Blog Archives

New, New, New

1/19/2018

Happy Friday! The new year brings promise of a fresh slate -- a chance for regeneration and growth for everyone, and we at Savage Umbrella are taking it all very seriously. Along with all our resolutions for better work life balance, reminding ourselves to bring our best selves to our work, and reinvigorating our outreach efforts to diverse communities, we also are snapping up the chance to expand our company with some glorious new people.

We are excited to introduce the eight SU newbies…

Lauren Diesch

Lauren Diesch, whirlwind of awesome, who joined us first in THE AWAKENING this past spring.

Foster Johns

Foster Johns, with his fresh new MFA in voice studies from the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama in London, who was last seen in THESE ARE THE MEN.

Nissa Nordland

Nissa Nordland, multi-talented actor / producer / musician who’s currently designing the soundscape for THE RAVAGERS.

Antonia Perez

Antonia Perez, who danced her way into our hearts during this past summer’s VELVET SWING workshop.

Eli Purdom

Eli Purdom, total babe, who slayed as the conflicted Pastor Brian in last year’s critically acclaimed EX-GAYS.

Mark Sweeney

Mark Sweeney, our long-time collaborator, who played "Oz" in SWEET DREAMS, ALFIE in both 2015 & 2016.

Leslie Vincent

Leslie Vincent, fierce actor / singer who played the dreamy title character, "June", in JUNE.

Patrick Webster

Patrick Webster, who charmed us in a tiny toga during the site-specific, award-winning PENELOPE.

They’ll be joining the work of present company members Emily Dussault, Meghan Gunderson, Meagan Kedrowski, Kathryn Fumie, Michael Ooms, Allison Witham, and Nick Wolf, and core company members Megan Clark, Hannah K. Holman, Alana Horton, and Laura Leffler, in creating and collaborating to continue to bring our audiences and community thought-provoking and beautiful work.

We couldn’t be more excited to add these fresh voices to SU’s cadre of artists. We’re feeling empowered, elated, and ready to tackle this new year with a dedication to new work, community, and vital story-telling.

You can join us February 9-March 3 for THE RAVAGERS and April 23-24 for the WOLF SONG Workshop to get a taste for the expanded breadth and depth these amazing artists will help to bring to SU.

Stay tuned for awesome <3

Reimagining THE RAVAGERS

1/16/2018

For the final show in Savage Umbrella’s tenth anniversary season, we are reimagining our 2011 production of THE RAVAGERS. With a whole new cast and space to work with, the 2018 performance will be shining a new light on this story while further exploring the complex world of Danaus and his fifty (that's right, five-zero!) daughters.

Photo by Anna Schultz \\ Editing by Alana Horton

Here are some thoughts about how this year’s performance will be different from SU artistic director and co-writer of THE RAVAGERS, Laura Leffler:

“I'm actually the only hold over from the cast, so the show is entirely different this time around. The fresh eyes and voices of the new cast members are challenging and engaging with the text in new and exciting ways. So much of the show is physical - from the site specific location to the movement and rhythm of the show - and all of that is being created anew by this group of performers. Also, we were never 100% happy with the show's ending, and so we threw out the last 20 pages and reworked and rewrote and re-conceived characters. I'm very excited about the clearer and concise path we're going this time. I think this 2018 version retains all of what made the original production wonderful and just expands on that.”

Photo by Anna Schultz \\ Editing by Hannah K. Holman

50 daughters. 50 sons. And a wedding night to remember. Loosely based on the ancient Greek play THE SUPPLIANTS by Aeschylus, THE RAVAGERS explores what happens when one daughter discovers herself at the precipice between obedience and resistance. This site-specific production weaves together themes of family strength and political power with the true stories of forbidden love under oppressive regimes. Lavender Magazine called the 2011 production, “ingenious and hauntingly evocative.”

$15 - $25, pick you own price \\ www.savageumbrella.org
Pay-What-You-Can tickets are available at the door for every performance, as space allows.

Seating is very limited, so reserve your ticket today!

THE RAVAGERS
Performed at The X Lab at Can Can Wonderland
February 9 – March 3, 2018*
Purchase tickets at: ravagers.brownpapertickets.com

*ASL/Deaf Interpreted Performances February 23 & March 1, 2018, with invited conversations to follow. More information about interpreted activities here.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.