SPF:3 -"Apply liberally" is Seattle's third annual solo performance theatre festival, and is dedicated to presenting fearless, cutting-edge, diverse performances by solo artists. To kick off this year's festival SPF presents an evening of short solo performances by ten Seattle based performers on March 4th and 5th, 2009 at 8:00 PM.
Performers:
"Astronaughty" by Keira McDonald. A female astronaut drives 900 miles wearing diapers to mace her love rival in the face with pepper spray. She gets arrested. Besides finding diapers in her car they also find a disk with photos of women in various states of undress and in bondage. Keira McDonald (Creator/Performer) is a self-producing theatre artist who lives in Seattle.
"Jokes from Planet Nightmare" by Emmett Montgomery. Stand-up comic Emmett Montgomery touches base with the fun and terrible place his jokes and loneliness come from. One of the founding members of Seattle's People's Republic of Komedy and headwriter for the monthly variety show/drinking game/prize give-away/life experience, Get Loweded, Emmett tells jokes from his heart.
"I believe I can fly" by Jenna Bean Veatch. Wistful Clown longs to fly. Gravity has a different idea. Jenna Bean Veatch has been accused of creating "pure, unadulterated, heart-stopping whimsy." In addition to performing her own solo work, she also currently dances with Alysa Haas as The Tumbleweed Bandits, for Ricki Mason as one of the Launchettes, and works with Lucia Neare as a performer and choreographer.
"Multiple Awkward Moments" by Mara Siciliano. Boys, bras, creating, crying, dumped, disaster, pop culture and all the cringe-worthy moments that define our modern lives. In 1997, Mara became the youngest solo show contributor in the history of the Seattle Fringe Festival. Her show "Appetites of the Enamored" was well received and launched her on-going exploration of autobiography as entertainment. Mara earned a B.A. in Drama with a minor in Dance from the University of Washington in 1999. Her choreography has been seen at Annex Theater, Re-bar, the Ethnic Cultural Theater, the Intiman Theater, and in association with the Seattle Fringe Festival. When not improvising as a company member with Unexpected Productions she can be found performing as a Freedom Dancer for the Soft Rock Series, zine-writing, making jewelry, or teaching creative movement to 3-5 year olds as an early childhood dance educator.
"Comedy/Magic/Mayhem" by Chris Bange. Comedy and magic and mayhem. Christopher Bange is an actor, magician, and clown. He studied theater at Centralia College and Western Washington University. He then went on to study Clowning and other types of Physical Theater at Dell'arte: International School of Physical Theater. Chris has been a magician since he was 9 years old when his aunt taught him to break a wooden match and restore it, by the secret art of magic. He studied magic at Chavez Studio of Magic and The Mystery School with Jeff Mcbride. Chris is a three time award winning magician most notably The Peter Rolston Comedy award.
"Tension and relief" by Dartanion London. Dartanion London performs an entire comedy routine without words. Dartanion London is a uniquely versatile (weird) comedian. His smart and silly performances bend genres through standup, improv and sketch comedy. He created the Week of Fun festival, the standup/improv blend Dartmondo, the pretentiously ridiculous Super Mega Art Show, and is a cast member of Jet City Improv.His comedy has been described as "clever and original" by Punchline Magazine, and "spot-on hilarity" by KEXP. The Stranger has called him both "consistently funny" and a "bespectacled honkey".
"Id: Pretty Forbidden" by Johanna Buccola. A glimpse of what is to become the third and final installment of Buccola's "Id" trilogy. As a forbidden dream unlocked a lyrical nightmare, the key remains hidden. Johanna Buccola has written, choreographed, and starred in the solo shows God Is Cool; the ECNY-nominated Id: The Omen and its sequel, Id: The Reckoning. She has performed frequently in NYC at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater; The People's Improv Theater; Gotham Comedy Club; and The Bowery Poetry Club. A founding member of the improv troupe Teen Movie High, Johanna was trained at The UCB Theater and is a graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy.
"The Instructions" by Jonah VonSpreeken. A stranger in a city that could be Amsterdam or Copenhagen, (depending on who you ask) ruminates on his encounters. Jonah Von Spreecken is an actor/writer and co-founder of SPF. Over the past 7 years, he has appeared in productions for various local theatre companies including, Annex Theatre, ACT, Consolidated Works, C.H.A.C., WET, and Book-It Repertory. He has collaborated with Scot Augustson several times for his productions of, WHY? WHY? WHY? Gilgamesh, IA, Plants & Animals, and A Terrible Price For Whimsy. Jonah has also written and performed in shows on the Canadian Fringe Circuit including Gloomology (also part of SPF: 1) and The Excursionists, a collaboration with Christopher Bange.
"You Can Take This One With You" by Carlee McManus. Name calling, poetry and the smells of a woman.
