1812 Productions to Present IT'S MY PARTY: THE WOMEN AND COMEDY PROJECT, 4/25-5/19

1812 Productions presents the world premiere comedy It's My Party: The Women and Comedy Project, created and directed by 1812 Productions' Artistic Director, Jennifer Childs, and featuring a diverse ensemble of Philadelphia actresses. It's My Party: The Women and Comedy Project began in 2010 with two questions: how do women use comedy and how does that usage change as they age.

A work in three acts, It's My Party uses several artistic styles-scripted play, collage, composition, stand-up, cabaret-to investigate gender stereotypes and unlock politicized boxes in which women are held to give space to the honest, raw, and individual comedy of daily life. "You can own your place in the world," says It's My Party creator and director Jennifer Childs, "But sometimes you have to walk through the mud to find it."

The show's three acts take the audience from a hilarious dissection of the academic, intellectual, and historical parameters that have traditionally defined the 'funny woman' (Act 1, The Lecture), thru the real stories of lives lived (Act II, The Ritual), and ultimately an anarchic cabaret of self-expression (Act III, The Rave). Susan Riley Stevens is the production's Everywoman, who leads, and is ultimately led by, a chorus of women who subvert and belie each assumption they encounter. In addition to the original scripted material written by Ms. Childs, the production draws from over 100 interviews with women all along the East coast, pulling together anecdotes, stories, and personal experiences.

The production takes its title from the anthemic Lesley Gore pop ballad, which has come to represent myriad points of view for many of the women interviewed for or involved with the production-most pointedly an interviewee in her 60s who, after a lifetime of ambivalence about what a woman "should" be, remarked, "When I hit my 60th birthday, a light went on. And I decided, 'it's my party, I'm gonna live my life for me'." This sentiment was echoed by a number of Women and Comedy Project participants, all with varying intent-defiance, affirmation of self, celebration. Ms. Gore's infectious song permeates the show in a variety of ways. At first a jumping off place, before being methodically dismantled to frame the show's numerous comedic styles.

It's My Party also incorporates original and devised music by the cast, musical director Monica Stephenson, and sound designer Michael Kiley, and features a set by 1812 Productions newcomer Lance Kniskern that is equal parts schoolroom, Greek temple, and discotheque.

Among the over 100 interview participants whose personal stories contributed to the creation of the script were Kambri Crews, storyteller, comic, and author of the memoir Burn Down the Ground; Peggy Orenstein, journalist, Female Studies specialist, and author of the books Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the New Girly-Girl Culture and Schoolgirls: Young Women, Self-Esteem and the Confidence Gap, among others; and Lucie Arnaz, actress, singer, cabaret performer, and daughter of arguably the most famous of comedic actresses, Lucille Ball.

It's My Party: The Women and Comedy Project has had a working presence in the Philadelphia community over the past two years. As a part of the interview and workshop process, the Project has welcomed several ideological community partners including Women Against Abuse, Women's Way, Transition Network, and Why Not Prosper. Ms. Childs has opened the creative process to individuals served by these organizations, resulting in storytelling and improvisational gatherings everywhere from 1812's artist studio to Plays & Players Theatre to halfway houses for women getting out of prison and victims of domestic violence. Regarding the project's relationship with Women's Way, whose mission is to address pressing issues facing women today, Ms. Childs says, "Working with Women's Way has been an amazing and revelatory process. Assumptions are often made that feminism has no sense of humor, and that comedy can't be taken seriously. It's My Party proved to be the perfect meeting ground for our organizations."

Ms. Childs says of It's My Party: The Women and Comedy Project, "I am interested in transformation-fear transforming into joy, ugliness transforming into beauty-and the unique and powerful role that comedy and laughter can play in making that transformation possible. For this reason, how different women use humor compels me. Women are, by nature, transformative creatures. As I watch the women in my life age, their physical and emotional transformations are matched by a comedic one. They use humor in new and different ways to cope with the issues and challenges of new bodies, older brains, and more complicated life experiences." She continues, "I want to showcase thr collision of the presentational and the personal-the iconic roles women play and the complex stories that lie underneath. I want to create something with this ensemble of women that explodes stereotypes, honors the truth of their comedic journeys, and, most importantly, makes people laugh really hard."

More information about the history, workshops, interviews, and creative process for It's My Party: The Women and Comedy project can be found at www.1812productions.org. It's My Party: The Women and Comedy Project will run from April 25th through May 19th, 2013 at Plays & Players Theatre, 1714 Delancey Street, in Center City Philadelphia. Opening Night will be Wednesday, May 1st at 7:00pm. Ticket prices range from $22 to $38 and can be purchased at 215-592-9560 or at www.1812productions.org.

Jennifer Childs, Creator/Director: Jen is the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of 1812 Productions, Philadelphia's all comedy theater company. For 1812 she has written and directed The Big Time, Another Big Time, Like Crazy Like Wow (1950s Nightclub comedy), Something Wonderful Right Away, Always A Lady, Double Down, This Is The Week That Is, Let's Pretend We're Married, Our Show of Shows, and, in collaboration with composer James Sugg, the original musical Cherry Bomb. Her solo show, Why I'm Scared of Dance by Jen Childs, was recently produced at City Theatre in Pittsburgh and Act II Playhouse in Ambler, PA. In addition to her work at 1812, she has performed and/or directed for Wilma Theater, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Walnut Street Theatre, Arden Theatre Company, Prince Music Theatre, Mum Puppettheatre, Act II Playhouse, Lenape Regional Performing Arts Center, Lantern Theater Company, Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, and ComedySportz. She is a two-time Barrymore Award winner including the 1999 F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Theatre Artist. She is the recipient of two Independence Foundation Fellowships in the Arts and serves on the Mayor's Cultural Advisory Council.

1812 Productions was founded in 1997 and is the only professional theater company in the country dedicated to comedy. Their education program, 1812 Outreach, has received multiple nominations and been awarded the Barrymore Award for Excellence in Theatre Education and Community Service. 1812 Productions is the recipient of an honorary citation from the City of Philadelphia for outstanding work and commitment to the Philadelphia arts community. In 2010, they were honored as one of only 10 theaters in the country to receive a National Theatre Company grant from the American Theatre Wing, founder of the Tony Awards. 1812 Productions, while continually on the search for a permanent home, continues to perform at various locations in Philadelphia.