elephant shoes & olive juice;
(mis) communication in a modern world
created by Shannon Forney for the MN Fringe Festival
August 1, 3, 6, 8, 9 (various times)
Bryant Lake Bowl, Minneapolis

an original object/puppet symphony that follows the journey of muddled messages, tin can voicemails, cursive font emails, and cigar box guitars. a vintage listening play complete with handwritten subtitles. performers include katie kaufmann, danielle siver, mark benzel, jeremy hughes, shannon forney, and damon brooke! www.uptowntix.com for tickets!

4:48 Psychosis
by Sarah Kane
directed by Natalie Novacek
August 29-September 7, 2008
The Soap Factory, Minneapolis

There is no greater honesty in art than the art we create in order to purge it from ourselves. The title refers to 4:48 a.m., the darkest hour before dawn, and the theme is suicidal despair and psychosis, a state in which the normal boundaries between waking life and dream life, between the self and others, collapse. 4:48 Psychosis is composed of monologues and dialogues whose content includes exchanges between patients and therapists, notes about grief, mental anguish and psychological distress, caustic accounts of the therapeutic use of drugs, and diary entries. Not recommended for youth. 

Perfect Pie
by Judith Thompson
directed by Claire Avitabile
January 16-31, 2009
Minneapolis Theatre Garage: 711 W Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis

Canadian playwright, Judith Thompson, believes that real theatre reveals the formidable dragon moving beneath the surface of the world we live in, and that theatrical performance is that dragon breathing its fire into the audience. In Perfect Pie, two friends, estranged for more than fifteen years, face the formidable dragon of a past filled with a secret and the resultant chain of tragic events that brought about their separation. The women are brought back together at the insistence of Patsy – a housewife and baking enthusiast, who recognizes the highly successful actress, Francesca, as Marie, her long-time missing friend. Their youthful selves are dramatized in glimpses of their early lives in small town Northern Ontario. Patsy had been pretty popular, whereas Marie, the outsider, was targeted by her classmates and made the victim of vicious harassment. But what was the mysterious tragedy that drove Marie out of town? Reminiscences soon give way to undercurrents of blame and recrimination as each woman struggles to understand the other’s choices, and through them the tragic events of the last evening they spent together. Perfect Pie is a moving testament to the healing power of friendship, and it promotes social awareness for people young and old about the crushing power of ignorance and hatred. 

The Naked I: Monologues from Beyond the Binary
by Tobias K. Davis
Various Directors*
February 12-15, 2009
Venue TBA

Following in the footsteps of Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues comes The Naked I: Monologues from Beyond the Binary by award-winning transgender female-to-male (FTM) playwright, Tobias K. Davis. Not willing to stop at discussing women’s vaginas, The Naked I explores the bodies and experiences of transgender, gender-queer, and intersex individuals. The play, which includes monologues, duologues, and short sketches, shares stories about men with vaginas and women with penises, women born without vaginas, and a multitude of other differently-gendered people exploring their bodies and dissecting society’s assumptions. Tender and heart wrenching, deeply funny and erotic, Davis takes the idea of a monologue-based play to a new level and boldly explains and explores the land beyond ‘male’ and ‘female’.

*Because there are many pieces toThe Naked I, we are seeking a handful of directors and performers. If you are interested in taking part in this production, please email us at info@tctwentypercent.org. No experience necessary - all gender-identities welcome!

Teach Me Tonight
by Ariel Pinkerton
directed by Shannon C. Harman
April 15-29, 2009
Intermedia Arts:, 2822 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55408

Teach Me Tonight       First written when local playwright, Ariel Pinkerton, was a teenage survivor of an abusive romance, Teach Me Tonight is a love triangle with darkly comic elements and gender politics that dares to look at violence in intimate relationships from a rare perspective: the abuser’s. April, a 16 year-old girl, has the typical high school life with her boyfriend, Dave. Mike, a man in his late 20s, finds his way into their lives—and into April’s heart and bed. Mike is well-dressed, well-versed, and charming – in fact, he narrates the play to the audience, who, in turn, easily fall for his charm. Indicators of abuse don’t emerge until two-thirds of the way through the play, with expectations confounded by provocative contradictions. Mike’s courtship gradually becomes more controlling and April’s infidelity (with Dave) triggers Mike’s violence. Teach Me Tonite is not anti-male, but exposes an insidious dynamic that has as much to do with the illusions perpetrated by romance novels as it does with ideas of still-acceptable male dominance.

Over the past decade or so, the play has grown through workshops, re-writes, and additional performances at the Fringe Festival and at Bedlam Theatre in 2006, as well as a tour through local high schools in the fall of 2006.  Over the past several years, Ariel has reviewed the feedback she has received over time, and recently presented a fresh, edited revision to 20% Theatre Company Twin Cities for consideration. We will produce Teach Me Tonight in late Spring 2009, with Shannon C. Harman as director. Production dates are tentatively booked for April 15-29 at Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis.