All New Cells Opens Tonight | Playwright Talkback on Saturday
l to r: Kasper Cergol as Nils and Zenaida Rose Smith as Lux. Photos by Kirk Hostetter
For immediate release
The Shattered Glass Project production of All New Cells opens on Friday, June 2, 2023 at Theatre Off Jackson. Centered on the story of Nils, All New Cells is a riveting tale of vampires and digital ghosts and a young trans man striving toward the ultimate goal: becoming himself.
TSGP is excited to offer this production during Pride Month as a co-production with Theatre Off Jackson (409 7th Ave S., Seattle WA 98104.) More information and tickets are available at https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/all-new-cells-june2023. Additional information for the press is available at www.shatteredglassproject.org/press-room-all-new-cells. Questions? Email us at info@shatteredglassproject.org.
TSGP will host a post-show talkback on Saturday, June 3rd with the playwright Aliza Goldstein (she/they) and director Alison Kozar (they/them), moderated by local actor, director and teaching artist Buddy Todd (they/them).
Featuring Kasper Cergol (he/him) as Nils; Zenaida Rose Smith (they/them) as Lux; Jasmine Lomax (they/them) as Aeon; and Kay Taylor Yelinek (they/them) as Moody, All New Cells runs June 2-18, 2023 at Theatre Off Jackson, located at 409 7th Ave. S, Seattle WA 98104. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets are available on a sliding scale from $10-$50. A limited number of free community access tickets are available for every performance.
Read more…(below the cut line!)
l to r: Kay Taylor Yelinek as Moody and Jasmine Lomax as Aeon. Photography by Kirk Hostetter.
Our story so far: All New Cells centers on Nils, a young trans man. When Nils's ex-girlfriend dies suddenly, he is dragged back into a toxic online roleplay scene he swore he'd never return to. He'd been doing okay sticking to his seven-year plan for getting over their breakup - but now, everyone either blames him or expects him to have answers, and he's getting nasty anonymous messages that might be coming from beyond the grave. A nuanced examination of identity, trauma, assault, grief, and mental health through an online world. Content Note: All New Cells contains references to suicide, child sexual abuse and self harm, which are discussed but not depicted; themes include transphobia and online bullying.
Why this show and why now? The Shattered Glass Project is dedicated to bringing stories to the stage that are unique and which have been selected for telling by theatre artists whose voices have been suppressed. Trans and GNC folks and women are being suppressed like hell right now, all across the United States and the world. Every day, across the US, it is becoming less safe and less legal to simply BE. We as an organization and as members of the theatre community are not going to let this story go untold.
All New Cells is a powerful story of disconnection and a search for identity contrasting how we live IRL (in real life) and how we present to the online world. The importance of role-play gaming and the construction of new personalities in new bodies is woven through the fabric of Nils’ story and personal development, as is the theme of creating power for and over yourself in a world where people often feel powerless. As Nils’ story shows, we can find agency for ourselves in a digital world and carry that agency into the life we live in the real world.
TSGP is a theatre company with a mission to amplify the voices of theatre artists who have been marginalized on the basis of their gender or sex by offering unique opportunities to create and grow professionally. Company history and details are available at www.shatteredglassproject.org.
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The Shattered Glass Project brings All New Cells to Theatre Off Jackson during Pride Month
Zenaida Rose Smith as Lux stands behind Kasper Cergol as Nils. Photography by Kirk Hostetter
For immediate release | May 15, 2023
The Shattered Glass Project (TSGP) presents the West Coast premiere of All New Cells, written by Aliza Goldstein and directed by Alison Kozar, June 2-18, 2023 at Theatre Off Jackson. All New Cells is a powerful story of disconnection and a search for identity contrasting how we live IRL (in real life) and how we present to the online world. More information and tickets are available at https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/all-new-cells-june2023. Additional information for the press is available at www.shatteredglassproject.org/press-room-all-new-cells
TSGP is excited to offer this production during Pride Month as a co-production with Theatre Off Jackson (located in Seattle’s Chinatown/International District.) All New Cells centers on Nils, a young trans man. When Nils's ex-girlfriend dies suddenly, he is dragged back into a toxic online roleplay scene he swore he'd never return to. He'd been doing okay sticking to his seven-year plan for getting over their breakup - but now, everyone either blames him or expects him to have answers, and he's getting nasty anonymous messages that might be coming from beyond the grave. A nuanced examination of identity, trauma, assault, grief, and mental health through an online world. Content Note: All New Cells contains references to suicide, child sexual abuse and self harm, which are discussed but not depicted; themes include transphobia and online bullying.
Why this show and why now? The Shattered Glass Project is dedicated to bringing stories to the stage that are unique and which have been selected for telling by theatre artists whose voices have been suppressed. Trans and GNC folks and women are being suppressed like hell right now, all across the United States and the world. Every day, across the US, it is becoming less safe and less legal to simply BE. We as an organization and as members of the theatre community are not going to let this story go untold.
All New Cells is a powerful story of disconnection and a search for identity contrasting how we live IRL (in real life) and how we present to the online world. The importance of role-play gaming and the construction of new personalities in new bodies is woven through the fabric of Nils’ story and personal development, as is the theme of creating power for and over yourself in a world where people often feel powerless. All New Cells touches on the way in which the digital ghosts of our past come back to haunt us. Ultimately, as Nils’ story shows, not only can we find agency for ourselves in a digital world and carry that agency into the life we live in the real world, we can also create victory for ourselves through acknowledging and incorporating the trauma we have experienced rather than excising it from our experience. We have the power to define and redefine ourselves.
Director Alison Kozar also notes that in All New Cells we are exploring queer characters in a queer affinity space and there are aspects of these characters that have emerged or are emerging and are still in flux, as queerness so often is. They say that when they were growing up, “[the] internet connected me to people like me, and people who liked me for me… It was a place where I didn't have to be me, but at the same time, I could share my secret thoughts and feelings without myself getting in the way.”
Playwright Aliza Goldstein says in their playwright’s notes that “All New Cells (is) a play inspired by the roleplay forums of my youth, the people who I met there, and the people who I was there….(A) beautiful, desolate, anonymous hellscape-cum-wonderland where you and me were free to be a hundred thousand kaleidoscopic versions of ourselves…. I hope you’ll recognize the characters who inhabit it. They live, I think, in every community, and in fandoms especially. If you feel seen by this play, I’m glad: I want to see you.”
