Between 1942 and 1945, J. Robert Oppenheimer gathered the most brilliant minds of the age at Los Alamos, New Mexico to create something awesome and terrible. The Manhattan Project - Cleveland Lab seeks to do the same for the Cleveland stage. A Leap Day Extravaganza!Cleveland's source for new plays by local playwrights is back with three plays so awesome and terrible, they have to be performed on a day that only comes once every four years. This Leap Day The Manhattan Project <http://facebook.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=24718b1d6d5f7c398165fdc7b&id=95618c38cb&e=137ba2e111> is please to present: - *Ripcord* by Tom Hayes - *Al, Why Haven't I Leaped?* by Rachel Baird Rudisill - *X Marks the Spot* by Arwen Mitchell Please join us Monday, February 29 at 8:00pm <http://facebook.us8.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=24718b1d6d5f7c398165fdc7b&id=464d35a3a7&e=137ba2e111> at Mahall's 20 Lanes <http://facebook.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=24718b1d6d5f7c398165fdc7b&id=12136ac7df&e=137ba2e111> 13200 Madison Ave. Lakewood, OH 44107 <http://facebook.us8.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=24718b1d6d5f7c398165fdc7b&id=cf7a7cdf77&e=137ba2e111> for this quadrennial spectacle! *Save the Date!*The Manhattan Project's next Meet & Greet <http://facebook.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=24718b1d6d5f7c398165fdc7b&id=f4437e49ae&e=137ba2e111> will be on *April 6*. The following Performance <http://facebook.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=24718b1d6d5f7c398165fdc7b&id=c13f508c35&e=137ba2e111> will be held *April 25*. What exactly is The Manhattan Project - Cleveland Lab? The Manhattan Project is a low-stakes, nonthreatening place for actors and playwrights to meet and work together. Based on the Theatre Lab model taught at the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama and inspired by The Brooklyn Generator in New York, The Manhattan Project wants to introduce Cleveland actors and playwrights to each other by organizing a bi-monthly production of brand new 10-minute plays. Participating artists will meet early in the month and will be broken into teams, each with one playwright. The playwright will then be given a writing prompt to write a new 10-minute play based on the prompt and including all the team's actors. The rest of the evening the team members will get to know each other and get a feel for each other's skills and voices. The teams will reconvene later in the month to perform these plays for each other. These 10-minute plays are not an end in themselves. Through these small collaborations we hope to build relationships between the two most vulnerable artists in theatre; the actors who put themselves on stage and the playwrights who pour themselves onto the page. Perhaps these 10-minute plays will grow into longer works or maybe these collaborations will become partnerships on larger projects. If you'd like to participate, please RSVP at TrinityCrater@gmail.com or just show up at the next Meet & Greet in July. *For more info and updates:* like us on facebook <https://www.facebook.com/TheManhattanProjectClevelandLab>, Subscribe to Our Newsletter <http://eepurl.com/RGboj> and follow us on twitter @MPCleveLab . Some additional notes on the project: - In the spirit of shoe-string theatre, these 10-minute plays should have a budget of $0.00. - Playwrights will be directing the plays, or an actor from the team can volunteer to do so. - It's up to each team to schedule rehearsals together. Based on experience, it shouldn't take more than 3-4 hours of rehearsal time to get these plays on their feet. - Playwrights are invited in advance of the meet & Greet. - *Playwrights are invited based on participation in past Manhattan Project events, so please come to our events so we can get to know you!*