Anna Bella Eema Opens Strand Theater Company’s 2011–12 Season

Artistic Director, Jayme Kilburn, has announced the lineup for the Station North Arts & Entertainment District-based Strand Theater's upcoming fourth season. The scrappy company was recently named one of Charm City's "Top 5 Theaters" by Baltimore magazine. The Baltimore premiere of Lisa D'Amour's lyrical fairytale play with music, Anna Bella Eema, kicks things off with a three-week run under Kilburn's direction, October 7-22, 2011.

About Anna Bella Eema

"The life of a wild animal always has a tragic end."

Ten-year-old Anna Bella and her hermetic mother Irene live in a ratty trailer on The Edge of lackluster town. When a new interstate threatens their mobile home park, Anna Bella animates a new playmate out of dirt, sweat, and spit to cope. As Anna Bella and Irene struggle to protect their home, the very-much-alive mud girl leads them on an unforgettable voyage full of wildlife, wonder, and benevolent monsters. Three virtuosic actresses bring this vibrant story to life through language and song.

For director Kilburn, Anna Bella Eema provides an unusual challenge, "to create a fully realized world while, as the playwright envisions, the actors undertake minimal movement. This piece really emphasizes the act-and art-of storytelling: the power of the spoken word and the laser-like focus of the teller. This is also my first time working on a piece where song is so integral to the performance, with the entire cast vocalizing. It's been exhilarating to lead the company in wrestling with this beautiful text."

Lisa D'Amour is an Obie Award-winning playwright and interdisciplinary artist. Her work has been produced by such theaters as New Georges, Clubbed Thumb, The Women's Project, and HERE Arts Center (New York); Salvage Vanguard, Physical Plant, and Refraction Arts (Austin); Infernal Bridegroom Productions (Houston); Crowded Fire Theater (San Francisco); and Ten Thousand Things, Red Eye Collaboration, and Children's Theatre Company (Minneapolis). She has received commissions from Playwrights Horizons, Children's Theatre Company, Guthrie Theater, The Talking Band, and Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Steppenwolf's world premiere production of her most recent play, Detroit, will transfer to Broadway later this year.

This production marks Jayme Kilburn's seventh as director at the Strand. The cast of Anna Bella Eema includes Christen Cromwell, Alix Fenhagen, and Arielle Goodman, all making their Strand debuts. Chris Sidorfsky has composed the original music, while scenery and properties are designed by local artist and frequent Strand collaborator Alix Tobey Southwick.

Anna Bella Eema runs for ten performances over three weeks, October 7-22. The Pay-What-You-Can Preview is Thursday, October 6th. Opening Night-featuring a complimentary pre-show reception and post-show Q&A with the company-is Friday, October 7th, and tickets are $25. A special "School Night" performance-featuring a deeply discounted admission of just $3 for students and educators (with appropriate ID)-is Thursday, October 20th. Tickets for all other performances are $20, with discounted pricing for seniors ($15) and students ($10).

Still to Come in the 2011-12 Season

For the first time, the Strand will present a five-play "mainstage season." The lineup for the rest of the season includes two world premieres, a regional premiere, and a Baltimore premiere. All five productions are written and directed by women artists. Full-season subscriptions for all five shows are available for $80 online at strand-theater.org. Seniors and students can purchase discounted subscriptions for $60 and $40, respectively. For folks who'd like to get the fullest Strand experience and subscribe to Opening Nights can for just $100.

Glitter and Spew by Alison Luterman | Directed by Natalia Leimkuhler | December 2-17, 2011

"You know the best way for me to ruin someone's life? Get involved with them."

Fresh from the Strand's Friends & Neighbors Festival 2011, these three short plays form a three-ring-circus meditation on media exposure, shame, and personal responsibility. In A Night in Jail, a newly incarcerated starlet is shocked to discover that her guard can't be bribed and that her visitor is a dead French monarch. The bitter wife of a disgraced politician goes rogue-much to the dismay of her adult children-during an awkward satellite interview in The Toilet Stall. When the titular Freak tries some incognito pre-natal shopping, she can't avoid the advice of a fellow shopper or the judgment of the sperm donor who made it possible for her to become "Dodecamom."

