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The Five Boroughs/One City Initiative is Working Theater’s ambitious multi-year program teaming commissioned writers and directors with working class communities in each of New York City’s five boroughs. Working in phases, the goal of the initiative is for local residents to inform the process of devising, scripting, rehearsing and premiering an original work that is firmly rooted in the cultural identity of their own neighborhoods. The pieces are also performed first in the locations that helped to create them before having further iterations throughout New York making sure production and performance is accessible to communities outside the traditional Manhattan theater locations.
Launched in 2014, the program has produced a wealth of theatrical experiences, including public readings, work-in-progress showings, workshop performances and three off-Broadway premieres. It has also created incredible collaborations and partnerships between other theaters and cultural institutions in all five boroughs. Check out the initial commissioned programming below to learn more about the productions and the communities that helped to create them.
