13th Floor Premieres THE BROKEN KNIFE Tonight
13th Floor is proud to announce the world premiere of THE BROKEN KNIFE, an original play conceived by Artistic Director Jenny McAllister. Inspired by graphic novels like Neil Gaiman's The Sandman and Brian K. Vaughan's Saga, THE BROKEN KNIFE presents a mythological world at war. A misfired arrow and a broken knife ignite a star-crossed love affair, joining gods and mortals in an epic test of wills.
With a mix of sharp writing and propulsive movement, 13th Floor brings its characteristic wit to THE BROKEN KNIFE, a show for all ages. THE BROKEN KNIFE runs for two weekends, tonight, November 5, through November 15, 2015. Thursday, Friday and Saturday performances start at 8:00 pm, and Sunday shows at 7:00 pm. Opening night is Friday, November 6. Tickets, which range from $15 to $45, may be purchased online at odcdance.org/tickets.
In THE BROKEN KNIFE, Greek and Norse gods vie for supreme power, every now and then interfering in the lives of the humans below. "I've been a fan of graphic novels for a long time," says McAllister. "They create worlds of highly detailed fantasy and drama, and I love the way the text and images work together to give the illusion of motion. In THE BROKEN KNIFE I'm interested in bringing that illusion to life, pushing the conventional bounds of storytelling."
Since 2010 McAllister has originated three stylized plays, marrying text and movement in unusual ways: Bloomsbury/It's Not Real (2012), which sets Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group inside a reality television premise; Being Raymond Chandler (2013), about the iconic detective fiction writer as he struggles to write; and A Wake (2015), inspired by James Joyce's final novel, Finnegans Wake.
Although THE BROKEN KNIFE falls as the fourth in this line, it also marks two firsts for the company. It marks McAllister's debut as a performer in one of her company's plays, and it marks the company's first collaboration with an outside director. Mugwumpin company member Natalie Green joins McAllister as co-director. "We share a similar off-kilter, quirky aesthetic," says McAllister. Also joining THE BROKEN KNIFE is Shotgun Players company member Beth Wilmurt, who will serve as the company's vocal coach. "I've been a huge fan of Beth's for years, and I'm delighted to have her consulting on the project," adds McAllister.
In recognition of THE BROKEN KNIFE's theatrical bona fides, McAllister has shortened her company's name from 13th Floor Dance Theater to 13th Floor. "This change has been in the making for a number of years now," says McAllister. "Dance is just one device within a big toolkit my company works with, and it no longer feels honest to suggest that it's our primary instrument. To describe the work we're making as 'Dance Theater' feels more and more like a misnomer, and that's the reason we've let it go."
The script of THE BROKEN KNIFE was devised by McAllister in collaboration with the cast including: Blane Ashby, Kat Cole, Colin Epstein, Zach Fischer, Julie Mahony, Nicole Nastari and David Silpa. Additional performers include Anna Greenberg, Becky Robinson-Leviton and Jennifer Wright. Delayne Medoff returns as visual designer, with Keriann Egeland in charge of costumes.
For more information about THE BROKEN KNIFE and 13th Floor visit 13thfloortheater.org.
13th Floor was founded in 2010 by Jenny McAllister, along with a troupe of talented performers equally adept at acting and moving. With a background in both theater and dance, the company explores how narrative theater can be enhanced by character-based movement - using dance, fight choreography or riffs on simple human gestures. Over the past five years, 13th Floor has collaborated with local writer Kim Green, visual designers Michael Oesch and Delayne Medoff, and has been supported in part by grants from ODC Theater, the Zellerbach Family Foundation, the Fleishhacker Foundation, The Mellon Foundation, The Fort Mason Foundation and the Dancers' Group Lighting Artist In Dance Award. 13th Floor was the recipient of a creative work/play residency at ODC Theater in 2013, The Sandbox Series in May of 2015, and a one-month residency at Levy Dance in January 2015.
Pictured: (clockwise from left) Zach Fischer and Jenny McAllister; Zach Fischer and David Silpa; Julie Mahony and Colin Epstein. Photos by Pak Han.
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