Featuring Kasper Cergol (he/him) as Nils; Zenaida Rose Smith (they/them) as Lux; Jasmine Lomax (she/her) as Aeon; and Kay Taylor Yelinek (they/them) as Moody, All New Cells will preview June 1 and run June 2-18, 2023 at Theatre Off Jackson, located at 409 7th Ave. S, Seattle WA 98104. Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets are available on a sliding scale Pick Your Price model, with tiered pricing ranging from $10-$50. A limited number of free community access tickets are available for every performance. Tickets are available at https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/all-new-cells-june2023
top row: Zenaida Rose Smith as Lux; middle row: Kasper Cergol as Nils and Jasmine Lomax as Aeon; bottom row: Kay Taylor Yelinek as Moody. Photography by Kirk Hostetter
TSGP is a theatre company with a mission to amplify the voices of theatre artists who have been marginalized on the basis of their gender or sex by offering unique opportunities to create and grow professionally. Programming includes an online developmental reading series bringing emerging directors together with new scripts; and the Director and Playwright Incubator/Mentor Program, a professional development program building community and relationships between gender-marginalized theatre artists. Company history and details are available at www.shatteredglassproject.org.
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More information, including complete dramaturgical statements, promotional photos, and details about our cast and creative team, is available in our press room: www.shatteredglassproject.org/press-room-all-new-cells
l to r: Kay Taylor Yelinek as Moody is scolded by Jasmine Lomax as Aeon. Photography by Kirk Hostetter.
The Shattered Glass Project brings West Coast Premiere of “All New Cells” to Theatre off Jackson
For immediate release | April 1, 2023 ~ Seattle, WA
“BECOMING IS EXHAUSTING.”
The Shattered Glass Project (TSGP) presents the West Coast premiere of All New Cells, written by Aliza Goldstein and directed by Alison Kozar, June 2-18, 2023 at Theatre Off Jackson. A powerful story of disconnection and a search for identity contrasting how we live IRL (in real life) and how we present to the online world, All New Cells is TSGP’s second fully-mounted production.
Featuring Kasper Cergol (he/him) as Nils; Zenaida Rose Smith (they/them) as Lux; Jasmine Lomax (they/them) as Aeon; and Kay Taylor Yelinek (they/them) as Moody, All New Cells will preview June 1 and run June 2-18, 2023 at Theatre Off Jackson, located at 409 7th Ave. S, Seattle WA 98104. Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets are available on a sliding scale Pick Your Price model, with tiered pricing ranging from $10-$50. A limited number of free community access tickets are available for every performance. Tickets are available at https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/all-new-cells-june2023.
All New Cells centers on Nils, a young trans man. When Nils's ex-girlfriend dies suddenly, he is dragged back into a toxic online roleplay scene he swore he'd never return to. He'd been doing okay sticking to his seven-year plan for getting over their breakup - but now, everyone either blames him or expects him to have answers, and he's getting nasty anonymous messages that might be coming from beyond the grave. A nuanced examination of identity, trauma, assault, grief, and mental health through an online world.
CONTENT NOTE: All New Cells contains references to suicide, child sexual abuse and self harm, which are discussed but not depicted; themes include transphobia and online bullying.
Alison Kozar (they/them), a Seattle-based stage manager, sound designer and cohort member in TSGP’s 2021 Incubator/Mentor Program for emerging directors and playwrights connected with Aliza Goldstein (she/they), a playwright based in Orange County, CA, through the New Play Exchange, and brought All New Cells to TSGP as part of the company’s 2021 Zoom-based script development series.
All New Cells is a powerful story of disconnection and a search for identity contrasting how we live IRL (in real life) and how we present to the online world. The importance of role-play gaming and the construction of new personalities in new bodies is woven through the fabric of Nils’ story and personal development, as is the theme of creating power for and over yourself in a world where people often feel powerless. All New Cells touches on the way in which the digital ghosts of our past come back to haunt us. Ultimately, as Nils’ story shows, we can find agency for ourselves in a digital world and carry that agency into the life we live in the real world. We have the power to redefine ourselves.
TSGP is a theatre company with a mission to amplify the voices of theatre artists who have been marginalized on the basis of their gender or sex by offering unique opportunities to create and grow professionally. Programming includes an online developmental reading series bringing emerging directors together with new scripts; and the Director and Playwright Incubator/Mentor Program, a professional development program building community and relationships between gender-marginalized theatre artists. Company history and details are available at www.shatteredglassproject.org.
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More information, including promotional photos and details about our cast and creative team, will be available in our press room: www.shatteredglassproject.org/press-room-all-new-cells
Applications open for the 2023 Playwright and Director Incubator/Mentor Program.
The Shattered Glass Project is pleased to announce that applications are now open for the 2023 Playwright and Director Incubator/Mentor Program. The I/M Program is a 12-month tuition-free program for emerging playwrights and directors, focused on women, non-binary and trans theater artists. Full program details and information about applying are available at www.shatteredglassproject.org/2023-incubator-mentor-program. Questions about the program can be sent to info@shatteredglassproject.org.
The 2023-24 Incubator/Mentor Program is designed to offer participants the opportunity to build their professional skills and confidence as a practitioner, the tools to create and maintain a safe, inclusive, anti-racist and consent-based space for creating theatre, and a network of relationships within the cohort and with the broader Seattle theatre community.
The program centers around monthly cohort peer group meetings and includes eight weeks of skills-based workshops, leading into developmental work and rehearsals of new scripts, written and directed by cohort members. The program will culminate with a fully-produced One-Act Play Festival. Annie Lareau and Rachel Atkins, long-time Seattle theatre professionals, will serve as the director and playwright mentors for the 2023-24 cohort.
The 2023-24 program will be the second full iteration of TSGP’s Incubator/Mentor Program, and was selected as one of only two theaters funded by the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture Hope Corps Grant. Participants in the 2021 program have gone on to creative work at organizations such as Macha Theatreworks, ACT Theatre, and the Seattle Opera; to creative leadership roles with The Shattered Glass Project; and to found their own theatre companies.
