Information Regarding Book Donation for The Bench Project

Book Donation Instructions:
-Bring your children's book directly to our show on June 30th for free admission!
-All good-conditioned books are welcome. Multicultural books and books from kindergarten to 2nd grade are highly desired.
-If you do not have a children's book to donate - you can also donate $5 for admission that will be used for purchasing books!
-If you would like to continue donating after the show, look out for donation bins located throughout the East Bay. For drop off locations, check out their website a twww.ebcbp.org.
-You can directly donate to their main office on 3612 Webster Avenue, Oakland, CA 94609 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3-6pm.

The East Bay Children’s Book Project was founded to help build literacy by putting books into the hands of children who have little or no access to them. Books are picked up and given directly to children in need by teachers, social workers, health care professionals, community outreach groups, housing authority employees, and police officers. Some are used by schools, daycare and community centers, homeless shelters, and hospitals to create libraries at their sites. The East Bay Children’s Book Project has given out over 675,000 free books since opening its doors in May 2005.

Meet The Directors of The Bench Project:

Tasi Alabastro - Against Which

Tasi Alabastro is an actor, filmmaker, and member of Square Marden. He is making his stage directorial debut with The Bench Project. As an actor, he's played an Amazonian Forest Devil, a banjo p[laying catfish, a muppet version of himself and a robot. Tasi is also a proud member of the Red Ladder Theatre Company.




Jonathan Amores - A Simple Life
Jonathan Amores is a proud Bay Area Native. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley, where he received a BA in Theater and Performance Studies and a BA in Mass Communications and was the producer of Theatre Rice! Modern Asian American Theatre. He considers his recent crowning achievements to be directing Pumpkin Fiesta! The Musical at a local elementary school for the Palo Alto Children's Theatre. Jonathan currently works in the marketing department of TheatreWorks and is the associate producer of The New Play Development Factory.




Jeffrey Lo - Helium and Bench, Slightly Left
Jeffrey Lo is the founding artistic director of The 06 Ensemble. Recently named the 2012 Emerging Artist Laureate by Arts Council Silicon Valley, Jeffrey’s recent credits include writing and directing A Kind of Sad Love Story and Barcelona Love Song with The Ensemble as well as serving as the assistant director for Superior Donuts, Snow Falling on Cedars, The Pitmen Painters, Wheelhouse, and Time Stands Still (Upcoming) at TheatreWorks, The Language Archive at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and The Last Romance at The San Jose Repertory Theatre. He also just finished up work producing the first annual New Play Development Factory which highlighted and developed three new works written by local Bay Area playwrights. He is also a resident artist with both The BindleStiff Studio in San Francisco and Dragon Productions Theater in Palo Alto.

Next Up: The Bench Project

What's next for us here at The 06 Ensemble involves a partnership with the awesome group The East Bay Children's Book Project. We will be performing a night of 4 short plays by four great playwright's (three local Bay Area playwrights, one based in Los Angeles) with admission to the performance being a children's book (preferably appropriate for children in kindgarden or the first grade) to donate to a child in need. We will be performing on June 30th at 8 PM at the Dragon Productions Theatre in Palo Alto.

Here is the lineup of plays and directors:

A Simple Life by Lisa Kang

Directed by Jonathan Amores

Helium by Lance Gardner

Directed by Jeffrey Lo

Bench, Slightly Left by Tom Bruett

Directed by Jeffrey Lo

Against Which by Victor Vazquez

Directed by Tasi Alabastro

Stay tuned for more info on each play and our production team! Hope to see you on June 30th.

For more information on The East Bay Children's Book Project:
http://www.eastbaychildrensbookproject.org/

We're Announcing Our Next Project on Tuesday!

We're announcing our upcoming project on Tuesday but here are a few details you may want to know.

June 30th at 8 PM

One Night Only

Oh and here's a hint...

"A Kind of Sad Love Story" from the Cast and Crew

Meet the Cast of A Kind of Sad Love Story

Irene Van as Emily

Skyler Garcia as Andrew

Danraj Rajasansi as Rick and The Mechanic

Maharlika Haley as Janice and The GPS

Rachel Stringari as Diana Middleton and The Waitress

Ricky Dellinger as Vince and Dan "The Man"

A Kind of Sad Love Story

Here's some info on our upcoming production "A Kind of Sad Love Story."

After having what seemed to be the perfect relationship, Emily left Andrew. Andrew wasn’t sure why Emily did it. In fact, Emily wasn’t quite sure either. All she knew was that it needed to happen. As Andrew frantically works to find a way to fix his relationship, Emily tries to figure out why it was that she left him in the first place.

"A Kind of a Sad Love Story" is the bittersweet story of a stagnant relationship between two twenty somethings who, in order to move on with their lives, must first break each other's heart

Starring:
Skyler Garcia
Irene Van
Ricky Dellinger
Danraj Rajasansi
Rachel Stringari
Maharlika Haley

December 16 @ 8 PM
December 17 @ 2 and 8 PM
General Admission: $10

The Pear Avenue Theater in Mountain View is an intimate theater with limited seating. There will only be 40 seats per performance so be sure to reserve your seats by e-mailing: 06ensemble@gmail.com