Our Process In the spirit of our core values; Untold Perspectives, Diversity and Collective Process, Rising Circle has created and produced two original plays to date, and two more are currently in development as a part of Rising Circle's Laboratory 2008-2009: Experiments in Process and Performance. For each original play, members of the Collective seek out primary source material based on a theme that compelled the group, conduct interviews and transcribe them. We then gather a group of skilled artists and thinkers to help the two lead writers create a script. For each play we've written so far, we met people with fascinating and unpredictable stories and were thrilled to be able to get their voices on stage. We were intentional about finding stories that we hadn't heard before in particular the stories of people of color. Though we produced our first two plays in New York, we've decided to increase our focus and time on developing the work of writers in the group and presenting it to the public in various stages of each work's development. The writers come to the group with an idea that inspires them, and after seek primary source material such as personal testimonies and interviews that are related or support the topic, and through a series of workshops, meet with other artists (members and/or non-members) to read through the work and solicit feedback to strengthen it. Rising Circle organizes public presentations in the form of staged readings or "barebones" productions, for the feedback and support that are needed to bring each piece to completion. We've solicited and will continue to solicit the input of our affiliated artists (primarily artists of color): designers, movement experts, writers, directors, and actors to deepen the work that we do. These artists not only have expertise in their craft, but share our passion for diversity in storytelling. Through this passion, Rising Circle continues to build an artistic home and define its voice in the scope of American theater today.