That Pretty Pretty; or, The Rape Play by Sheila Callaghan | Directed by Jayme Kilburn | February 3-18, 2012

"I got fuckin' mad pretty on my shit."

Radical feminist ex-strippers Agnes and Valerie scour the country on a murderous rampage, blogging their exploits in gruesome detail. Meanwhile, scruffy screenwriter Owen tries to bang out his magnum opus in a hotel room while his buddy Rodney indulges some baser instincts. When Owen writes the "dangerous women" into his script, reality unravels. Can Jane Fonda-yes, that Jane Fonda-prevent complete chaos?

Blood-bound and Tongue-tied by Jacqueline E. Lawton | Directed by Lindsay Gentry |
March 23-April 7, 2012

"What you're trying to hide won't stay hid."

One of humanity's most primal stories is re-imagined with compassion and poetry in this ambitious offering also featured in Friends & Neighbors Festival 2011. Jocasta is a young black woman in depression-era Texas, who decided to pass as white in the big city. When she marries Laius-the heir to an oil baron-and becomes pregnant with Oedipus, her racial identity cannot remain hidden...or can it? One desperate lie instigates a catastrophic wave of bloodshed, and disaster envelops a nation.

Well by Lisa Kron | Directed by Danielle Young | June 1-16, 2012

"I wanted to crawl right into her skin, and I couldn't push her far enough away."

Noted solo performer Lisa has written her first multi-performer play, a riff on her and her mother Ann's knotty history with chronic illness. But as she presents her story, nothing goes according to plan. Ann won't stay put in her recliner. The other actors can't keep track of the scenes. And childhood nemesis Lori Jones keeps popping up. As Lisa struggles to maintain control of the show and herself, she must confront her greatest fear: turning into her mother.

Second Saturday Workshop Reading Series

The Strand loves to bring as many plays to audiences as possible. So while the mainstage shows are in rehearsal, we'll offer an array of little-seen works-some old, some brand new, some overlooked-in on a bi-monthly basis. Every reading will be offered free to audiences, under the auspices of Station North's Second Saturday program. The series kicked off on September 10th with Dan Kitrosser's Masha! Additional dates are November 12th, January 14th, March 10th, and May 12th; titles to be announced.

Anna Bella Eema Performance Schedule & Ticket Prices

All tickets are $20, unless otherwise noted. Seniors pay $15 and students $10 for any performance, except Opening Night or if a deeper discount applies.

· Thursday, Oct 6 at 8pm - Pay-What-You-Can Preview
· Friday, Oct 7 at 8pm - Opening Night (pre-show reception/post-show Q&A); tickets $25
· Saturday, Oct 8 at 8pm
· Wednesday, Oct 12 at 7pm
· Friday, Oct 14 at 8pm
· Saturday, Oct 15 at 8pm
· Sunday, Oct 16 at 3pm
· Thursday, Oct 20 at 8pm - School Night: Students & Educators (with valid ID) pay $3
· Friday, Oct 21 at 8pm
· Saturday, Oct 22 at 8pm - Closing Night

About the Strand.

The Strand Theater Company is a community theater dedicated to providing opportunities for women artists, writers, designers, and directors. With a focus on producing works new to Baltimore, the Strand hopes to foster a love of theater for a new generation of patrons.

Since launching in 2008, the Strand has presented 12 full-length plays, including five world premieres; offered 75% of the artistic positions on its productions-as playwrights, directors, designers, stage managers, and actors-to women; provided affordable theater space to many organizations and independent artists; and played an integral role in the revitalization of the Station North Arts & Entertainment District.

In August 2011, the Strand was honored as one of Baltimore magazine's "Top 5 Baltimore Theaters," along with CENTERSTAGE, Everyman, the Hippodrome, and Single Carrot.

To learn more about the Strand Theater Company, visit http://www.strand-theater.org.

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