Photo Flash: First Look at Shawn Bowers in The New Colony's THE GOLDFISH PROJECT

The New Colony presents an exciting free line-up of Side Stage programming this fall, kicking off with a new installment of THE GOLDFISH PROJECT, Shawn Bowers' uproarious (and a little bit creepy) adventures posing as a women on popular online dating sites. Then, the PSYCHONAUT LIBRARIANS return - and audiences are invited to help The New Colony and writer/director Sean Kelly further develop this sci-fi trilogy. Finally, travel with the company through the mysterious depths of the their cavernous home at the Dank Haus in BLACK & BURN, by Jake Sanders directed Joe Giovinnetti. All Side Stage performances will be presented at the Dank Haus German American Cultural Center, 4740 N. Western Ave. in Chicago. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at Bowers below!

"Our Side Stage performances have been an incredibly fruitful addition to The New Colony's programming - and because they're free, they allow us more flexibility to experiment and think outside the box to discover new techniques for creating original work," comments Associate Artistic Director Sarah Gitenstein. "These programs focus primarily on the text and provide us the opportunity to truly articulate what makes The New Colony's writing process so unique. Free programming also helps us widen our audience base by giving newcomers a taste of what The New Colony has to provide and offers an opportunity for our fans to engage with us more regularly," adds Gitenstein.

THE GOLDFISH PROJECT: Procreation

Created by and starring Shawn Bowers

Co-Curated by Shawn Bowers and Sarah Gitenstein

Also featuring Christina Boucher, Patriac Coakley and Tim de la Motte

October 3, 4, 10 & 11 at 7:30 pm

Press performances: Saturday, October 4 at 7:30 pm and Friday, October 10 at 7:30 pm

Free tickets are currently available at www.thenewcolony.org.

Catfishing is so last year. Chicago comedian Shawn Bowers has spent years perfecting the art of "goldfishing:" pretending to be a woman on some of the most popular online dating sites, not for love, but for good old fashioned entertainment. Now, he's back with the latest installment of THE GOLDFISH PROJECT: Procreation, a multimedia showcase of actual conversations, e-mails, texts and photos from his time undercover. He's joined by special guest correspondents doing their own odd experiments and true stories of real people who've had their own "unique interactions" online.