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
[email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 1, 2011

THEATRE UNBOUND GOES TO EXTREMES
Twelfth season of work by women artists
ranges from contemporary to classical

(Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota) Theatre Unbound announces a twelfth season of innovative productions that bring both women's stories and women artists to the stage.

"We are highlighting two powerhouse directors, Genevieve Bennett and Carin Bratlie, and letting them loose on two really brilliant texts," says Stacey Poirier, Theatre Unbound Artistic Director. "As always, our focus is on offering opportunities for female artists to build their craft and careers, and creating a space for women to experience stories about themselves. These are things you won't find at most Twin Cities theatre companies."

Bennett (curator, 2008 Chekhov Festival; director, Hedda Gabler, Southern Theater, 2010) will direct Theatre Unbound's fall selection, Anna Bella Eema by OBIE-award winning playwright, Lisa D'Amour, whose acclaimed play Detroit opens on Broadway this fall. Described as a ghost story to be spoken and sung - a chamber piece for three women in three chairs, Anna Bella Eema is a stylized comment on identity, separation and adaptability.

Bratlie (Artistic Director, Theatre Pro Rata) will direct Theatre Unbound's spring selection, William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, featuring an all-female cast. Bratlie, who directed Theater Unbound's wildly popular all-female Tempest in 2005, says, "It's an exciting project because of the political overtones and rich character development. An all-female version will add intriguing layers."

"Theatre Unbound usually produces only scripts by women, but we make an exception for Shakespeare," notes Anne Bertram, Theatre Unbound Executive Director. "His plays are the pre-eminent works of English language theatre, and women get very few opportunities to perform them. Yet our audiences love the new insights they gain from seeing women play these roles and, ever since Tempest, have consistently told us they want to see more. And our artists crave the chance to speak Shakespeare's words and take on the roles of powerful people, be they wizards, spirits or dictators."

Theatre Unbound is one of a dozen or so women�s theatre companies across the nation working to shrink the gender gap on America�s stages. Others include Airmid Theatre in Long Island, NY; The Women�s Theatre Project in Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Echo Theatre in Dallas, TX; Looking for Lilith Theatre Company in Louisville, KY; and The Women�s Project in New York, NY.

Theatre Unbound's 2011-2012 season:

Anna Bella Eema
Written by Lisa D'Amour
Directed by Genevieve Bennett
October 8-23, 2011
Lowry Lab Theatre, 350 St. Peter Street in downtown St. Paul

Ten-year-old Anna Bella and her hermetic mother Irene live in a ratty trailer on the edge of town. When their trailer park is slated for demolition because of interstate highway expansion, Irene refuses to leave. In this moment of crisis, Anna Bella creates a new girl out of the mud behind their trailer home. This mud-girl helps Anna Bella face the world outside her home. A richly imagined tale of a fierce mother/daughter bond, told through word and song. "Its beauty and its depth are almost beyond language other than its own." - The Austin Chronicle (More ...)

24:00:00 Xtreme Theatre Smackdown
(formerly known as the 24 Hour Play Project)
January 2012
Date and location TBA

Saturday! Saturday! Saturday! 40 playwrights, directors and actors - 24 hours - 6 new plays featuring some of the Twin Cities most bad-ass female theatre artists! Theatrical thrills, spills, triumphs and tragedies - you witness the results - one night only!

Julius Caesar
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Carin Bratlie
Presented with an All Female Cast
April 21 � May 6, 2012
Lowry Lab Theatre, 350 St. Peter Street in downtown St. Paul

In a free country, a popular political leader reaches for absolute power. Former friends must decide: loyalty or patriotism? Honor or ambition? Blood is shed in the name of the public good, the country plunges into civil war, and a noble person faces a tragic undoing.

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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