Looking Glass Presents CALAMITY JANE BATTLES THE HORRIBLE HOOPSNAKES

Looking Glass Theatre, celebrating almost 20 years of productions strengthening the voice of women in theater and the arts, will present Calamity Jane Battles the Horrible Hoopsnakes, a playful new children's show written by E. J. C. Calvert, a Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival-winning playwright (2010). Jacquelyn Honeybourne, a former Looking Glass Forum director, leads the production which opens Saturday, October 15 and runs through Sunday, November 20 with performances Saturdays at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for children 12 and under. Group tickets are available. Running time is approximately 50 minutes without intermission; show is appropriate for ages 4-12.

About the show
Twelve-year-old Calamity Jane and her Mother are on their way to California when they find themselves in the beleaguered town of Hoopersville. Here, all but three of the townsfolk have been townie-napped by the hilarious, hair-raising Hoopsnakes who have plagued their town. Will Calamity Jane be able to help the remaining townspeople come out of their hidey-holes and face the Hoopsnake Queen once and for all? And most importantly, will there be pie?

Join us in the Wild Wild West for some wild wild fun! You might have heard of Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed, and Pecos Bill - BUT what about Jane?! And how did a little girl named Jane become CALAMITY Jane? Presented in the style of your favorite Saturday mornin' cartoons, it's gonna be a rootin' tootin', rip roarin', good ol' time!

Featuring Katie Proulx as Calamity Jane, this tall-tale production features an ensemble cast including Abraham Adams (Mayor), Gianna Cioffi (Snakelet), Jessica Kelly (Mom), David Mangiamele (Townie Tam), Monica O'Malley (Snake Queen) and Sarah Pullman (Townie Toula). Creative team includes: Emily Antenucci (Assistant Director/Stage Manager), Kristin Dwyer (Assistant Director/Stage Manager), Nicole Carroll (Scenic Design & Props), Daisy Long (Light Design) and Kristina Sneshkoff (Costume Design).

E. J. C. Calvert is from St. Louis, Missouri, currently living in Chicago. Achievements include: Samuel French OOB 2010 Winner, O'Neill Conference semifinalist, Leota Diesel Ashton Prize in Playwriting recipient, International Women's Playwriting Festival finalist, Chatterton Short Play Festival Audience Award winner. Her play The Bear (A Tragedy) is published by Samuel French. Performances and readings include The Bird Girl (Last Frontier Theatre Conference Play Lab), Testify! (Roy Arias Studios), Cadaver Synod (The Brecht Forum), Witness! The Amazing Slipping Away (The Cell). She holds an MFA in Playwriting from the New School for Drama and is a member of the Dramatists Guild.

Jacquelyn Honeybourne is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis with a B.A, in Theatre and Biology. A director of reimagined classics and new works in New York, many at Looking Glass where she is an Artistic Associate, some of her most recent directing credits include - Black Peter: A Musical, Naturalized Woman (staged reading), A Midsummer Night's Dream, Casina (Adaptor/Director, Looking Glass Forum), Phaedra (Adaptor/Director, Looking Glass Forum), Paradise: A one woman show (UK), The War Zone is My Bed: A one-woman show (UK), and Li'l Heroes (Looking Glass Forum). Jacquelyn also works as a scenic and makeup designer as well as a puppet builder for theatres in the city. She is an Artistic Associate with Nora's Playhouse, where will be directing Yasmine Rana's Returning.

LOOKING GLASS THEATRE - Looking Glass Theatre's mission is to theatrically and truthfully reflect a female vision on the stage while creating a community of artistic freedom. We fulfill this by presenting female directors' visions of original works or the classics and by staging new plays either written or directed by women. This includes children's shows and educational programming as well as our semi-annual festival of new works, featuring emerging women playwrights and directors, each season. In 2009 nytheatre.com said, "Looking Glass Theatre deserves kudos for consistently programming affordable shows for families that really are produced and staged with the youngest theater-goers in mind." The New York Times called Looking Glass Theatre's Adventures of the Puppet Princess "charming" and "especially amusing to children under 10...a substantial introduction to the culture of Bali." The New York Times also described our 2010 production of Betsy is Bored, Bored, Bored, Bored, Bored! as "a briskly paced romp through daydreams."

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