Announcing Annex’s 31st Season!

Annex Theatre announces its 31st Season in 2018. Join us as we unveil cultures, environments, and galaxies with a roster of amazing new and familiar artists. Scroll down to learn more and then grab a ticket to the Season Announcement Party on September 9!

 Graphic Design by Corinne Magin

ROW YR BOAT (ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED)

written by Wesley K. Andrews, directed by Catherine Blake Smith
dramaturgy by L. Nicol Cabe
Winter Mainstage: February 9—March 3 Thur-Sat at 7:30 pm

The buddy system required by Row Yr Boat LLC means more than just friendship—to fight terrorists, Rose must get married. Row Yr Boat (Achievement Unlocked) is a dark, surrealist romantic comedy about drones, video games, unreality and magic, set against the backdrop of the War on Terror. Rose T. O’Brien, an eccentric late-20s gamer with massive confidence issues and a deep competitive streak, goes looking for employment in the virtual reality sector at a major industry conference in Vegas. There, Rose is recruited as a sensor for Row Yr Boat LLC, a company with an unprecedented condition for employment: Rose must be married within the year or lose everything. The condition isn’t unreasonable; it’s for her mental health.

SAFE SPACE

written by Kyleigh Archer, directed by Kyleigh Archer & Jen Moon
Winter Off-Night: February 13—February 28 Tues-Wed at 7:30 pm

Due to budget cuts in medicaid, a group therapy is ending prematurely, but these girls have some unfinished business with each other. To celebrate their two years together they host a no-holds-bar ‘Safe Space’ slumber party and it quickly becomes evident the therapy is ending at pivotal moments in each of these girls’ lives. Even for one night they cannot stop the outside forces that shape who they are: opioids, eating disorders, slut shaming, and an inadequate foster system.These girls try to work together to shoulder the burden of living in a world where suddenly, there are no “safe spaces”.

SILHOUETTE

a new musical by Scotto Moore
Spring Mainstage: April 27—May 19 Thur-Sat at 7:30 pm

Silhouette is a science-fiction musical sung by ten voices, exploring the collision of magic and technology on a faraway world. An astronaut crash-lands on a seemingly backwards planet, only to realize the natives are capable of practicing strange forms of magic. But as the astronaut is nursed back to health by the natives, rescuers from her star fleet arrive and threaten to decimate society on this world. Can the astronaut bridge the gap between the hard science & technology of her own people, and the inexplicable magic wielded on the planet? When the astronaut is forcibly taken back to her people, the magic that follows her onto her ship brings chaos and havoc to her tightly controlled home.

CREWMATES

written by Sameer Arshad directed by Shahbaz Khan
Spring Off-Night: May 1—May 16 Tues-Wed at 7:30 pm

Islamic supernatural folklore meets American millennial realities in a thought-provoking comedy about dating while Muslim. A sensitive American-Muslim man from a conservative family starts a romance with an inspiring atheist Asian-American woman who was adopted by liberal white parents. The two of them navigate their cultural differences with good cheer and their relationship grows lovingly, peppered with comedic moments of awkwardness. But the invasive supernatural world just cannot handle all this fluffy saccharine goodness. Agendas play out against each other as djinn and angel alike struggle to accept the ever-changing narrative of human sexuality and morality, with everything coming together in a crashing realization that even the Heavens are not immune to the power of the human condition.

THE GREAT INCONVENIENCE

written by Holly Arsenault, directed by Erin Kraft
Summer Mainstage: July 27—August 18 Thur-Sat at 7:30 pm

A true story you’ve never heard about the catastrophic cruelty of deportation and the supernatural awesomeness of love. In 1755, a pregnant young woman and her family evade deportation by hiding in the deep woods of a remote island, where they survive for nine years. 250 years later, a pair of lovers, separated by war, attempts to reunite against the backdrop of a second deportation. Part historical drama, part futuristic dystopiana, and part romantic comedy, The Great Inconvenience is a mostly-imagined-but-partly-true love story about enemies and secrets and power and faith and survival.

ROVERS!

written by Natalie J. Copeland, directed by Emily Harvey
music by Aaron Joshua Shay

Summer Off-Night: July 31—August 15 Tues-Wed at 7:30 pm

Welcome to Camp Dusty Tread, the friendliest place on Mars! You’re a Mars rover, and you’ve just landed on the red planet! Settle in for a cold night at Camp Dusty Tread, where you’ll learn what it takes to live and work on Mars from your head counselors, Spirit and Opportunity. These interplanetary geologists will warm you with tall tales, camp songs, and cautionary tips for the novice Mars explorer. Rovers and landers of all ages and scientific payloads are welcome to this interactive orientation!

ANANSI AND THE HALFLING

written by Madison Jade Jones, directed by Brandon J. Simmons
Fall Mainstage: October 26—November 17 Thur-Sat at 7:30 pm

Anansi and the Halfling is a mystical journey of discovered identity, ancient truth, and incredible fun told through the lens of a young black woman desperate to find herself.  African storytelling has many forms. Ancient wisdoms were passed down through song, dance and (often comical) metaphorical re-tellings. Anansi and the Halfling strives to bring those storytelling mediums to light in a modern way through the experiences of a young, black millennial. As the story snakes through a college classroom, a mystical story realm, and the home of the gods themselves, puppetry, drumming, and movement are as crucial to the storytelling as the words themselves are. Our heroine strives to learn that in order to know where you’re going, you have to know where you came from. . . even when the past is painful.