Who Should Apply?
The TSGP Incubator/Mentor program is intended for people who:
have faced barriers to career advancement in theatre on the basis of their gender;
have paid or unpaid experience with theatre outside of a classroom context, in any role;
are demonstrably interested in pursuing playwriting or directing professionally;
want to approach (or already approach) their art and career with an intersectional social justice lens, and are committed to ongoing growth and learning in this area;
are able to participate in meetings, workshops, and rehearsals in person (either live in Seattle or can get to Seattle on a regular basis); and
can commit to the full twelve month program.
Full program details and information about applying are available at www.shatteredglassproject.org/2023-incubator-mentor-program. Questions about the program can be sent to us at info@shatteredglassproject.org.
About The Shattered Glass Project
The Shattered Glass Project is a theatre company with the mission to amplify the voices of theatre artists who have been marginalized on the basis of their gender or sex, including but not limited to cis and trans women, non-binary folks, and trans-masculine/trans-feminine folks, by providing unique opportunities to create and grow professionally. TSGP offers the Incubator/Mentor Program for emerging directors and playwrights every other year, and produces 2 mainstage productions, a one-act play festival, and 3-4 developmental readings or other developmental theatre projects each year, serving 50-100 artists and 500-1000 audience members. We are a fringe theatre company with aspirations.
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The Shattered Glass Project Awarded Hope Corps Grant From the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 29, 2022
The Shattered Glass Project, TSGP, announced today that it is a recipient of a Hope Corps Grant from the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture. TSGP is a non-profit theatre company with a mission to amplify the voices of theatre artists who have been marginalized on the basis of their gender or sex. The grant from Hope Corps is to support creative worker wages and other project expenses, specifically focused on TSGP’s Director and Playwright Incubator/Mentor Program.
“I am thrilled and humbled,” said Founder and Artistic Director Rebecca O’Neil. “The Hope Corps grant will allow TSGP to adequately compensate the artists participating in our Incubator/Mentor Program. Many of us in the theatre community earn our livings in a piecemeal fashion; this grant will increase and stabilize compensation for our teaching artists. Additionally, this money will support us to bring our teaching artists and cohort members into a space of our own. This funding is helping us realize our dream to build mutually supportive artistic connections among emerging playwrights and directors as well as with other artists in the Seattle theatre community .”
Hope Corps is an economic recovery program created by the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture in the wake of the pandemic. The goal of the program is to provide economic and social opportunities for Seattle’s creative workforce. A total of $1.3 million has been awarded to 30 different artists and organizations.
“Awardees presented proposals that are outstanding and inspiring in their scope, creativity and potential impact on our city. We believe that these projects will inspire and serve as examples to public and private funders in the region regarding what can be achieved if you work with the community to move us all forward.” Mayor Bruce Harrell
About TSGP
Founded in 2019, TSGP is a non-profit theatre company based in the Madrona neighborhood of Seattle with a mission to amplify the voices of theatre artists who have been marginalized based on their gender or sex. They recently presented their first in-person production, the world premiere of Want by Seattle playwright Barbara Lindsay. The flagship program at TSGP, the Director and Playwright Incubator/Mentor Program is a tuition-free program that features facilitated meetings and foundational workshops taught by Seattle theatre artists over a twelve-month period. Interwoven with developmental work and rehearsals of new scripts written and directed by cohort members, the program culminates in a short play festival. Alums of the 2021 program have been successfully working in Seattle theatre, including for TSGP.
TSGP launches their end-of-year fundraising campaign on October 3 with a goal of raising an additional $25,000 to fully fund the Director and Playwright Incubator/Mentor Program for the 2023-24 cohort.
Media Contact: Rebecca O’Neil | rebecca@shatteredglassproject.org | www.shatteredglassproject.org
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Images from Ghosts: A Festival of Original One-Act Plays, Produced December 2021 by the 2021 Playwright and Director Incubator/Mentor Cohort
Opening Thursday! "Want" by Barbara Lindsay
Kathy Hsieh as Ruby and Ronnie Hill as Earl enjoy a quiet moment in scene 1 of “Want” by Barbara Lindsay. Photography by Kirk Hostetter.
The world premiere of Want by Barbara Lindsay opens August 4th and runs through August 14th at the Center Theatre in the Armory Building at the Seattle Center. Performances are Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are available on a sliding scale Pick Your Price model, with tiered pricing ranging from $10-$50. A limited number of barrier-free community access tickets at $0 are available for every performance. Tickets are available at https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/want
THE STORY
Middle-aged couple Ruby and Early are happy in their new marriage (for starters, the sex is amazing!) It’s the great recession of 2008. They are struggling with unemployment and numbingly dull manual labor, but they have each other and they’ve just moved into a new apartment. Then the next-door neighbor Janelle pays them a call…
Content Warning: This show is recommended for ages 16 & up and includes adult language, explicit sexual imagery, depictions of violence and use of a knife.
THE TEAM
Led by two Seattle theatre veterans, director Maureen Hawkins and playwright Barbara Lindsay, Want has evolved with TSGP from its initial online performance as “Familiar Kill” in January 2021. The cast includes Kathy Hsieh as Ruby; Ronnie Hill as Earl; and Jennifer Faulkner as Janelle. Other creative team members include Bella Rivera (scenic design); Carolina Johnson (lighting design); Alison Kozar (sound design and stage management); Eliane Rodriguez (costume design); Britta Baer-Simon (property design); Jess K. Smith (intimacy direction); Morgan Grody (fight choreography); Lara Kratz (graphic design); Kirk Hostetter (photography); and Maycee McQuin (ASM).
“Want” is the first fully mounted in-person production by The Shattered Glass Project, which was founded in 2019.
THE COMPANY
TSGP is a theatre company with a mission to amplify the voices of theatre artists who have been marginalized on the basis of their gender or sex by offering unique opportunities to create and to grow professionally. Programming includes an online developmental reading series bringing emerging directors together with new scripts; and the Director and Playwright Incubator/Mentor Program, a professional development program building community and relationships between gender-marginalized theatre artists. Company history and details are available at www.shatteredglassproject.org.
