If “all the world’s a stage,” then Mr. Shakespeare had it easy. Over at Asolo Repertory Theatre, a cast of eight actors and an intrepid crew are cramming the entire world onto the stage, as they gear up for opening night of Asolo Rep’s annual summer production—Around the World in 80 Days. And between elephant rides, Wild West shootouts, hot air balloons, and a whopping 109 characters to account for, bringing Phileas Fogg and his exploits to life have been an adventure in itself. “It’s all of the things that theater doesn’t usually do,” says director Theresa Heskins. “It’s kind of an impossible play.”

But for Heskins, on loan from the UK as Around the World makes its international debut first in New York City and then in Sarasota, the challenge makes the job worthwhile. Maybe it's the Phileas Fogg in her. “I like being in a room with a group of really imaginative actors and finding ways to solve problems,” she says, and Around the World certainly provided that. But unlike previous summer productions at Asolo Rep, which have employed projections and video accompaniment to tell a larger-than-stage story, Heskins has eschewed all that in favor of techniques that openly rely on the audience making the leap with the actors—what she calls “co-creativity.” “Ways that rely on the audience investing their imagination that joining us,” Heskins says. “They help us make the play.”

It’s a different experience, Heskins argues, a distinctly theatrical one that differentiates the medium from its cinematic cousin. “In cinema, the work is all done for us,” she says, and the resulting audience more prone to passivity, but at the same time sometimes less willing to suspend disbelief. The theater encourages it, and Around the World demands it.

Still, Heskins found much inspiration in both cinema and video games as she put the production together. “We spent quite a lot of time watching films,” she says, “and anyone coming to see the show will see that onstage.” And as the Scotland Yard inspector chases Fogg from country to country, getting involved in dust-ups and donnybrooks, the cast and crew used what they saw to create choreography that changes with the setting. For scenes in India, the gang watched Bollywood films, and for the Hong Kong sequences, they watched Jackie Chan. And for the US, what other than some good old-fashioned Westerns?

“If you’re not moving, you’re bored,” says Heskins, which seems the perfect fit for Fogg.

Produced by the people behind Asolo Rep’s 2017 production of Hetty Feather, Around the World in 80 Days opens June 6. 

Pictured: Matthew Ganley (Colonel Proctor), Kirsten Foster (Mrs. Aouda), Andrew Pollard (Phileas Fogg) in 'Around the World in 80 Days.' Photo by Andrew Billington.

Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s Board of Directors recently approved $7,422,249 million in grants. The bulk of the grant funding—more than $5.3 million—came from donor-advised funds established by donors to Gulf Coast to support their charitable interests. The grants also included more than $1.2 million in distributions from project funds, which organizations entrust Gulf Coast to administer on behalf of charitable projects and initiatives in the community. Recent project fund distributions included $50,000 for Venice Area Beautification Inc.’s Venice Urban Forest project and $85,171 for Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation’s First 1,000 Days Sarasota County initiative. Other grant awards approved included $547,375 in grants from endowed funds designated for specific charitable organizations; $77,300 in Community Grants of $10,000 or less to support programs of regional nonprofit organizations; and nearly $50,000 in disaster grants for continued recovery from last year’s Hurricane Irma and disaster-preparedness for the future. 

Gulf Coast Community Foundation

The John J. Gorr Foundation of Manatee Community Foundation recently awarded $140,595 in grants to support children in Manatee County. The investments support children in foster care, students impacted by trauma, child abuse prevention, parent education, and early childhood education.

Grant awards included: $92,500 to the Sarasota YMCA’s Safe Children’s Coalition to fund more than two years of the coordinator position in Early Childhood Court, decreasing the time foster children remain in care; $9,795 to Manatee County Substance Abuse Coalition (Drug Free Manatee) to establish a website for Handle With Care, a program notifying the school system when a student has experienced a traumatic incident; $7,300 to the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee to provide Handle With Care/Trauma-Informed trainings for Pre-K childcare providers and support staff in K-12 schools; $9,000 to Forty Carrots Family Center for Partners In Play classes at Manatee County Libraries; $8,000 to Step Up Suncoast to provide books for young readers from low-income families; $9,000 to Parenting Matters for an evidence-based, in-home parenting education program focused on child safety, parenting skills, social supports, and positive decision making; and $5,000 to The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature for its new Mosaic Backyard Universe. 

Manatee Community Foundation

As referrals for parental education and support have risen from local agencies and schools, Parenting Matters has recently stepped up to increase its services to meet the increasing demand. The organization recently hired three new Parenting Educators to serve more families in Sarasota County and address the greatest gap in parenting services—intensive home visits for high-risk families. As Parenting Educators, the new staff will help families to address needs such as: child safety, communication, positive discipline, child development, access to community resources and becoming involved in and advocating for their child’s education.

In 2018, Parenting Matters served more than 700 parents and 1,354 children in the region. The organization expanded its physical footprint into Sarasota County by adding office space at the conveniently located Glasser-Schoenbaum Human Services Center, and $240,000 in grant funding from the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation was provided to increase operational support. 

Parenting Matters

Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium coral scientists may get one step closer to better understanding a devastating coral disease with the help of a new grant from the Founders Garden Club of Sarasota.

The Founders Garden Club, a member of the Garden Club of America and based in Sarasota, awarded a $20,000 grant to Mote’s Coral Health & Disease Research Program to investigate the potential of microplastics serving as a vector in the spread of coral disease. The leader of this investigation will be Dr. Erinn Muller, Science Director for Mote’s Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research & Restoration and Manager of Mote’s Coral Disease and Coral Restoration programs.

First identified in 2014 near Virginia Key, FL, stony coral tissue loss disease has caused devastation throughout the Florida Reef Tract, spreading all the way to Key West. The disease affects at least 20 different species of coral, causing over 80% mortality in some species. The disease is believed to be a water-borne bacteria, although the exact pathogen is still unknown. 

Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium