Emilie: La Marquise du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight
By Lauren Gunderson
UMass Amherst Curtain Theatre
Enlightenment-era physicist and philosopher Emilie du Chatelet returns from the dead, to tell her story, her way! Most people, if they know her at all, recognize Emilie, La Marquise du Châtelet, as Voltaire’s lover. She was also a brilliant scientist who contributed to our understanding of physics. Eighteenth-century France was even more hostile than our society to women who “want it all,” and on the eve of her death from childbirth, Emilie tracks "love vs. science" on a scoreboard to see which dominated her life more. Lauren Gunderson’s thoughtful, wistful play invites us along as this charismatic, daring intellectual investigates her life choices.
UMass Amherst Curtain Theatre
Enlightenment-era physicist and philosopher Emilie du Chatelet returns from the dead, to tell her story, her way! Most people, if they know her at all, recognize Emilie, La Marquise du Châtelet, as Voltaire’s lover. She was also a brilliant scientist who contributed to our understanding of physics. Eighteenth-century France was even more hostile than our society to women who “want it all,” and on the eve of her death from childbirth, Emilie tracks "love vs. science" on a scoreboard to see which dominated her life more. Lauren Gunderson’s thoughtful, wistful play invites us along as this charismatic, daring intellectual investigates her life choices.
Photo credit: Derek Fowles
Actors pictured: Ella Dubin, Jake Ruckman, Winnie Yuan, Gavin Williams, Dylan Rice, and Elliott Robin Ball
Scenic design: Calypso Michelet
Costume design: Emily Irene Peck
Lighting design: Taylor Jaskula
Sound design: Amy Altadonna
Dramaturg: Nate Akingbemi
Intimacy choreography: Fig Lefevre
Movement consultant: Ruby Green
Actors pictured: Ella Dubin, Jake Ruckman, Winnie Yuan, Gavin Williams, Dylan Rice, and Elliott Robin Ball
Scenic design: Calypso Michelet
Costume design: Emily Irene Peck
Lighting design: Taylor Jaskula
Sound design: Amy Altadonna
Dramaturg: Nate Akingbemi
Intimacy choreography: Fig Lefevre
Movement consultant: Ruby Green
Orlando
By Sarah Ruhl
Adapted from the novel by Virginia Woolf
UMass Amherst's Rand Theater
"He needed something he could attach his floating heart to."
Based on the Virginia Woolf novel and adapted by Sarah Ruhl, Orlando is the story of a charismatic genderfluid English noble and poet who journeys from Queen Elizabeth I’s court to Shakespeare’s London, from Constantinople to Victorian England, and finally to the bustle of the 20th century. As they fall in and out of love, create poetry, and explore their gender, their world expands and time leaps forward. Orlando is a joyous romp through the universal quest to discover one's true self, one's place in the world, and one’s happiness.
Adapted from the novel by Virginia Woolf
UMass Amherst's Rand Theater
"He needed something he could attach his floating heart to."
Based on the Virginia Woolf novel and adapted by Sarah Ruhl, Orlando is the story of a charismatic genderfluid English noble and poet who journeys from Queen Elizabeth I’s court to Shakespeare’s London, from Constantinople to Victorian England, and finally to the bustle of the 20th century. As they fall in and out of love, create poetry, and explore their gender, their world expands and time leaps forward. Orlando is a joyous romp through the universal quest to discover one's true self, one's place in the world, and one’s happiness.
