A Human, an Idea, a Stage: Santa Fe Playhouse Debuts The Skeletal Series, a New New-Works Festival

Santa Fe Playhouse's new Skeletal Series is a three-week festival featuring solo shows by visiting theater artists from around the country. Three vastly different productions run Wednesday through Saturday evenings, with a Saturday matinee.

The first show, opening July 27, is MAROONED! A SPACE COMEDY, by puppet company Alex & Olmsted. MAROONED! is a multimedia extraterrestrial journey that uses a mix of lo-fi and hi-tech in a story about a lost astronaut. DRIVING AROUND, by Amrita Dhaliwal, opens August 3. Amrita is a Punjabi-American comedian whose work has won numerous awards, including best comedy at Melbourne Fringe 2019. And Psalmayene 24's autobiographical performance in letters, through hip hop and spoken word, DEAR MAPEL, opens August 10.

In a Skeletal Series special event, beloved actress Marsha Mason performs a staged reading of IN THAT Little Village NEAR PERM, a twist on Chekov's Three Sisters, written by television writer and producer Gary Dontzig, on August 1.

The Skeletal Series also includes SHOP/TALKS, held on Sundays, which are part panel discussion, part workshop, and part Q&A. Visiting artists are paired with local theater artists to share works in progress and engage in conversations with each other and the audience. SHOP/TALKS are participatory, and those who want to will be able to read some of the new works aloud. SHOP/TALKS are free and open to the public, but reservations are required.

See below for a complete schedule.

Tickets are $75 for premium reserved seating; $50 for reserved seating; $30 for general admission; $27 for seniors; and $15 for students. Festival passes available. Go to santafeplayhouse.org or call 505-988-4262.

Santa Fe Playhouse has presented theater by and for Santa Feans for 100 years, from beloved classics to new works by local and national artists. As our city, our country, and our world changes, the Playhouse offers compelling productions that will provoke difficult conversations with compassion, while pushing theatrical forms and opening doors for artists of all backgrounds and identities.

July 27-31

MAROONED! A SPACE COMEDY
Alex & Olmsted

7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 27-Saturday, July 30

2 p.m. Saturday, July 30

SHOP/TALK: 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday, July 31

Marooned! is an uncommon multimedia puppet show about an astronaut who crashes on an uncharted planet. Can she survive strange creatures, isolation, and an anomalous atmosphere - and find her way home? Alex and Olmstead (Alex Vernon and Sarah Olmsted Thomas) is an internationally acclaimed puppet theater and film production company, based in Maryland, that has won two Jim Henson Foundation grants, including one for Marooned!

August 1

IN THAT Little Village NEAR PERM
Marsha Mason performs a staged reading of Gary Dontzig's play

7 p.m. Monday, August 1

NOTE: This event does not include a SHOP/TALK

Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters is one of literature's most enduring classics. But what might have become of the Prozorov family after the last time we saw them, in 1901? It's now 1950 and we're about to find out what happened to Olga, Masha, Irina, and their brother, Andrei. Tesuque resident Gary Dontzig has written for and produced numerous television shows, including Murphy Brown, Suddenly Susan, and A Different World.

August 3-7

DRIVING AROUND

Amrita Dhaliwal

7:30 p.m. Thursday, August 3-Saturday, August 6

2 p.m. Saturday, August 6
SHOP/TALK: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday, August 7

A provocative brew of physical comedy, absurdism, and American naivety are on a fanciful bus ride. In a show full of insights into what unites us and separates us, a bus driver takes you on a ride that is so far past stupid that it becomes compelling! Dhaliwal was a best comedy winner at Melbourne Fringe 2019. She is a Punjabi American comedian and devising artist based in Los Angeles whose style has been compared to Mel Brooks. Her work explores themes of humanity through the lens of the current political climate.

Some examples of Dhaliwal's work:

The Living Room

Story-telling Performance

Pen Pals

August 10-14

DEAR MAPEL

Psalmayene 24

7:30 p.m. Wednesday, August 10-Saturday, August 13

2 p.m. Saturday, August 13

SHOP/TALK: 11 a.m.- 2 p.m. Sunday, August 14

Psalmayene 24 performs letters to a father he never really knew. In turns dramatic, gripping, and comedic, occasionally delivered as spoken-word poetry, the narrative chronicles the playwright's creative coming-of-age, recalls his Brooklyn childhood, formative showbiz experiences, encounters with racism, and more. Psalm is a preeminent voice in hip hop theater and Mosaic Theater Company of DC's Andrew W. Mellon playwright-in-residence.

Photo Credit: Glen Ricci Photography

To post a comment, you must register and login.