Happy new year, ATE family! First and foremost, we would like to thank the contributors to our December matching campaign, generously backed by Board Member Ann Marie Lonsdale. Your contributions collectively raised $2890, which will go directly to supporting our administrative and creative work as we strive to push our work forward in a landscape that is increasingly hostile to artists and changemakers.
Even if you missed the matching campaign, please consider making a donation to our company to help support our future programming. If you would like to get involved in our work, please reach out! No donation is too small and no inquiry is unnecessary; we are an organization grounded in community, and only in community can we continue to survive.
Winter Production: When They Ask If We Were Real
Reserve your tickets now for the world premiere of ATE’s When They Ask if We Were Real, debuting at Marin Theater on February 28! This community-led performance project, created by Ensemble Member Leah Sanginiti, is the culmination of several years of exploration into the philosophical and existential questions that haunt us across the globe.
"Why didn't we see the warning signs in ourselves?" (Age 60, Serbia)
"What do your mountains mean?" (Age 8, Taiwan)
“What will be left of me if I relinquish old identities?" (Age 35, USA)
“Are we real?” (Age 5, Philippines)
Since 2023, development workshops have been conducted around the world and across the Bay Area, with local contributions from Berkeley Public Library, Dominican University of California, East Oakland Youth Development Center, and State of Play Embassy. Now, When They Ask If We Were Real enters a new phase of development, with a world premiere performance and international art exhibition reflecting on the questions these communities have inspired local artists to confront:
As global upheaval and A.I. rapidly shift our relationship to inquiry, what does it mean to look inward?
What does it mean to celebrate our collective humanity as the definition of humanity evolves before our eyes?
Featuring live music and oral storytelling with traditional and opt-in interactive theatre, this FREE one-night-only, limited-seating event will premiere at Marin Theatre's Lieberman Black Box on February 28 @ 6PM.
Reserve your tickets today HERE!
If you are unable to attend our February 28 showing, please consider joining us for a free staged reading of the piece at Berkeley Public Library West Branch on February 21. Reserve your spot for the staged reading HERE.
Creator and director: Leah Sanginiti
Co-director and dramaturg: Zoë Sonnenberg
Actors: Leah Sanginiti, Erolina Kamburova, and Charles Peoples III
Sound designer: Charles Peoples III
Lighting and projection designer: Stephen Hitchcock
Stage manager: Chloë Parmelee-Laporte