Actors pictured: Matt Suchecki, Beth Laine, Jr. Moreno, Crow Traphagen, Kimberly Salditt-Poulin, Caleb Bailey, Victoria Tavares, Aleen Karakouzian, Rianna Lawrence, Nat Irmer, Ebou Dibba, and Micki Kleinman
Photo Credit: Derek Fowles
Scenic design by Drishti Chauhan, costume design by Emily Peck, lighting design by Hyejung Kang, sound design by Darrow Sherman, and dramaturgy by Percival Hornak
Photo Credit: Derek Fowles
Scenic design by Drishti Chauhan, costume design by Emily Peck, lighting design by Hyejung Kang, sound design by Darrow Sherman, and dramaturgy by Percival Hornak
Late: A Cowboy Song
By Sarah Ruhl
UMass Amherst's Curtain Theater
Sarah Ruhl’s Late: A Cowboy Song is a contemporary classic, about figuring out one’s identity and relationships in an expanding world and navigating having to choose between safety and freedom. When the play begins, the protagonist, Mary, and her husband Crick have a seemingly perfect marriage, with the beginnings of a perfect family. This shifts when Mary meets Red, a “lady cowboy” who plays guitar, teaches Mary how to ride a horse, and exudes a rugged freedom that Mary is now suddenly desperate to find for herself. Late: A Cowboy Song is the story of personal awakening, love, and the search to find a sense of self outside the box. I’m passionate about this play because the play’s themes of queerness and coming-of-age really speak to me. I resonate with the specific, acute ache of the realization of how limited one’s worldview has been, seeing the full range of possibilities that you didn’t even know were an option, and the struggle to redefine your shifting self in an expanding world.
UMass Amherst's Curtain Theater
Sarah Ruhl’s Late: A Cowboy Song is a contemporary classic, about figuring out one’s identity and relationships in an expanding world and navigating having to choose between safety and freedom. When the play begins, the protagonist, Mary, and her husband Crick have a seemingly perfect marriage, with the beginnings of a perfect family. This shifts when Mary meets Red, a “lady cowboy” who plays guitar, teaches Mary how to ride a horse, and exudes a rugged freedom that Mary is now suddenly desperate to find for herself. Late: A Cowboy Song is the story of personal awakening, love, and the search to find a sense of self outside the box. I’m passionate about this play because the play’s themes of queerness and coming-of-age really speak to me. I resonate with the specific, acute ache of the realization of how limited one’s worldview has been, seeing the full range of possibilities that you didn’t even know were an option, and the struggle to redefine your shifting self in an expanding world.
Actors pictured: Ivy Linden-Dionne, Caleb Kovalchik, Claudia Maurino
Photo credit: Kitty Ryan
Scenic design by Shelly Hed, Props by Kitty Ryan, Costume design by Emily Peck, Lighting design by Bobby Gaffney, Sound design by Fletcher Clark, original music by Patrick Olszewski
Photo credit: Kitty Ryan
Scenic design by Shelly Hed, Props by Kitty Ryan, Costume design by Emily Peck, Lighting design by Bobby Gaffney, Sound design by Fletcher Clark, original music by Patrick Olszewski
Romeo and Juliet
By William Shakespeare
Accidental Shakespeare Company
Digital full production
Accidental Shakespeare Company
Digital full production
The world's greatest love story, for the world's longest year.
Set in Chicago during the COVID-19 pandemic, this fresh, queer, digital staging of Shakespeare's play explores what it's like to find love and be separated from it amidst a pandemic. My staging intentionally uses Zoom recordings, video art, self-tapes, and socially-distant filming to intentionally tell this iconic story like it's never been seen before.
Video available upon request.
Set in Chicago during the COVID-19 pandemic, this fresh, queer, digital staging of Shakespeare's play explores what it's like to find love and be separated from it amidst a pandemic. My staging intentionally uses Zoom recordings, video art, self-tapes, and socially-distant filming to intentionally tell this iconic story like it's never been seen before.
Video available upon request.
