Inside A.C.T.

By Elspeth Sweatman “Part of what’s so fun is that we don’t know what these artists are going to do,” says A.C.T. Associate Artistic Director Andy Donald about two of the works-in-progress featured in this year’s New Strands Festival. “That’s exciting because it means that they are actually creating the work in the space that will eventually house it.” Both of the musicals included in this year’s festival— Port City and Revival —were commissioned by A.C.T. specifically for The Strand Theater. But these playwrights are not only using the 283-seat mainstage as their template, but the whole of The Strand. “We wanted to create more experiential, immersive works where the audiences are not just passive consumers of art, but active, engaged participants in the physical journey of the piece,” says Assistant Producer Ken Savage. Composer Byron Au Yong. Photo by Joe Freeman. Port City , written by Christopher Chen and The Orphan of Zhao composer Byron Au Yong, is a musical fable th...