More information, including promotional photos and details about our cast and creative team, can be found in our press room: www.shatteredglassproject.org/want-press.
“Was there anything else?” l to r: Janelle (Jennifer Faulkner) looks past Earl (Ronnie Hill) at Ruby (Kathy Hsieh). “Photography by Kirk Hostetter.
Opening Postponed: “Want” at the Center Theatre @ Seattle Center, August 4-August 14, 2022
Ruby and Earl (Kathy Hsieh and Ronnie Hill) enjoy a laugh.
Photos by Kirk Hostetter
The News
The Shattered Glass Project (TSGP) will postpone the opening of “Want” by Barbara Lindsay. The new opening performance will take place on Thursday, August 4, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.
Want now opens August 4th and runs through August 14th at the Center Theatre in the Armory Building at the Seattle Center. Performances are Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are available on a sliding scale Pick Your Price model, with tiered pricing ranging from $10-$50. A limited number of barrier-free community access tickets at $0 are available for every performance. Tickets are available at https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/want
The Story
Middle-aged couple Ruby and Early are happy in their new marriage (for starters, the sex is amazing!) It’s the great recession of 2008. They are struggling with unemployment and numbingly dull manual labor, but they have each other and they’ve just moved into a new apartment. Then the next-door neighbor Janelle pays them a call…
Content Warning: This show is recommended for ages 16 & up and includes adult language, explicit sexual imagery, depictions of violence and use of a knife.
The Team
Led by two Seattle theatre veterans, director Maureen Hawkins and playwright Barbara Lindsay, Want has evolved with TSGP from its initial online performance as “Familiar Kill” in January 2021. The cast includes Kathy Hsieh as Ruby; Ronnie Hill as Earl; and Jennifer Faulkner as Janelle. Other creative team members include Bella Rivera (scenic design); Carolina Johnson (lighting design); Alison Kozar (sound design and stage management); Eliane Rodriguez (costume design); Britta Baer-Simon (property design and ASM); Jess K. Smith (intimacy direction); Morgan Grody (fight choreography); Lara Kratz (graphic design); and Kirk Hostetter (photography).
“Want” is the first fully mounted indoor production by The Shattered Glass Project, which was founded in 2019.
The Company
TSGP is a theatre company with a mission to amplify the voices of theatre artists who have been marginalized on the basis of their gender or sex by offering unique opportunities to create and to grow professionally. Programming includes an online developmental reading series bringing emerging directors together with new scripts; and the Director and Playwright Incubator/Mentor Program, a professional development program building community and relationships between gender-marginalized theatre artists. Company history and details are available at www.shatteredglassproject.org.
More information, including promotional photos and details about our cast and creative team, can be found in our press room: www.shatteredglassproject.org/want-press.
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The Shattered Glass Project presents “Want” by Barbara Lindsay
The world premiere of a stirring play about the impact that poverty and jealousy can have on love.
The Shattered Glass Project presents “Want” at the Center Theatre @ Seattle Center, July 28-August 14, 2022
The Shattered Glass Project (TSGP) presents the world premiere of Want, an emotionally fraught play about the impact that poverty and jealousy can have on love, written by Barbara Lindsay and directed by Maureen Hawkins.
Middle-aged couple Ruby and Early are happy in their new marriage (for starters, the sex is amazing!) It’s the great recession of 2008. They are struggling with unemployment and numbingly dull manual labor, but they have each other and they’ve just moved into a new apartment. Then the next-door neighbor Janelle pays them a call…
Content Warning: This show is recommended for ages 16 & up and includes adult language, explicit sexual imagery, depictions of violence and use of a knife.
Led by two Seattle theatre veterans, director Maureen Hawkins and playwright Barbara Lindsay, Want has evolved with TSGP from its initial online performance as “Familiar Kill” in January 2021. The cast includes Kathy Hsieh as Ruby; Ronnie Hill as Earl; and Jennifer Faulkner as Janelle. Other creative team members include Bella Rivera (scenic design); Carolina Johnson (lighting design); Alison Kozar (sound design and stage management); Eliane Rodriguez (costume design); Britta Baer-Simon (property design and ASM); Jess K. Smith (intimacy direction); Morgan Grody (fight choreography); Lara Kratz (graphic design); and Kirk Hostetter (photography).
Want opens July 28th and runs through August 14th at the Center Theatre in the Armory Building at the Seattle Center. Tickets are available on a sliding scale Pick Your Price model, with tiered pricing ranging from $10-$50. A limited number of barrier-free community access tickets at $0 are available for every performance. Tickets are available at https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/want
“Want” is the first fully mounted indoor production by The Shattered Glass Project, which was founded in 2019.
TSGP is a theatre company with a mission to amplify the voices of theatre artists who have been marginalized on the basis of their gender or sex by offering unique opportunities to create and to grow professionally. Programming includes an online developmental reading series bringing emerging directors together with new scripts; and the Director and Playwright Incubator/Mentor Program, a professional development program building community and relationships between gender-marginalized theatre artists. Company history and details are available at www.shatteredglassproject.org.
More information, including promotional photos and details about our cast and creative team, can be found in our press room: www.shatteredglassproject.org/want-press.
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Earl makes Ruby laugh (l to r, Kathy Hsieh as Ruby, Ronnie Hill as Earl.) Photography by Kirk Hostetter
Illness Forces Cancellation of Performances for TBD (To Be Devised): A Celebration
For Immediate Release
6/23/2022 – Seattle, WA
Cancellation of Performances for TBD (To Be Devised): A Celebration at Dr. Blanche Lavizzo Park, June 24-25, 2022
The Shattered Glass Project (TSGP) regrets to announce that due to COVID-related illness in the cast and creative team, our performances of TBD (To Be Devised): A Celebration at Dr. Blanche Lavizzo Park on June 24-25, 2022 have been canceled.
The creative team plans to reschedule performances of this unique and original devised piece for September 2022, on dates which are…ah-hem…TBD.
Questions may be directed to rebecca@shatteredglassproject.org or to theshatteredglassproject@gmail.com.
