For The International Festival of Arts & Idea’s 30th season and Frank Pepe’s 100th Anniversary, A Broken Umbrella Theatre has teamed up with CitySeed and Sanctuary Kitchen to bring a uniquely Connecticut story to life. Since 2009, A Broken Umbrella Theatre has enlivened the community by transforming places around New Haven into site-specific performance venues. They pair each show with a location to bring layers of meaning to the stories devised from scratch, inspired by New Haven history. Sometimes that means highlighting historic architecture or outdoor space in city parks, as they did during The Library Project in 2012 or Thunderbolt in 2009, respectively. Many times it means transforming an underutilized location into a newly reimagined space, like CitySeed’s new headquarters at 162 James Street in Fair Haven.
“This year’s home-grown production [at the Festival] is a quintessential New Haven story. It’s about pizza. Or maybe it’s a story about immigrants risking much to settle in a new place. Or maybe it’s a story about survival, or maybe it’s about family. Or maybe it’s a story about life. Watch the show and decide for yourself,” said Kevin Ewing, Interim Director of Arts & Ideas.
FAMILY BUSINESS: (A) PIZZA PLAY, follows the multi-generational story of the fictional Carbonizatto family’s pizza shop (from the Italian for “carbonized” — a knowing wink to the black-dusted fingers walking out of any apizza shop) from it’s immigrant beginnings in the 1920s through the early 2010s. This production explores New Haven’s pizza magic (la magia dell’apizza) with over 23 actors of all ages and an equal number of backstage technicians bringing this charming history to life. Set against the backdrop of the city’s evolving apizza culture, the play explores themes of identity, inheritance, and the shifting meaning of home. Blending historical research with personal stories, it examines how food traditions both preserve and transform a family’s legacy. Jes Mack, Director and Co-Writer of FAMILY BUSINESS: (A)PIZZA PLAY explained, “My hope is that you, the audience, feel the truths of what we share in Family Business. Not only about the Carbonizzatto family, but also what it truly means to our ensemble to be part of a family business in New Haven.”
For FAMILY BUSINESS: (A)PIZZA PLAY, the all volunteer company partners with CitySeed, the steward of New Haven’s farmer’s markets, and Sanctuary Kitchen, who through their culinary training program and social enterprise, provide professional development and employment for new residents of Greater New Haven. “CitySeed provides wraparound support services to food entrepreneurs like the Carbonizattos – from restaurateurs to food truck operators to caterers to packaged goods creators. Among them is our own Sanctuary Kitchen, a social enterprise run by immigrant chefs. By engaging with the stories of the Carbonizatto family and Sanctuary Kitchen, you support our vision for the future of 162 James St., build economic opportunity and strengthen human connections through the shared language of food,” said CitySeed Executive Director Sara Miller. By radically transforming this old factory into a place of performance, A Broken Umbrella Theatre has enlivened the raw space and brings awareness to the awesome work of these immigrant entrepreneurs and the ways that they make lives in Greater New Haven richer and deeply delicious. Sanctuary Kitchen will be selling pizza-style concessions before and after all performances of Family Business in the lobby.
To see FAMILY BUSINESS: (A)PIZZA PLAY visit artidea.org/apizza. A Broken Umbrella Theatre is committed to making theatre accessible to all audiences through student pricing options and pay-what-you-will tickets. A limited number of PWYW tickets become available 7 days before each performance (limit 4 per person). Additional PWYW tickets may be available 10 minutes before curtain. Explore all that the International Festival of Arts & Ideas has to offer during the 30th anniversary season at artidea.org