Cast:
Elizabeth Quilter, Melody DeRogatis, Sierra Bryn Buffum, AC Rakotoniaina, Erik Schiller, Terri Lynne Hudson, Pol Cooney, Lauren Miller Victoria Montalbano, Julia Kessler, and Angeli Primlani
Video Editing by Evelyn Landow
Text Coaching by Julia Kessler
Fight Choreography by Pol Cooney
Original Music by Owen Owens
Original "Queen Mab" piece created, designed, edited and performed by Elizabeth Quilter
Elizabeth Quilter, Melody DeRogatis, Sierra Bryn Buffum, AC Rakotoniaina, Erik Schiller, Terri Lynne Hudson, Pol Cooney, Lauren Miller Victoria Montalbano, Julia Kessler, and Angeli Primlani
Video Editing by Evelyn Landow
Text Coaching by Julia Kessler
Fight Choreography by Pol Cooney
Original Music by Owen Owens
Original "Queen Mab" piece created, designed, edited and performed by Elizabeth Quilter
Underworld Anthem
from poetry by Alexandra Ranieri
Produced by Abaisses Theatre
at RhinoFest at Prop Theatre
Orpheus waltzes into the Underworld for real this time, no tinkering with its facsimile in his desires or in his head. Under his bed now lurk real monsters—how will he escape with the one he loves? What awaits him way across the Styx River? Underworld Anthem pushes us through the looking-glass and throws away the key.
Through a curated cycle of poems by Alexandra Ranieri, director Iris Sowlat and the ensemble explore the many facets of Orpheus’ journey into the Underworld. The play explores what compels one to seek the Underworld, to leave it, to relish it, to rule it, to create within it, to gives oneself to it, and to attempt to escape. This devised piece includes Ranieri’s poetry, an actual Orphic hymn to Persephone, translated sections of Ovid’s Orpheus and Eurydice, original music, dance, and more!
Produced by Abaisses Theatre
at RhinoFest at Prop Theatre
Orpheus waltzes into the Underworld for real this time, no tinkering with its facsimile in his desires or in his head. Under his bed now lurk real monsters—how will he escape with the one he loves? What awaits him way across the Styx River? Underworld Anthem pushes us through the looking-glass and throws away the key.
Through a curated cycle of poems by Alexandra Ranieri, director Iris Sowlat and the ensemble explore the many facets of Orpheus’ journey into the Underworld. The play explores what compels one to seek the Underworld, to leave it, to relish it, to rule it, to create within it, to gives oneself to it, and to attempt to escape. This devised piece includes Ranieri’s poetry, an actual Orphic hymn to Persephone, translated sections of Ovid’s Orpheus and Eurydice, original music, dance, and more!
Actors pictured: Dana Macel, Angie Fisher, Emma Pauly, Charlie Diaz, Terri Lynne Hudson, Athanasia Sawicz, Alicia Jade, Jessica Smoot, and Electra Tremulis
Costume design by Jenn Oswald, Lighting design by Cat Davis, Choreography by Angie Fisher, Original song by Electra Ttremulis, Dramaturg/Translator: Emma Pauly
Photo credit: Carlos Mocino
Costume design by Jenn Oswald, Lighting design by Cat Davis, Choreography by Angie Fisher, Original song by Electra Ttremulis, Dramaturg/Translator: Emma Pauly
Photo credit: Carlos Mocino
The Days Are Shorter
by Corinne Kawecki
Pride Films & Plays
In The Days Are Shorter by Corinne Kawecki, 53-year-old Julia sees her life unravelling before as she approaches middle-age, and is thrown into an unforgettable journey through a heightened fantastical version of her own reality to deal with these changes. It’s about the magic of the universe and how it is always there to help us if we would only let it in.
Pride Films & Plays
In The Days Are Shorter by Corinne Kawecki, 53-year-old Julia sees her life unravelling before as she approaches middle-age, and is thrown into an unforgettable journey through a heightened fantastical version of her own reality to deal with these changes. It’s about the magic of the universe and how it is always there to help us if we would only let it in.
Reviews
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Pictured: Pat Parks, Joan McGrath, Gay Glenn, and Kendra Verhage
Scenic design: Chas Matheiu, costume design: Sanja Manakoski, lighting design: Liz Cooper, sound design: John Nichols III
Scenic design: Chas Matheiu, costume design: Sanja Manakoski, lighting design: Liz Cooper, sound design: John Nichols III
Video available upon request.
