The Bridge Initiative Returns To Tempe Center For The Arts

The Bridge Initiative returns to Tempe Center for the Arts with A Feminine Ending and just be in January 2022. Both offerings interrogate gender and identity in different and complementary ways. The performances run Friday, January 14th through Saturday, January 22nd, 2022, tickets $12-$30 (plus fees) with the a discount if you purchase tickets to both events.

In a regional premiere from Sarah Treem (TV's The Affair, House of Cards, In Treatment), directed by Daniela Crispo, A Feminine Ending is a gentle, bittersweet comedy about a girl who knows what she wants, but not quite how to get it. Having recently graduated from a major conservatory, and with a rocker boyfriend on the brink of stardom, aspiring composer Amanda Blue's "extraordinary life" seems to be all mapped out. But when she runs home to answer her mother's distress call, Amanda's grand plan starts to unravel. The play offers no easy answers for a woman's quest to find her voice.

Local theatre artist Maybe Stewart and their ensemble of actors then ask: What does it mean to truly find yourself? What would it look like to let yourself just be? Using the playwright's personal narrative as a jumping-off point, this interactive evening of poetry, movement, theatre, and conversation explores gender, trauma, and identity in a unique, vulnerable, and piercingly honest format. This world premiere staged workshop presentation is the second step in the piece's evolution from concept to full production. Content warning: mature themes, including trans/BIPOC trauma, child abuse, and sexual assault.

As a preview for these events, Bridge curates a dialogue with directors Crispo and Stewart, joined by original New York producer of A Feminine Ending, Billy Russo, in a program called Monthly Muse, Sunday, January 9th, 2022, part of Building Bridges @ ASU Kerr. The program will feature scenes from both productions as well as Q&A with the creatives to learn about the origins of the work and the process for Bridge's productions.

A Feminine Ending and just be are partially funded by a City of Tempe Wavemaker Arts Grant. Evening performances 7:30pm, matinees 3:00 pm, January 14-22, 2022, at Tempe Center for the Arts, 700 W. Rio Salado, Tempe, AZ 85281. Tickets $12/$15 students/seniors; $15/30 general admission; $25 VIP seats (plus fees); discounts for the purchase of both shows, and for residents of Tempe: https://www.tempecenterforthearts.com/events/resident-artists/the-bridge-initiative

Monthly Muse is produced by The Bridge Initiative in collaboration with ASU Kerr, 6110 N Scottsdale Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85253, and funded in part by Scottsdale Arts. Tickets pay-what-you-wish from $5 students; $10 general admission (plus fees): https://www.ticketmaster.com/ASU-Kerr-Cultural-Center-tickets-Scottsdale/venue/204827