Robin Morgan:
The "otherizing" of women is the oldest oppression known to our species, and it's the model, the template, for all other oppressions.

PRESS RELEASE:

For more information, contact:
Stacey Poirier
612-207-3659
spoirier@theatreunbound.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 23, 2010

THEATRE UNBOUND LAUNCHES INTO SECOND DECADE
St. Paul-based company continues creating abundance
of opportunities for women artists as national study
highlights gender gap in theatre

(Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota) Fresh from a tenth-anniversary season that critics described as "exhilarating" (Minneapolis Star Tribune), "delightful" (howwastheshow.com), and "arrestingly dramatic" (Minneapolis Star Tribune), Theatre Unbound announces an eleventh season of innovative works that bring women's stories to the stage.

"We've been doing what we do since 1999 - offering opportunities for female artists to build their craft and careers, and creating a space for women to experience stories about themselves," notes Stacey Poirier, Theatre Unbound Artistic Director. "We've learned that it's vital for women theatre artists to learn from and support each other. Our shows this season reflect that - one of them explores the ways women can hold each other back, and the other involves an unprecedented collaboration among seven different directors."

Anne Bertram, Theatre Unbound Executive Director, adds, "The statistics have been in the news a lot since Emily Glassberg Sands unveiled her thesis last year, but unfortunately the situation is nothing new. Women comprise 52% of the population and roughly 60% of theatre audiences, yet are grossly underrepresented onstage - male characters tend to outnumber females, even in plays written by women. Only about 18% of American stage productions are written or directed by women. Why does this matter? To quote literary scholar Carolyn Heilbrun, 'Power consists to a large extent in deciding what stories will be told.'"

Theatre Unbound is one of a dozen or so women's theatre companies across the nation working to shrink this power gap. Others include Airmid Theatre in Long Island, NY; The Women's Theatre Project in Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Echo Theatre in Dallas, TX; and The Women's Project in New York, NY.

Theatre Unbound's 2010-2011 season:

10 Virgins
by Laura Jacqmin, directed by Natalie Novacek
Once upon a time there were 10 sisters who lived in the woods, until one day, one of them thought she could see a way out ... What does it mean to be abandoned? What does it mean to be free? This regional premiere by the winner of the 2008 Wasserstein Prize is a fairy tale exploration of finding our way in the world and the consequences that come from the paths we choose. Theatre Unbound's production will feature life-sized marionettes created by Sara Schmidt Boldon (Jim Henson Company) to underscore the script's themes of power, manipulation and choice.

November 6-21, 2010
Lowry Lab Theatre, 350 St. Peter Street in downtown St. Paul.

24 Hour Play Project
Over 40 Twin Cities’ playwrights, directors, and actors get together once a year for this festival of short new plays. Why is it so amazing? They only have 24 hours to create, rehearse and perform for a live audience!

January 8, 2011 (NOTE: DATE CHANGE)
Anne Simley Theatre, Hamline University
1536 Hewitt Avenue, St. Paul

Murderess
by Anne Bertram, directed by Miriam Monasch and others
Lizzie Borden took an axe ... Laura Fair took a pistol ... Belle Gunness took thirteen Norwegian bachelor farmers ... In this world premiere by company member Anne Bertram, seven notorious female killers from American history reveal their secrets in a suite of hair-raising, darkly comic monologues. Each will be performed by a different actress and staged by a different director in an unprecedented project design that gives directors a rare chance to collaborate with one another and multiplies the opportunities for artists.

March 19 - April 10, 2011
Lowry Lab Theatre, 350 St. Peter Street in downtown St. Paul.

Theatre Unbound delivers thought-provoking live theatre conceived and created by women, providing audiences with engaging, rarely-seen perspectives on issues that are relevant and universal.

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