Joan of Arc
by Alexandra Ranieri
Produced by Abaisses Theatre
at RhinoFest at Prop Theatre
In a once-prosperous town left ravaged by never-ending war, a nineteen year-old girl is on trial. She has reopened a long conflict, and lit a fire under the rebel cause. The government has at last caught up with her, and the punishment they seek is death. But there are complications. The girl refuses to tell the truth. She urges her judges to think of their souls. She says God will punish them if they hurt her. She has been chosen by God to save her country. The girl is her own, and only, lawyer. She is surrounded, both in the court and in her jail cell, by educated men who will use any means to find the legal loophole which makes the most convenient noose. The girl is illiterate. The girl is a warrior, a martyr, a witch. The girl is Joan of Arc.
Produced by Abaisses Theatre
at RhinoFest at Prop Theatre
In a once-prosperous town left ravaged by never-ending war, a nineteen year-old girl is on trial. She has reopened a long conflict, and lit a fire under the rebel cause. The government has at last caught up with her, and the punishment they seek is death. But there are complications. The girl refuses to tell the truth. She urges her judges to think of their souls. She says God will punish them if they hurt her. She has been chosen by God to save her country. The girl is her own, and only, lawyer. She is surrounded, both in the court and in her jail cell, by educated men who will use any means to find the legal loophole which makes the most convenient noose. The girl is illiterate. The girl is a warrior, a martyr, a witch. The girl is Joan of Arc.
Reviews
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Pictured: Sierra Buffum, Olivia Gregorich, Amanda Hays, Jared McDaris, Kim Fukawa, Jessica Goforth, Matt Schutz, Alex Stuart, and Erik Schiller
Lighting and projection design: Cat Davis, costume design: Jenn Oswald, sound design: Colin Morris, fight direction: Matthew Perry Smith
Lighting and projection design: Cat Davis, costume design: Jenn Oswald, sound design: Colin Morris, fight direction: Matthew Perry Smith
Video available upon request.
The Anxiety Variety Show
by Cal Walker
RhinoFest at Prop Thtr
Equal parts sardonic, uncompromising, and unflinchingly honest, Cal Walker's solo show about their Anxiety uses audience participation, song, comedy, and puppetry to examine our understanding of mental illness.
Photos by Madison Kesselring and Lena Aubrey.
Video available upon request.
RhinoFest at Prop Thtr
Equal parts sardonic, uncompromising, and unflinchingly honest, Cal Walker's solo show about their Anxiety uses audience participation, song, comedy, and puppetry to examine our understanding of mental illness.
Photos by Madison Kesselring and Lena Aubrey.
Video available upon request.
Narratives of Achromatopsia
by Iris Sowlat, devised from interviews
Chicago Fringe Festival
Told through a tapestry of first-person narratives taken from interviews, this documentary play about the visual impairment Achromatopsia tells the story of my secret life -- and that of others with the same visual impairment-- constantly adapting to world that is not set up for us, and with virtually no public awareness of what it’s like to be legally blind with enough vision to pass through the world as sighted. The narratives cover everything from diagnosis, going to school, working, and parenting, to experiencing everyday ableism and making “1,000 unseen adaptations every day.”
Chicago Fringe Festival
Told through a tapestry of first-person narratives taken from interviews, this documentary play about the visual impairment Achromatopsia tells the story of my secret life -- and that of others with the same visual impairment-- constantly adapting to world that is not set up for us, and with virtually no public awareness of what it’s like to be legally blind with enough vision to pass through the world as sighted. The narratives cover everything from diagnosis, going to school, working, and parenting, to experiencing everyday ableism and making “1,000 unseen adaptations every day.”
Video available upon request
Turn That Thing Around
by Aaron Harris
Chicago Fringe Festival & Gorilla Tango Theatre
Jack, a college freshman, feels his fears and anxieties spiraling out of control while on a corss-country road trip, building a a Manic Episode. He is taken to a hospital and learns he has Bipolar Disorder. This play is about giving oneself the tools to manage one's mental health, recognizing one's inner courage, and always maintaining hope even when things seem hopeless.
