New York, NY (Top40 Charts) We are examining how American institutions that are put in place to support and educate our youth often fail.
Before the cast and crew fly off to Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the New York based companies, Squire Lane Theatrical and Baby Crow Productions, will present both WHORE: A Kid's Play and JOY DONZE: 13 & Not Pregnant in one night for three nights only.
BEFORE EDINBURGH:
WHORE: A Kid's Play & JOY DONZE: 13 & Not Pregnant
July 27th - 29th, 2017 @ 7:30 PM
The Secret Theatre, 44-02 23rd St, Long Island City, New York 11101
WHORE: A Kid's Play is a new play written by Reese Thompson and directed by
Margaret Grace Hee, with music by Blondie's Matt Katz-Bohen. The production stars Erin
Margaret Pettigrew*, Matthew Bovee, and Joy Donze*.
"Bratty, insolent and wise, WHORE is a mashup of John Huges, Jean Genet and Jem and the Holograms", says Stephen Karam (author of Speech & Debate and The Humans)
Set against the backdrop of small-town gossip amplified by social media, limitless shame, and the hell-fire of the confession booth, WHORE: A Kid's Play is a darkly funny account of the pressures to be normal and exceptional in a world hostile to misfit girls and queer boys, when nothing is quite so momentous as friendship, nor so utterly monstrous as ourselves.
JOY DONZE: 13 & Not Pregnant is a one woman show written and performed by Joy Donze* and directed by Mia Capotorto Sommese. 13 & Not Pregnant won Best Comedy at the United Solo Festival 2016 in NYC and has been described as "hilariously poignant and shockingly honest." (Karen Ludwig)
With 90's musical dance tantrums, heartbreaking journal entries, and the severing of dolls heads, 13 & Not Pregnant presents the aggressively hormonal writings of a Midwestern, nineties, pre-teen as she navigates her erratically evolving girlhood. Verbatim entries from Joy Donze's 6th grade journal were massaged, spliced and diced in the rehearsal room with
Director Mia Capotorto Sommese. The queer identified, NY-based actress explains, "I wanted to go back and explore this crucial pivotal time we all go through; Puberty. When we search within our tormenting selves and dare to ask… who am I?"
Producer
Kevin Michael Reed says, "This partnership of Baby Crow and Squire Lane is a perfect match. We have very similar missions of presenting socially critical work that inspires action. Given the recent political shift in America, we, as artists, have a responsibility to connect at the grassroots level and on the international level. These two shows do just that, but also entertain."
"We are examining how American institutions that are put in place to support and educate our youth often fail,"
Margaret Grace Hee, director of WHORE and Artistic
Director of Baby Crow Productions, says, "WHORE: A Kid's Play looks at the implications of gender performance in American society. It sheds light on the consequences of being born into and growing up in the modern world. While the thematic content is heavy, our playwright Reese Thompson harnesses the power of comedy and dance to make the discussion palatable and fun for a broad audience."
Joy Donze says of 13 & Not Pregnant, "I grew up in small town America. Perryville, MO. Now at 30, I've returned to the pages of my 6th grade journal and found it to be crazy funny. It's a brilliant emotional rollercoaster that makes more than just good theatre, but actually shows that 'the popular girl' is really just thinking the same things as the 'not so popular girl'. It's an important story to tell."
Baby Crow Productions, based in New York City and Chicago, generates devised, collaborative work that focuses on connecting with a broad audience by inspiring tangible positive change in the world.
Squire Lane Theatrical Inc develops and produces socially critical and relevant stories for the stage in New York and London to provoke dialogue and inspire action on 21st century issues facing the world.
