GUNPOWDER (part of FailSafe Festival 2018) at Sonnet Theater @ The Producers Club

Synopsis

Set in the American West in the late 1800's, GUNPOWDER is a devised work-in-progress based on the lives of pioneering burlesque and vaudeville stars Lillian Russell and Kitty “Klondike Kate” Rockwell. Thrilling, savvy, and full of grit, these women took the young nation by storm and commanded respect, power, and autonomy in a time when the women's vote was illegal and showing a leg risked physical and moral attack. Using everything burlesque had to offer, including wit, parody, song, dance, cross-dressing, risque costumes, and sharp political satire, these early celebrities defined their own freedom when everything was designed to break or control them...but at a price. Set in the American West in the late 1800s, the full production will include burlesque routines, comedy, dance, and music to create an immersive experience, highlighting the lives of the diverse cowboys, miners, entrepreneurs, and entertainers consistently left out of the stories of the Frontier.

Developed in residency on Governors Island with Rising Sun Performance Company Fall 2017. Previously presented at Horse Trade Theatre Group.

Artist Information

Natalie Stringer is a theatre maker currently enrolled in the Masters of Arts, Applied Theatre program at City University of New York. Natalie received a B.A. in International Studies and a B.A. in Drama with Honors from Seattle University, produced convenings with Theatre Communications Group, trained with Third Rail Repertory Company, the NHS Institute at Northwestern University, Interlochen Arts, and is an Equity Membership Candidate. She works throughout the city as a teaching artist with Marquis Studios, and as the Communications and Program Assistant with Global Arts Corps.

Nataliestringer.com

?Grace Cannon (Assistant Producer) is a theater artist and educator who has worked in cities and towns across the US and in Europe. During her undergraduate years at Vassar College, where she studied American Culture through Literature and Anthropology, she co-founded No Fog West Theater Company. No Fog West was committed to producing documentary theater in the Deep West. After graduation, she worked with American Theater Company, Artemisia Theatre, and Adventure Stage in Chicago. On a Fulbright Scholarship in Berlin, she spent a year independently researching performative expressions of the German fascination with the American West. Now, in New York, she is enrolled in the MA in Applied Theatre program at the CUNY School of Professional Studies, where she is honing her skills as a teaching artist and applied theatre facilitator.
Ages: 18 and older