TSGP is a theatre company with a mission to amplify the voices of theatre artists who have been marginalized on the basis of their gender or sex by offering unique opportunities to create and to grow professionally. Programming includes an online developmental reading series bringing emerging directors together with new scripts; and the Director and Playwright Incubator/Mentor Program, a professional development program building community .and relationships between gender-marginalized theatre artists. Company history and details are available at www.shatteredglassproject.org.
Free Theatre in A Hidden Central District Gem - The Shattered Glass Project presents TBD (To Be Devised): A Celebration
For Immediate Release
5/16/2022 – Seattle, WA
FREE THEATRE IN A HIDDEN GEM OF A PARK!
The Shattered Glass Project presents TBD (To Be Devised): A Celebration at Dr. Blanche Lavizzo Park, June 24-25, 2022
The Shattered Glass Project (TSGP) presents the world premiere of a completely original play created from the brains, hearts, and lives of the performers in front of you.
Created by Sophe Friedman and Darby Sherwood and the Cast, TBD (To Be Devised) is a celebration of our personal heroes - women and non-binary folks past and present who inspire and lead us forward. The performances are sponsored by the Free Seattle Parks Performing Arts Initiative and the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture.
CONTENT WARNING:
This show is recommended for ages 0+ and will make you laugh, cry, and learn. You have been advised.
AUDIENCE NOTES:
Admission is free and open to the public
Seating is in a concrete amphitheatre, without shade. Please come prepared for an outdoor experience. You may have fellow audience members seated close to you.
Co-creators Sophe Friedman and Darby Sherwood are alums of the inaugural Director and Playwright Incubator/Mentor Program sponsored by TSGP in 2021. Director Sophe Friedman is the Lead Teaching Artist and Curriculum Developer at We.APP (We. Act Present Perform), a teaching artist and director at Stone Soup Theatre, and an instructor at North Seattle College. Lead Playwright Darby Sherwood is a playwright, adapter, and dramaturg currently studying at the University of Washington; her next project is coming up at the Seattle Opera Creation Lab. The cast/creative team includes Carolynne Wilcox, Eliane Rodriguez, Jana Blumberg, and Sammy Weinert.
TBD (To Be Devised): A Celebration runs for two performances only, on Friday, June 24, 2022 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, June 25, 2022 at 2 p.m., at Dr. Blanche Lavizzo Park, 2100 S. Jackson St., Seattle WA 98144. Admission is free, as part of the Free Seattle Parks Performing Arts Initiative. Additional information is available at https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/tbd-a-celebration.
TBD (To Be Devised): A Celebration is the first in-person production of any kind produced by The Shattered Glass Project, which was founded in 2019. Other shows in the 2022 season include Want, written by Barbara Lindsay and directed by Maureen Hawkins, July 28-August 14, 2022; and Privileged written by Alma Davenport and directed by Sandra L. Holloway, November 9-20, 2022. Season information is available at https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/2022-season-1
TSGP is a theatre company with a mission to amplify the voices of theatre artists who have been marginalized on the basis of their gender or sex by offering unique opportunities to create and to grow professionally. Programming includes an online developmental reading series bringing emerging directors together with new scripts; and the Director and Playwright Incubator/Mentor Program, a professional development program building community .and relationships between gender-marginalized theatre artists. Company history and details are available at www.shatteredglassproject.org.
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Photos and creative team information available at https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/tbd-press-room
When love is like a flame, what could put it out?: The Shattered Glass Project presents "Want" July 28-August 14, 2022
For Immediate Release
5/2/2022 – Seattle, WA
The Shattered Glass Project presents Want at the Center Theatre @ Seattle Center, July 28-August 14, 2022
The Shattered Glass Project (TSGP) presents the world premiere of Want, a provocative and emotionally fraught play about the impact that poverty and jealousy can have on love, written by Barbara Lindsay and directed by Maureen Hawkins.
When love is like a flame, what could put it out?:
In Want, which is set during the Great Recession of 2008, middle-aged couple Ruby and Early are happy in their new marriage. (For starters, the sex is amazing!) They are struggling with unemployment and numbingly dull manual labor, but they have each other and they’ve just moved into a new apartment. Then the next-door neighbor Janelle pays them a call…
(Content Warning: This show is recommended for ages 16 & up and includes adult language, explicit sexual imagery, depictions of violence and use of a knife.)
Led by two Seattle theatre veterans, director Maureen Hawkins and playwright Barbara Lindsay, Want has evolved with TSGP from its initial online performance in 2021 under the title of Familiar Kill. The cast includes Kathy Hsieh as Ruby; Ronnie Hill as Earl; and Jennifer Faulkner as Janelle. Other creative team members include Bella Rivera (scenic design); Carolina Johnson (lighting design); Alison Kozar (sound design); and Kate Drummond (intimacy direction).
Want opens July 28th and runs Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through August 14th at the Center Theatre in the Armory Building at the Seattle Center. Tickets are available on a sliding scale Pick Your Price model, with tiered pricing ranging from $10-$50. A limited number of barrier-free community access tickets at $0 are available for every performance. Tickets are available at https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/want
More information, including promotional photos and details about our cast and creative team, can be found in our press room: www.shatteredglassproject.org/want-press.
About The Shattered Glass Project
Want is the first fully mounted indoor production by The Shattered Glass Project. TSGP will also produce TBD (To Be Devised): A Celebration, created by Sophe Friedman and Darby Sherwood, at Dr. Blanche Lavizzo Park on June 24-25, 2022; and Privileged, written by Alma Davenport and directed by Sandra L. Holloway, at West of Lenin, November 9-20, 2022. Season information available at https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/2022-season-1
TSGP is a theatre company founded in 2019 with a mission to amplify the voices of theatre artists who have been marginalized because of their gender or sex by offering unique opportunities to create and to grow professionally. Programming includes an online developmental reading series bringing emerging directors together with new scripts; and the Director and Playwright Incubator/Mentor Program, a professional development program building community and relationships between gender-marginalized theatre artists. Company history and details are available at www.shatteredglassproject.org.
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An unexpected journey: "Ghosts: A Festival of Original One-Act Plays"
For Immediate Release: October 31, 2021
Ghosts: A Festival of Original One-Act Plays
The ghosts in our lives are seen and unseen; known and unknown; visible and invisible, to ourselves and others.
