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MISSION:
The 20% Theatre Company Twin Cities aims to produce new and progressive work by female, transgender, and gender-queer theatre artists, while also supporting the same gender minorities artistically behind-the-scenes.
Why "20%"?:
In 2002, a 3-year study was released by the New York Council on the Arts revealing alarming statistics that roughly only 20% of professional theatre artists today are women. Although women submit about half of all the works available to artistic directors, only 16% of produced plays are by women, and 17% have female directors. The same study cited numerous examples of women having their plays often dismissed as “issue plays” or as “too political” and “too dark” by the key theatrical decision makers who had never even read the scripts. Although great strides have been made in other fields, women continue to face enormous employment discrimination in the arts and media. Similarly, less than 5% of transgender theatre artists are welcomed onstage or backstage in our country, and although the [documentary] film industry has opened their minds quite a bit, positive representation of the transgender community is severely lacking on stage. The 20% Theatre Company Twin Cities is here to change this. Are you with us?
| Claire Avitabile (Artistic Director/Founder) has been living in the Twin Cities for four years, since her move from Massachusetts in August 2005. For 20%, Claire has directed David's Redhaired Death by Sherry Kramer, Lashings of Whipped Cream by Fiona Samuel, The Second Coming of Joan of Arc by Carolyn Gage, Hot ‘n’ Throbbing by Paula Vogel, Standards of Care by Tobias K. Davis, Perfect Pie by Judith Thompson, After Juliet by Sharman Macdonald, and Celeste and Starla Save Todd and Win Back the Day by Francesca Sanders. Other local credits include directing Biloxi Blues and The Diary of Anne Frank for Theatre Or, and My Thing of Love by Alexandra Gersten for In The Basement Productions. Claire currently works full time as Director of Performing Arts at the Sabes Jewish Community Center, and has been a Resident Teaching Artist for three years at Stages Theatre Company. |
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| Blythe Davis (Founder, House Manager) is pretty new to the theatre world. Her recognizable artistic success has been more in the realm of photography, mixed media art, and cake decorating! A Hope College graduate in psychology and women’s studies, she is most interested in the psyche of the actor and the psyche of the character written on the page - and how the two blend or clash on stage. Blythe assistant directed Hot ‘n’ Throbbing by Paula Vogel, and enjoys dabbling in set design/construction. |
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Shannon Forney is a puppeteer/performer/director inspired by creating theatre environments that play with vintage objects, found sounds, and the folly of being human. Favorite recent and local projects include performing in Animal Farm directed by Jon Ferguson (Southern Theater 08); Revolutionary Love 2 by Sharon Hayes (Queer Public Protest/Performance for the recent RNC in St. Paul); elephant shoes & olive juice (20% Theatre's original ensemble creation for the 08 MN Fringe Festival); Uncle Sergei (Twin Cities Chekhov Festival 07); Instruments of Tortuga shadow puppet show by Rolle/Lorio/Forney from Nina Rolle’s ZenCabaret (adapted and performed at the Heart of the Beast Theater 07); and Lashings of Whipped Cream by Fiona Samuel (20% Theater Company Twin Cities). Shannon is a proud graduate of Oberlin College, and happily lives with her partner and two dogs in zip code 55104. |
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Anthony Neuman has been seen on stage with 20% as David in Standards of Care and played a part in the sold-out production of The Naked I: Monologues from Beyond the Binary. Also a writer, Anthony wrote SurvivedBY, a documentary play about HIV/AIDS, and was invited to perform it at the TPAN (Testing Positive Awareness Network) Gala in Chicago. This January, 20% will be producing the world premiere of his one-act play, Artichoke Hearts, as part of The Fresh Five. |
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Mykel Pennington is a recent transplant to the Twin Cities and she graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle in 1997 with a degree in Drama. In the Twin Cities, Mykel has worked with Cromulent Shakespeare Theatre Company (Sense and Sensibility), 20% Theatre Company Twin Cities (Hot 'n' Throbbing, Perfect Pie, and The Naked I), Chameleon Theatre Circle (Gaggle of Saints - winner of Best of Festival at MACT, and Crossing Event Horizon), Bad Attitude Production (Love's Labours Lost), and Urban Samurai Productions (Touch). Before moving to Minneapolis in 2006, Mykel performed with various theatre companies in the Seattle and Memphis areas. When not acting on stage, she enjoys entertaining her two beautiful daughters, Sophia and Honora and spending time with her husband, Sean. |
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Ariel Pinkerton is a University of Minnesota graduate with a B.A. in theatre arts. She has most recently been seen in 3.1.81 with 20%, TV Men and Orestes with nimbus theatre, Sense & Sensibility with Cromulent Shakespeare, as well as in the #1 2007 Fringe hit Wonderland as the DJ Rabbit, and Lyric Arts Mainstage's The Snow Queen and the Goblin as the Snow Queen. In addition to performing, Ariel is a lighting designer and the author of Teach Me Tonight which recently toured Minnesota High Schools as part of a Sexual Abuse Awareness program, and was featured as part of 20% Theatre TC’s 2008-2009 season. |
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| Renata Shaffer-Gottschalk (Resident Costume Designer) moved to Minneapolis in 2006, after graduating magna cum laude from Longwood University (Farmville, VA) with a B.F.A in Theatre Performance. With 20%, Renata has designed Perfect Pie, The Naked I, Teach Me Tonight, After Juliet, and Celeste and Starla Save Todd and Win Back the Day. Other design credits include costumes for Minnesota PerformDance, Minneapolis Musical Theatre (Chess, Summer of ’42 and Zanna Don’t), Walking Shadow Theatre Company (Amazons and their Men), Theatre Or (Biloxi Blues), and the upcoming Somebody/Nobody with Mixed Blood. When not designing costumes, she loves working with children, dying her hair outrageous colors and getting into mischief with her husband Ryan. |
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| Danielle Siver has been happily residing in Minneapolis and making her way as a freelance actor for the past 3 years. During that time, she has worked with Upright Egg Theatre Company (The Afterlife Project, The Love Project, The Present Project, The Chuck Mee Project), In the Basement Productions (The Women), Swearing Jack Productions (Titus), The Mechanical Division (Cannibal! The Musical) and, of course, 20% Theatre (Spiderkiss Soiree, elephant shoes and olive juice, 4:48 Psychosis, 3.1.81, After Juliet, and Celeste in Celeste and Starla Save Todd and Win Back the Day). In her spare time, Danielle enjoys laughing, playing, and hijinx of all kinds. |
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Ruth Virkus (Literary Manager)is a native Minnesotan and National Merit Scholarship recipient who graduated with honors from the University of Minnesota Morris with degrees in history and theatre. Here in Minneapolis, Ruth worked for several years with The Flower Shop Project, a theatre company she founded with other graduates of the UMM theatre department. During her time with FSP, Ruth acted in and co-wrote Drowning in Velvet, Dawn's Inferno, Ladies A.I.D, Auld Acquaintance, Attack of the Atomic Trash Monster's Bride, and The Fish, The Fruit and the Pet Coffin Maker. Ruth also served as FSP's head producer for Almost Got it Made and In the Weeds and did costumes for Auld Acquaintance and 9x9x9 . Ruth's first solo writing endeavor, Preferred by Discreet Women Everywhere, eventually begat a companion piece entitled 10:00 Bistro Caprice, which will be featured as part of The Fresh Five with 20% Theatre Company this January. During the day, Ruth works as Executive Assistant and Assistant Property Manager for MSP Commercial, a real estate development firm based in St. Paul. In what little spare time she has, she continues to pursue her passions as a playwright and vegetarian cook. |
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Last Updated
August 12, 2010