"Your Own Personal Alcatraz" by Suzanne Morrison. An excerpt from a work in progress, a monologue about the perils of island living. Suzanne Morrison is a writer and performer based in Seattle. Her one-woman show, Yoga Bitch, has taken the stage in New York City at Theater Under St. Marks and Ars Nova, in Maui at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, in Seattle at Bumbershoot, Re-bar and SPF2, and internationally at London's Theatre 503 and Oxford's Burton-Taylor Studio. An autobiographical show the Seattle Weekly called "ambitious, ballsy, and hilarious," Yoga Bitch was developed with her fearless director and collaborator, Jean-Michele Gregory. Since the first production of Yoga Bitch, Suzanne has been in the throes of adapting the stage production to the page, and the resulting memoir takes a new spin around her autobiographical premise. Suzanne is currently at work on a new monologue about the perils of island living, Your Own Personal Alcatraz. You can find Suzanne at her blog, suzannemorrison.blogspot.com, where she writes about absolutely everything she's reading, writing, and rehearsing.
As part of SPF#3-"Apply Liberally!" SPF is Seattle's annual solo performance theatre festival, and is dedicated to presenting fearless, cutting-edge, diverse performances by solo theatre artists. SPF (Solo Performance Festival) strives to create a resonance in the community by illuminating the compelling nature of solo performance that exists between just one performer on stage and an entire audience.
The Solo Performance Festival was founded in 2007 by a group of theatre artists who wanted to support each other in producing their solo shows. The nature of solo shows is so lonely--why not band together. The history of solo performance has exploded over the last 20 years. It seems as though everyone has a solo show and why not? It is the most frightening thing an actor/creator can do: standing alone and speaking their truth (both real and imagined) and then suffer the consequences of owning it. When the bad reviews come out there is no one to blame and when the good reviews come out there is no one there to celebrate. The dressing room is empty and there is no one to laugh with about the lines that got flubbed. There is no way out. There is also a bigger risk for the audience. Generally the actor is looking right at you. The audience is the scene partner. The actor must listen to the audience and include them while not letting the audience and their yawns, clapping, laughing, cell phones and candy wrappers derail the show. At its best it is one person's voice, body and imagination taking flight and bringing the audience along for the ride. This festival was co-founded and curated by Keira McDonald.
Keira McDonald (Creator/Performer/SPF Founder & Producer) is a self-producing theatre artist who lives in Seattle. Her first one woman show "Showerhead" was seen at Mae West Fest, Odd Duck Studio, Re-BAR (Seattle, WA.), Frontera Fest (Best of fest, Austin, TX) UNO SOLO festival (Victoria, BC) and Manhattan Theatre Source's EstroGenius Festival (NY, NY.) Her second one woman show "The Bridesmaid" premiered at The Comedy Tree (London, UK) and was featured at Theatre Off Jackson and CHAC (Seattle, WA.) and Bryant Lake Bowl (Minneapolis, MN.) It toured The Canadian Fringe Festival Circuit to sold out audiences in Regina, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton and Vancouver 2007. Her third one woman show 'BLAsT!' premiered at The Regina International Theatre Festival and toured to Winnipeg and Saskatoon. She is the Founder and Producer/Curator of Seattle's Solo Performance Festival (SPF) at Theatre Off Jackson which is about to launch it's third season.
Since being created SPF has produced the work of 31 artists from Washington, California, Alberta and Ontario (Canada.) The stories that have been shared have been about weddings, zombies, suicide, Boobs, camping trips, gloomy head masters, prodigal sons, the ethics of cat surgery, bombs, the seven deadly sins, condos, yoga retreats, horse obsession, shop lifting, maggots in your shoe and one Giant Invisible Robot among other things.
SPF # 3 continues to take risks. This year we are partnering with:
Local theater, dance and performance artists including both first time solo performers and veterans in "Shorties! An Evening of Short Solo Performance" (Wed-Thur Mar 4-5, 8PM)
San Francisco's James Judd returns to SPF with "7 Sins" (Fri-Sat Mar. 6-7, 8PM)
The Burlesque Community: "xxperience Boylesque" curated by and featuring Waxie Moon (Fri-Sat Mar 13-14, 10PM)
Local playwright S.P. Miskowski's "my new friends (are so much better than you)" featuring Morgan Rowe (Thur-Sat Mar 12-14, 8PM)
People's Republic of Komedy presents "Theatre of Pain" (Fri-Sat Mar 13-14, 10PM)
Local playwright Keri Healey's "Otter Pop" featuring Keira McDonald (Thur-Sat Mar 19-21, 8PM)
"xxplicit" by Seattle's gender-bending queer boylesque performer (Thur-Sat Mar 19-21, 8PM)
London, Ontario's J. McDonald presents his third show at SPF, "Fall Fair" (Thur-Sat Mar 19-21, 8PM)
DATE: Wednesday and Thursday March 4 & 5, 2009
TIME: 8:00 p.m.
VENUE: Theatre Off Jackson, 409 - 7th Ave S in the International District, www.theatreoffjackson.org
PARKING: On-street or $3 in the lot at 8th & Jackson
PRICING: $13 adv/15, http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/56786
Johanna Buccola
Emmett Montgomery
Jenna Bean Veatch
Keira McDonald
Jonah Von Spreeken
Christopher Bange
Mara Siciliano
Dartanion London