Over the course of two thrilling evenings, Friday, December 10 and Saturday, December 11, 2021, at 7pm each night, The Shattered Glass Project invites audiences to explore the many forms 'ghosts' can take in our lives.
Five original one-act plays, written and directed for this festival by members of the TSGP 2021 Playwright and Director Incubator/Mentor cohort, will take you on an unexpected journey: from the specters of past relationships, to mythological omens; from communing with ancestral wisdom, to dinosaur spirits invoked in a paleontologist's lecture; to a haunting by one's own future self! What better way to stay warm on a dark winter evening than to experience the world premieres of these unique ghostly tales?
The plays will premiere on YouTube beginning at 7pm each night, directly followed by a live talkback on zoom with the playwrights and directors featured in that evening's program.
The program on Friday, December 10th features “When I Began Dying” by Sarah Miri Daniels, and “Machismo” by Spencer J. Vigil.
The program on Saturday, December 11th features “Queenfisher” by Natalie Schmidt, “Perseus and Anemone” by Monique Aldred, and “Gallery of Perspective and Light” by Darby Sherwood.
Tickets for the festival are Pay-What-You-Will; festival passes and individual night tickets are available. Separate links to the post-show talkbacks are available with ticket orders. Details and tickets available at www.shatteredglassproject.org/ghosts-2021-one-act-festival
PLAY DETAILS
December 10, 2021
"When I Began Dying" written by Sarah Miri Daniels and directed by Sophe Friedman.
Cast Members: Nicole Lockett as Linn; Kelsey Boulton as Dead Linn; Monika Elmont as Black Cat/Brown Bear; and Andrea Lowry as Blue Girl/Maitre D’.
A flashback, a memory, a painting, a dream: as the protagonist Linn gets closer to her final moments the world she has known gets farther away from any familiar reality. “When I Began Dying” is a story of journey, death, and rebirth; together, Linn and her expired self, Dead Linn, must conquer their fears, come to terms with their past, and find their way through the inevitable ending. Playwright Sarah Miri Daniels carries the audience into a world of whimsy and liminality, flowing between our choices in life and what comes after. Directed by Sophe Friedman, “When I Began Dying” dances with us on the border of a poignant and important idea - that even at our lowest we have the power and strength to save ourselves.
"Machismo" written by Spencer J. Vigil and directed by Alanah Pascual.
Cast Members: Troy Piscioneri as Max; Trystan Allys Miranda as Loli; Aurelio Valdez as Ector; and Sofia Ayala as Nani.
Max is going to their Quinceanera, but not in that dress. No one in their family seems to understand, except maybe cousin Loli, until one day everything changes. "Machismo" is a story about finding your place within your family. Playwright Spencer J. Vigil, searches for an answer to a complicated question: What happens when you outgrow the culture you love so dearly and what parts of our culture grow with us? Directed by Alanah Pascual. "Machismo" is a magical, yet realistic, search for truth and understanding within the love a family holds for each other for generations past, present, and future.
December 11, 2021
"Queenfisher" written by Natalie Schmidt and directed by Helen T. Mariam.
Cast Members: Anubhuti Sood as Iris; Jennifer Faulkner as Alcyone; Rachael Uyeno as Ceyx; and Vahishta Vafadari as Morpheus.
In this queer reimagining of the myth of Ceyx and Alcyone, everything's coming up Iris--she has power over the winds, a plum messenger gig, and a devoted best friend, Alcyone. That is, until an ill omen ruins Alcyone's honeymoon, sending her new wife Ceyx in pursuit of an oracle and leaving Iris to help Alcyone contend with sea-drenched ghosts and unsettling dreams. Written by Natalie Schmidt and directed by Helen T. Mariam, “Queenfisher” examines the meaning of friendship and the cost of power as all three women struggle to shape their futures.
"Perseus and Anemone" written by Monique Aldred and guest directed by Sadiqua Iman.
Cast Members: Chloe Iman Monroe as Perseus; Bobbi Kindred as Anemone; Cara Thomas as Oceanica; and Merri Ann Osborne as Salacia.
Can tradition cause rifts that may never be healed? Is finding out who you are and how you came to be the only path to healing? Perseus and Anemone are married Black mermaids who have shunned the tradition to live underwater, creating a rift between Anemone and her traditionalist mother, Oceanica. A return visit for reconciliation uncovers the secrets everyone carries. Playwright Monique C. Aldred takes the audience on a journey to discover the truths about Black families, love, and trust that lie just below the surface of the ocean. Guest-directed by Sadiqua Iman, “Perseus and Anemone” is not a tail of your average Disney mermaids.
"Gallery of Perspective and Light" written by Darby Sherwood and directed by Alison Kozar.
Cast Members: Dana Winter as Troo/Edgar/Colette; Sydney Kaser as Rio/Housewife/Betsy/Willow; Josh Rodriguez as Milkman/Marsh; and Maycee McQuin as Carl/Maggie/Nora/Sabrina.
Soldiers and housewives and milkmen, oh my! And dinosaurs, and painters, and paleo archeologists and asteroids! Inspired by an eclectic assortment of paintings and photographs, “Gallery of Perspective and Light” is a pastiche examining the nature of change and progress through the lens of our most private moments. Playwright Darby Sherwood explores the way that context shapes our human experience, since we only ever live in one time and only ever see through two eyes. Directed by Alison Kozar, “Gallery” asks the deep questions of life: “Is there something I could have said or done that would have kept us together, or was fate set in stone? Are social expectations a judgy ghost forever haunting our decisions? Is making no decision the same as being buried alive? Is all milk the same?”
PROGRAM DETAILS
The Shattered Glass Project is a theatre company with the mission to amplify the voices of women, nonbinary, and transfeminine+transmasculine theatre artists by offering unique opportunities to create and to grow professionally.
The 8-month long Incubator/Mentor program seeks to make the theatre world more equitable by empowering theatre artists who have been marginalized on the basis of their gender to move into professional playwright or director roles by creating a lasting peer network of artistic and personal support. The 2021 cohort of 5 playwrights and 4 directors participate in regular workshops with outside teaching artists to refine their creative and professional skills, receive individualized mentorship in their discipline area, and meet collectively to share their writing and directing expertise with one another in a non-hierarchical co-mentoring framework; all with the goal of building relationships to carry throughout their careers.
