Colorado Sisters, the Committed Artists of Great Britain, Latin's Anonymous, Great Leap, Ma-Yi Theater Ensemble, and Crossroads Theatre.

PERFORMANCE RESIDENCIES
Providing context for performances are educational programs which include residency activities by guest artists and educational symposia. Guest artists make classroom and community appearances, provide master classes, lecture/demonstrations, workshops, and post-show talk-backs. Each season, a production is selected for more in-depth exploration through symposium activities. Recent symposium topics have included "Spanning Cultures: Deaf Communities of Color", "Intersection: Confronting Racism and Homophobia", and "100 Years After Frederick Douglas: A Look at His Legacy".

COMMISSIONING AND DEVELOPING:
NEW WORKS FOR A NEW WORLD SUMMER PLAYLAB
In 1996, New WORLD Theater spearheaded a major regional theater initiative with the formation of a partnership with the New England Foundation for the Arts, Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción of Boston, Rites and Reasons Theater of Providence, RI; and the Department of Theater at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Each summer, New Works for a New World continues to feature new works by playwrights of color through the awarding of commissioning and development grants; and has given playwrights the opportunity to further work on their scripts in a professional play lab setting.

PROJECT 2050
Project 2050 is our youth initiative based on the demographic projection that people of color will become the majority in the United States in the year 2050. Addressing the issues compelled by these changing demographics, the project engages professional artists, youth communities, scholars, and community activists in civic dialogue and artistic creation. These creative processes and performances actively create forums for intergenerational, interracial, and cross-cultural dialogues in community and university settings. The project promotes the creative imagining of a near-future when it will become imperative to address issues of race construction, ethnic balkanization, social equity, and power. Project 2050 is year-round and includes an intensive ten-day Summer Retreat that culminates with an exciting public performance created and performed by the youth.

INTERSECTION CONFERENCE
Intersection is New WORLD Theater's biennial conference and festival examining new work practices by artists of color and showcasing multidisciplinary theater pieces on the cutting edge of new aesthetics. Begun in 1998, the conference is a diverse national gathering of artists, educators, organizers, activists, scholars, theater professionals and presenters. As an organization that bridges the worlds of creativity and scholarship, community activism and professional performance, NWT is committed to furthering national conversations on cultural equity, emerging aesthetics and activism through the arts.

DOCUMENTATION
New WORLD Theater is also concerned with the documentation of theater-work from a first-voice perspective. We have commissioned artist handbooks which detail methodology for use by peer artists and community members. We also have established a major archive of works by Asian American women playwrights, housed in Special Collections of the W.E.B Dubois Library at the University of Massachusetts.

MULTICULTURAL THEATER PRACTICUUM:

SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
Our internship program provides an exciting opportunity in theater production for students to gain hands-on experience in several areas of theater including, but not limited to: electrics, stage management, front-of-house, sound, publicity, light carpentry and general residency support. The goal is to provide students with a wide range of production experiences that will enhance their options as theater practitioners.

For further information about the New WORLD Theater including performance and workshop schedules, internship and volunteer opportunities, or how to join our Friends organization, please contact us at (413) 545-1972 or email: nwt@admin.umass.edu