Chicago Fringe Festival & Gorilla Tango Theatre
Jack, a college freshman, feels his fears and anxieties spiraling out of control while on a corss-country road trip, building a a Manic Episode. He is taken to a hospital and learns he has Bipolar Disorder. This play is about giving oneself the tools to manage one's mental health, recognizing one's inner courage, and always maintaining hope even when things seem hopeless.
Pictured: Justin Michael Dietzel, Larnell James Shadd, Avi Kritzman, Connie Rodriguez, Chloe Bluml, Frank Gasparro, Kimmy Higginbotham, and Kate Lass
Production design: Aaron Harris
Production design: Aaron Harris
Jane
by Paula Kamen
Staged Reading
Sponsored by Chicago Women's History Center & Shout Your Abortion 773
In Chicago, 45 years ago, before abortion was legal, women knew whom to call for help: Jane, the legendary feminist abortion service, also known as "the best-kept secret in Chicago." From 1969 to 1972, women who ran “Jane” (the Service) were mostly college students, “hippie housewives,” and antiwar activists. But they led extraordinary double lives, running the most active underground abortion service in modern history. It was the one safe alternative for about 11,000 women from all backgrounds. This suspenseful and timely play is based on original interviews with the women who ran and used this service and the men who supported it. Jane is a docu-drama using material from interviews with actual members of the historical Jane organization.
I directed a sold-our fundraiser staged reading of Jane by Paula Kamen, sponsored by the Chicago Womens' History Center and Shout Your Aboriton 773 with a post-show discussion afterwards, featuring pro-choice activists and former members of the original Jane. Proceeds were donated to the Chicago Women's Health Center.
Check out the video below:
Staged Reading
Sponsored by Chicago Women's History Center & Shout Your Abortion 773
In Chicago, 45 years ago, before abortion was legal, women knew whom to call for help: Jane, the legendary feminist abortion service, also known as "the best-kept secret in Chicago." From 1969 to 1972, women who ran “Jane” (the Service) were mostly college students, “hippie housewives,” and antiwar activists. But they led extraordinary double lives, running the most active underground abortion service in modern history. It was the one safe alternative for about 11,000 women from all backgrounds. This suspenseful and timely play is based on original interviews with the women who ran and used this service and the men who supported it. Jane is a docu-drama using material from interviews with actual members of the historical Jane organization.
I directed a sold-our fundraiser staged reading of Jane by Paula Kamen, sponsored by the Chicago Womens' History Center and Shout Your Aboriton 773 with a post-show discussion afterwards, featuring pro-choice activists and former members of the original Jane. Proceeds were donated to the Chicago Women's Health Center.
Check out the video below:
Pictured: Amber Ray Snyder, Kaitlin Stewart, Shannon Leigh Webber, Whitney Pipes, Chloe Bluml, Anna Wolfe, Khloe Janel, Wil Wedbee, Erin Caswell, Caitlin McManus, and Zach Hebert
That Last Light
by Riley Mondragon
Chicago Theatre Marathon
A glimpse of one night of rehearsal at a typical theatre, shedding a light on toxic masculinity and abuse in theatre.
Chicago Theatre Marathon
A glimpse of one night of rehearsal at a typical theatre, shedding a light on toxic masculinity and abuse in theatre.
Pictured: Kaitlin Stewart and Timothy Swaim
Barbarism
by Jason Grote
Collaboraction's Peacebook Festival
Set in the near future, a woman with survivor’s guilt and PTSD in the wake of an apocalyptic disaster takes us on an exploration of the gilded cages in her mind as she reveals the fragility of the human spirit.
Collaboraction's Peacebook Festival
Set in the near future, a woman with survivor’s guilt and PTSD in the wake of an apocalyptic disaster takes us on an exploration of the gilded cages in her mind as she reveals the fragility of the human spirit.
Pictured: Niki Gee
Scenic design: Ashley Ann Woods
Scenic design: Ashley Ann Woods
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