It is with great hope and excitement that I am writing this grant for the American Myth Center's mobile stage, or as we affectionately call it, our Show Truck. This will be the tool we use to bring our particular brand of inclusive storytelling to as diverse an audience as possible here in the Asheville area. It will not only facilitate the completion our 2018 initiative, it will also enable us, in the years to come, to continue bringing theatre to our community, instead of asking them to come to us.

The AMC's next event is 'The Ballad of R & J,' which will play downtown Asheville in the lot at 68 Haywood on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays during the month of June. This bluegrass-infused, Shakespearean adaptation is a new American Myth that was created to focus on the issues of tribalism, inherited hate, and fear of the other. Its aim is not to provide answers, but to spark conversation around these themes, which we believe are central to both Asheville and the nation at large. The location of this event was chosen as a way to introduce the company and this Myth to Asheville, but we know a show downtown provides a limited invitation. With our Show Truck, we can not only create a stage in the downtown lot, but also take the show out into underserved communities for our Sunday matinees.

This event, however, is only the beginning. The next step is to use the connections made and knowledge gained this summer to put together future tours and/or installations of 'The Ballad of R & J,' whether they be to schools, community centers, or the like. This will be an ongoing, evolutionary project with this and other American Myths, but the delivery system will be what enables us to accomplish it. The Show Truck will give us the means to our end.