PEGGY, THE PLUMBER WHO SAVED THE GALAXY

written by Marcus Gorman and Jacob Farley, directed by L. Nicol Cabe
Fall Off-Night: October 30—November 14 Tues-Wed at 7:30 pm

A science-fiction comedy adventure about a plumber, an AWOL pilot, and a galaxy in crisis. The year is 3732. Peggy—a Plumbing Specialist First Class at the prestigious Universe University—unexpectedly finds herself trapped in a galactic conflict between worlds. As she and an AWOL female military pilot named Rogen bounce across the far reaches and strange planets of the galaxy looking to stay alive, they become key in the means to achieve peace and save the day.

The Zig Zag Festival

Curated by Catherine Blake Smith
August 4 – August 19, Tues-Wed at 8 pm
Opening Night: August 4

Six playwrights–all female, all young, all local–collaborate on an evening of short works. Each is playwright of one play, director for another, and an outside eye for a third. The ensemble cast performs in all six plays about a range of topics such as ghosts of ex-lovers, comedic nightmares, and an absurdly honest job interview.

Tuesdays

Job Search – written by Dayana “Dayo” Anderson, directed by Courtney Meaker
Roaring Girls – written by Seayoung Yim, directed by Amy Escobar
Mythologizing me like I do you – written by Catherine Blake Smith, directed by L. Nicol Cabe

Wednesdays

The Strongest Flavor – written by L. Nicol Cabe, directed by Catherine Blake Smith
After It Ends – written by Courtney Meaker, directed by Dayana “Dayo” Anderson
Scary Mary and the Nightmares Nine – written by Amy Escobar, directed by Seayoung Yim

Ensemble:
Kiki Abba
Devon Allen
Isabela de Campos
Rachel Delmar
Katie Driscoll
Nathaniel Leeson
Jordi Montes
Tatiana Pavela
Cody Smith
Sydney Tucker

Production Team:
Production Manager – Kaeline Kine
Technical Director – Ian Johnston

Live Girls! March 2013 Cupcake Reading Series

March 12-15th @ 7pm & March 16th @ 2pm & 7pm
Tickets are $8 OR save a bundle and get an All Festival Pass for only $20!

Taste a new play every day!

The Cupcake Reading Series is a staple of Live Girls! Bakery Play Development program, which helps female playwrights by providing resources like staged readings, talk-backs and new play commissions. With intimate readings followed by talk-backs, the Cupcake Reading Series gives audiences a chance to get to know the work of exciting up and coming playwrights as well as an opportunity to be directly involved in the shaping of new plays.

The Cupcake Readings kick-off the Live Girls! year with presentations of 11 new play over 5 days. For 2013 LG! selected 7 new plays including work from Rachel Atkins, Joanna Horowitz, Gillian Jorgenson, Juliet Waller Pruzan, Kristen Palmer, Kelsey Wilk, 2 plays from the ACT Young Playwrights(YPP) program from Holly Butterfield, and Alyson Davis and special co-presentation of Annex Theatre’s YPP playwrights, Rachel Habib and Jonathan Catterfeld.

March 12th 7pm
The Simon Fairchild Memorial Animal Choir by Kelsey Wilk / Directed by Erin Bednarz

March 13th 7pm
Gulch by Juliet Waller Pruzan / Directed by L. Nicol Cabe
AND
No Way Out by Gillian Jorgenson

March 14th 7pm
The Melting Point By Kristen Palmer / Directed by Meghan Arnette

March 15th 7pm
Black Like Us by Rachel Atkins / Directed by Jose Amador
AND
This is Not September 11 by Rachel Atkins / Directed by Annie Lareau

March 16th 2pm
Plays from ACT’s Young Playwrights program, Co-Presented with Annex Theatre:

LG! Award Plays
A Plot in the Dark by Holly Butterfield / Directed by Kristina Sutherland
Encourage Rebellion by Alyson Davis / Directed by Rachel Delmar

Annex Award Plays
Under The Apple Tree By Jonathan Catterfeld
The Purrrfect Crime by Rachel Habib

March 16th at 7pm
Miss End of the World, Etc. by Joanna Horowitz / Directed by Ashley Flannegan

Second Date

Co-produced by Rain City Projects
January 29 – February 13
Tuesdays & Wednesdays, 8pm
$10 general / $5 student, TPS, senior, military

Two people meet. Two people connect. Ordinarily, this might be a night out on the town, perhaps going bowling—but if those two people are a playwright and a director, it’s a very different game. These directors and playwrights have never worked together before, but we’re going to see what their chemistry will create. Co-produced by Rain City Projects, each night of SECOND DATE will feature these three one-act plays, which are being created as you read this:

BLACK LIKE US
written by Rachel Atkins
directed by Tyrone Brown
Featuring: Caitlin Gilman, Laurel Ryan, Qadriyyah Shabazz, Sarah Winsor, and Amber Wolfe

SKETCH
written by Tracy Vicory-Rosenquest
directed by Katherine Karaus
Featuring: Asa Bass, Laurence Hughes, Jana Hutchison and Joan Jankowski

THE SIBYL AT COMMOTION STREET
written by Jaime Cruz
directed by L. Nicol Cabe
Featuring: Andy Buffelen, Justine Freese, and Keiko Green

PRODUCTION TEAM
Bret Fetzer Producer
Catherine Blake Smith Production Manager
Michelle Berweiler Stage Manager
Danny Fisher-Bruns Lighting Designer
Samantha Armitage Costume Designer