Swandive Theatre to Premiere Sam Graber's mONSTER This Fall

A powerful and timely new play, mONSTER is a disquieting look at the beginning of the web and it's evolution into today's ever present, indispensable yet destructive tool. It questions whether the culture of online hate is a new form of violence or one that has been there, lurking within us all.

Swandive Theater has partnered with award-winning playwright Sam Graber (Broadway Producer's List, 2016) to craft a play that builds on Swandive's track record of successful Twin Cities-based productions and nationally recognized designs (American Theatre 2014). mONSTER will run at the Southern Theater from Sept 29th through Oct. 7th as a local premiere before an attempted transfer to New York City.

Swandive Artistic Director Meg DiSciorio: "We set mONSTER during the birth of the popular internet, in 1994, when the World Wide Web first came to common use. Today, the internet impacts our lives each and every minute. By going back to the beginning, we are exploring how our independence on the web came about and when the culture of fear and hate became socially acceptable."

To create both the physical world of a college campus dorm room, where the entirety of the play takes place, and a surrounding manifestation of the World Wide Web, Swandive Production Director, Damon Runnals, brought together Scenic/Prop Designer Seán McArdle and Lighting Designer Jesse Cogswell. Damon Runnals: "We want the audience to be engulfed by the world we are creating and at the same time share the feelings of claustrophobia and oppression that a college dorm room can illicit. It's going to be a wild ride, merging those two worlds on one stage."

Directed by Swandive Theatre co-founder, Meg DiSciorio, mONSTER features: Jamie Fields, Kelsey McMahon and Avi Aharoni. With designs by Seán McArdle, Lisa Conley, Jesse Cogswell, Kevin Springer and graphics by Galen Higgins.

Swandive Theatre is a Minneapolis-based theater company focusing on design and working with local playwrights to create dynamic and thought-provoking new plays that incite the imagination. Founded in 2005 by Meg DiSciorio and Damon Runnals, Swandive utilizes an "inside-out" process to create wholly realized and intricately designed theatrical productions that audiences have called "magical", "transformative", and "dazzling".

IF YOU GO:

Sam Graber's mONSTER

At The Southern Theater: 1420 S. Washington Ave., Minneapolis

Saturday September 29th through Saturday October 7th
(9/29, 9/30, 10/1, 10/2, 10/5, 10/6, 10/7 at 7:30pm & 9/30, 10/7 at 2:30)

Tickets will be available for purchase online at www.artful.ly/the-southern-theater.

ARTshare Members: FREE | Non-ARTshare: $20 in advance, $24 at the door. Students are $12.