For any questions please contact Rebecca O’Neil at theshatteredglassproject@gmail.com
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A recipe for hilarity and disaster: The Shattered Glass Project presents “Much Ado About Nothing”
For Immediate Release
5/13/2021
The Shattered Glass Project presents “Much Ado About Nothing”
A recipe for hilarity and disaster: love and trust, truth and lies, gossip, fake news, and unwilling romance dissolved in social media, and baked in a Zoom box for 120 minutes.
Opening May 28, 2021 and running for 3 performances, The Shattered Glass Project presents a digital take on the Shakespeare classic, “Much Ado About Nothing”, streaming live on YouTube. Performances take place at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 28 and Saturday, May 29, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 30th. All tickets are Pay-What-You-Will. Tickets are available at https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/much-ado-about-nothing.
Directed by TSGP founding artistic director Rebecca O’Neil, “Much Ado About Nothing” looks through the unsparing lens of the digital camera and online media at a classic Western theatrical story reframed with strong women at the center. A perennial audience favorite, “Much Ado About Nothing” examines love and relationships from two perspectives - a trusting love that breaks under the pressure of lies and mistrust and a humorously cynical antagonism which grows stronger as it passes through the deceit of well-intentioned friends and relations.
O’Neil says, “This is one of my favorite Shakespearean plays because it looks carefully at so many different kinds of relationships. By casting central characters against type, the cast and creative team have been able explore those relationships very differently. For example, if the ‘villain’ Don John is an older sister, deprived of agency and power because of her gender, how does that impact the course of the story? If Leonato, the angry parent who turns on their daughter Hero because of a lie, is a mother instead of a father, how does that change the parent-child dynamic, and what does it say about internalized misogyny in our society? And if social media and fake news are used as a tool to wedge apart a blossoming romance between two uncertain twenty-somethings, what does it show us about what we think we know about the world and how we know the people in it?”
O’Neil, who is playing Beatrice, also cast characters against age types, working with actor Bob Downing as Benedick. “I mean, in the 21st Century, who ever heard of a man or a woman being made fun of for being unmarried at 25? As a middle aged woman actor, getting to explore the character of Beatrice as a mature adult and looking at the possibility of love in later life is irresistible. What I enjoy is having the battle be not only between the sexes but between middle-aged folks who are set in their ways, but can still be tricked into falling in love by the thought of having someone in love with them.”
“Much Ado About Nothing” is directed by Rebecca O’Neil and co-directed by Wiley Basho Gorn. Scenic design is by Bella Rivera and costume design is by Sydney Haas. Sound design is by Alison Kozar and stage management and intimacy coordination is by Maycee McQuin. Caitlin McGown is the streaming manager, Molly Hall is the choreographer, and Sadie Gingold and Peter O’Neil composed original music for the production.
Along with Rebecca O’Neil as Beatrice and Bob Downing as Benedick, the cast includes: Molly Hall as Don John; Carolynne Wilcox as Leonato; Monique Aldred as Friar Francis; HanaSara Ito as Hero; Ivan Guillermo as Claudio; Nolan P. Chapa as Don Pedro; Marissa Wyll as Margaret; Hannah Coleman as Borachio; and Sadie Gingold as Balthasar.
The Shattered Glass Project is a theatre company with a mission to amplify the voices of theatre artists who have been marginalized on the basis of their gender or sex by offering unique opportunities to create and to grow professionally. All of The Shattered Glass Project performances are pay-what-you-will to ensure that theatre is accessible to all interested parties. Tickets and additional information are available at https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/much-ado-about-nothing
For any questions please contact theshatteredglassproject@gmail.com
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Loom Press Release
Press Release
For Immediate Release: March 8, 2021
Loom
On March 26th at 7:00PM, The Shattered Glass Project will launch its third and final online reading in its Zoom series with Loom by Seattle-based actor and playwright Carolynne Wilcox. Directed by Rebecca O’Neil, this modern take on a Greek classic will feature Aimee Decker, Cara Thomas, Marcenus "MC" Earl , and Cristin Fenzel, as well as writer Carolynne Wilcox.
Loom follows the story of The Three Fates of Greek mythology: the immortal sisters Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos as they journey through dreams, human lives, and the land of the dead to recover a stolen item and solve the disappearance of the Queen of the Dead. Can they bring the Queen back to her quarreling mom and spouse before the dead overwhelm the world of the living? Can Atropos prove her worth? Can Clotho live her dreams? Can Lachesis get everyone to just calm down and follow the rules?
Playwright Carolynne Wilcox is beyond excited to finally be unveiling Loom after originally creating it as her graduate thesis project at Towson University in 2008. Her work has been produced both locally and regionally, most recently a virtual production of Clytemnestra with Mythodical Ensemble , as well as virtual (with TSGP) and in person productions of A Series of Small Cataclysms (co-written with Jen Smith Anderson). Aside from a slew of virtual performances over the past year, some of Wilcox’s favorite recent roles include Ana in The Clean House, Carmen in Juan Palmieri , and La Muerte in Blood Wedding . According to Wilcox, “A huge reason I began writing plays was in answer to the long tradition of male writers creating interesting roles predominantly for men…women actually lead fairly interesting lives in and of ourselves, far past our 20’s and 30’s (shocker!), thus my desire for art to mirror that life and include some of that vast range into the universal canon."
Rebecca O’Neil is a Seattle-based actor and founding Artistic Director of The Shattered Glass Project directing Loom this March. With a passion for equity in the theatre and a profound interest in using it to tell stories about all kinds of people, O’Neil seeks to uplift voices at all intersections in peoples’ lives. O’Neil is a 2019 graduate of the MFA Arts Leadership program at Seattle University, and applied her classroom work to the development of The Shattered Glass Project. From O’Neil, “ I knew I wanted to work with Carolynne and I asked her if there were any plays she wanted to work on. I knew she enjoyed working with Greek mythology and anything that gives these classic female characters agency is fantastic. So often the chorus is made up of these women that are all dressed to look exactly the same and there is no personality there. This show takes a classic and turns it upside down. I believe this is an important part of what The Shattered Glass Project should be taking part in.”
