Reading: "To The Moon"

3/19/2018

Monday, March 19, 7 pm
Doors opened at 7 PM; reading began at 7:30
Venue: The Frontier, Jackalope Theatre,
1106 W Thorndale Ave, Chicago, IL 60660
*Generously donated by Jackalope Theatre

The work: TO THE MOON is a fierce and tender docu-drama about domestic abuse. Almost 200 survivors contributed stories that shaped this script; knowing that such abuse impacts people from all walks of life, five diverse women collaborated to interview survivors and distribute surveys. Playwright Beth Kander weaves these survivors' stories into a tough and moving play, documenting and dramatizing the tragic realities of domestic abuse in America.

Script developed as part of American Theater Company's CORE program; thanks as well to About Face Theatre and Along the Way Productions!

To The Moon

This reading marked the culmination of a year's hard work for playwright Beth Kander. She interviewed nearly 200 persons, most of them victims of domestic abuse survivors. Researched statistics, causes, remedies. And then fashioned an hour long work for 8 actors, presenting 8 stories of relationships gone terribly wrong and the women who suffered.

Interestingly, my character was transgender. And the only one who, in her previous male life, had also been an abuser. A "gas lighter", inflicting mental and emotional abuse. Ironically, this character then became the victim of similar behaviors after transitioning to female.

I was very happy to support this beautiful work and worthwhile project. And grateful for the opportunity as it may be my only stage performance for 2018.

Very Nearly Didn't Happen

This little show ended up having a great deal of drama behind the scenes as well. Days before we started rehearsals, American Theatre Company put a "hold" on our payments and told us the theatre may not be available for the performance. ATC's demise had been rumored for a few weeks, and sure enough, before our opening night the theatre formally announced its closure.

The only reason our public performance happened was through the hard work of Beth and close theatre friends who called around and found an alternative venue, the Jackalope Theatre in Edgewater, donating their space for free. A concerted Facebook campaign stood in for ATC's publicity efforts, and this succeeded so well that the Jackalope space was nearly filled, even on that cold, blustery Monday night.

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