Touchstone Theatre Digitally Presents Santa Fe-Based Theater Grottesco's PIE

Touchstone Theatre has announced PIE, a webcast event of an original production by Santa Fe-based company Theater Grottesco. The show will stream on February 5, 2021 at 8p, with a live talkback broadcast immediately following.

An ever-innovative producer of original theatre, Touchstone created artistic content in 2020 that was safely delivered in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Offerings included a livestreamed Zoom production in May; outdoor, socially distanced events in July-October; and a film version of their holiday classic, Christmas City Follies, in December. The first production of 2021 finds Touchstone shifting their presentation of sister ensemble theatre company, Theater Grottesco, from onstage to online with support of the New England Foundation for the Arts.

Theater Grottesco describes their original show PIE as an exploration of what happens when you don't know what to do next. The piece is inspired by the Carl Sagan quote, "If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe..." and the Kate Tempest poem Brand New Ancients, "Yes, the gods are on the park bench, the gods are on the bus, / The gods are all here, the gods are in us."

The play sees four lovable fools arrive at a panel discussion. When their moderator doesn't show up, it leads them to have a collective nervous breakdown, unleashing their inner gods, and accidentally destroying and reinventing the universe. The production has been lauded as "superb in its execution and imagination" and summarized as a journey across the universe, down the Grand Canyon, and into a world of questions about societal pressures, identity, hopelessness, greed, and possibility.

Immediately following the webcast of PIE, Touchstone will broadcast a live Q&A session with ensemble members from Grottesco, to discuss their process and take questions from the audience.

"While it's disappointing not be able to host Theater Grottesco in person, as originally planned, we didn't want another season to go by without reconnecting with these old friends and bringing their creative brilliance back to our audiences," says artistic director Jp Jordan.

Touchstone's season is supported locally by season sponsor RCN. WDIY provides media sponsorship and Working Dog Press provides print sponsorship. PIE is funded in part by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Theater Project, with lead funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation

Theater Grottesco in PIE will stream on February 5, 2021 at 8p. Tickets are $10 per household and are available by phone at 610.867.1689 or online at www.touchstone.org