The Shattered Glass Project is a theatre company working to amplify the unique voices of women, nonbinary, and trans theatre artists by offering unique opportunities to create and to grow professionally. Loom will be the last of three in an online series amplifying these voices. All Shattered Glass Project performances are pay-what-you-can to ensure that these readings are accessible to all interested parties with more information available at https://www.shatteredglassproject.org/loom
For any questions please contact theshatteredglassproject@gmail.com
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A report from the front lines: Making theatre in a time of plague
Edit: Details of this post have been edited or removed out of respect for the cohort members they concerned. For accountability, additional information about this edit can be provided with the consent of the parties concerned. Contact us at theshatteredglassproject@gmail.com.
Along with other theatre companies during the Great COVID-19 Timeout, The Shattered Glass Project has been trying to find new tactics and use existing tools so that we can go on making theatre. Some plans have had to be postponed, some are still up and running. The one program that oddly seems to be achieving more than our original plan is the TSGP Director and Playwright Incubator/Mentoring Program (I/M Program for short).
The I/M Program provides a safe space where women and non-binary directors and playwrights can work together, using feminist co-mentoring philosophies and principles of collaboration. We focus on empowering theatre artists who have often been underrepresented, by building new networks and relationships. We want to ensure that their voices are heard.
The cohort is composed of 5 playwrights and 4 directors, who range in age from early 20s to mid-50s, who have a range of ethnic/racial/cultural identities, and who use a variety of pronouns. They have a range of educational backgrounds, from current college student to MFA; and a range of professional experience, from academia to years of work in professional acting ensembles. They are a creative, inspirational, imaginative, hard-working, and dedicated group who were selected because they were interested in helping create a new kind of collaborative structure with and for one another.
We had originally intended to hold a public play reading and workshop on March 27th, which we obviously had to cancel. So that we could continue to move forward with at least some creative engagement, the group is having private play readings, just among the cohort, using Zoom conferencing software.
One cohort member suggested that we look at using Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process. While the cohort had spent time at the first meeting crafting a set of group norms, in the way we wanted to work with one another as a group and as individuals, we had not developed any kind of system or process for responding to plays during readings and workshops.
The Critical Response Process was developed by choreographer Liz Lerman in the 1990s, and published as a book in 2003. The CRP engages participants in three roles, that of Artist, Responders, and Facilitator, who work through four steps, after a presentation of artistic work in any discipline. Work can be short or long, large or small, and at any stage in its development.
1. Statements of Meaning: Responders state what was meaningful, evocative, interesting, exciting, striking in the work they have just witnessed.
2. Artist as Questioner: The artist asks questions about the work. Responders may express opinions if they are in direct response to the artist’s questions.
3. Neutral Questions: Responders ask neutral questions about the work. The artist responds. Questions are neutral when they do not have an opinion couched in them.
4. Opinion Time: Responders state opinions, subject to permission from the artist. The usual form is “I have an opinion about ______, would you like to hear it?” The artist has the option to decline opinions for any reason.
The I/M Cohort has applied these four steps following the readings of each of five plays by the playwright members of the cohort. Each of the four directors, as well as myself as the cohort coordinator, have served as the Facilitator for one of the five readings. As each play has been different, and exists in different stages of development, each response process has been slightly different. The important part has been having a framework in which to offer useful critique, rather than criticism, of each work of art.
Following the readings, each playwright was asked to offer feedback on how useful the reading was for them and if/how the CRP worked for their process. Overall, the readings were generally ranked as highly useful – an average of 4.25 on a Likert scale of 1-5, (1 being not useful at all, and 5 being extremely useful). Playwrights found it useful to hear the play out loud; according to one playwright, “[I]t is nice to hear how the lines are landing and how actors are interpreting them.” They liked hearing concepts from their play discussed by the other participants and found it useful to understand the different perspectives from which different cohort members came at the work. Another writer responded that, “Thoughts were brought to the table that I would have never had myself.” The two critical comments about the readings was lack of enough time to conduct discussions and too much time spent reviewing the CRP process at each reading.
The CRP process itself was described as a useful structure for feedback by some playwrights and less useful by others who had a more specific idea about the feedback they were seeking. One writer liked the structure in that “it allowed us to be specific in our feedback and were able to give feedback with intent.” Another playwright specified, “I know what I want to know about my piece, so I just wanted to get specific questions answered,” rather than going through the whole four step CRP. A third playwright said, “I think we are having trouble distinguishing the different tiers of the [CRP].” Overall, the criticism of the process seemed to reflect more on how we as a cohort are understanding and using the Critical Response Process, rather than on CRP itself.
The other element in all this is having had to move online to conduct our readings. Since so many of the cohort members have been laid off or furloughed, or have had their schooling moved online, and all of us have had other projects cancelled/postponed, everyone has more time for the readings. Consequently, each playwright had a separate reading of as much of their script as they wanted to read, and we were able to devote 2-2 ½ hours to each piece, including the reading itself and the discussion afterward. By taking advantage of the time on our hands and of having to use technology, we have probably accomplished way more than we would have been able to, under pre-pandemic conditions of busy-ness: work and school and rehearsal.
As a theatre artist who identifies as an actor and performer, rather than as a director or a playwright, I was grateful to find a clearly articulated format for providing structured critique of new performance works. The Incubator/Mentor cohort is intended to be supportive and nurturing for the theatre artists involved, and Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process seemed to me to offer a framework for giving feedback that is uplifting and helps develop trusting relationships between the cohort members. I have enjoyed exploring the process in this first round of five play readings, and look forward to the next round of work.
As the artistic director of The Shattered Glass Project, I have been thrilled at the engagement of the cohort members in trying to make something out of my idea that women and non-binary theatre artists can create a safe space to work together. Directors and playwrights are probably the most silenced of theatre artists, since, classically, there is usually no more than one of each per any traditional theatrical production. This group is diligently working to create something that works for them as individual artists and as a cohort, and while I facilitate their work by providing space (on Zoom, for now) and coordinating times, they are finding their own way to make theatre in a time of plague.