UMBRELLA COLLECTIVE
  • Home
  • About
  • Projects
  • Play
  • Support
  • Connect
  • Blog

FROM THE DIRECTOR: Why We Need EX-GAYS

8/18/2017

 
Hey, friends. How's that Fringe afterglow treating you? We're feeling (maybe surprisingly?) energized as we roll full steam ahead into EX-GAYS: NOT A STR8 REMOUNT. Last night, we were even on the radio chatting about the show's history, what's changed, and how excited we are to be creating and performing at SpringHouse Ministry Center. (Check it out on KFAI - Fresh Fruit about 34 minutes in on the Aug 17 episode!)

Whenever Savage Umbrella embarks on a new project, we ask ourselves: Why this? Why now? We're always seeking to tease out the most engaging and timely conversations swirling around in our heads and hearts, and that requires constant checking in about where we're at and where we want to go.

Over the next few weeks, we'll start to answer these questions with a few voices from the Creative Team, but we encourage you to come check out the show in September and tell us what this work means to you. We'll kick things off with our fearless director (and Savage Umbrella Artistic Director) Laura Leffler...

From Laura:

Picture
Amber Davis & Laura Leffler getting ready for performance at Duluth-Superior PRIDE in 2011.
I'm having this really funny relationship with revisiting this project. When we did the show the first time around, it was so early in SU history. It felt as though we were still defining ourselves. And it was hugely instrumental (maybe because we produced three different versions of it that summer of 2011 at the Matthews' Park Rec Center, at the MN Fringe, and at Duluth-Superior Pride) in solidifying our identity as a company.
Picture
Rachel Nelson as "Camp Counselor Virginia" at Matthews Park and Rec Center in 2011.
Plus, it was just so fun. I have strong memories of walks to Franklin Freeze, hanging with Amber at Bayfront Park in Duluth at PRIDE, Rachel riding on top of the folded-up lunch table, Tanner's impeccable comedic timing, Hannah's first SU show, Carl and Russ being so dang cute. We were goofballs. We worked to solidify our rehearsal methodology. And seriously, so much Franklin Freeze.
Picture
Carl Atiya Swanson as "Pastor Brian" and Russ Dugger as "Camp Intern Ricky" in 2011. Just wee babes!
What I don't remember is the apprehension I'm currently feeling. This time around, I feel much differently when listening to the homophobic lines spewing out of the character's mouths. It's still funny, but there's something else there... something that feels like a punch in the gut. Something that, if I'm being 100% honest, scares me.

What's changed? What's different? Maybe it's just that six years have passed. Maybe it's just being a little older and wiser. Maybe it's just being on this side of my own coming out journey. Maybe it's just that on the first day of the new administration back in January the White House's webpage on LGBTQ rights was deleted. Maybe it's just that the POTUS is tweeting about banning trans people from serving in the military. The last thing that civil right's activist Heather Heyer posted on Facebook before being murdered by a white supremacist, domestic terrorist was, "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention." 

Maybe it's just that last time, I wasn't paying attention.
Picture
The 2017 cast getting ready for their great adventure at SpringHouse Ministry Center!
Photo: Carl Atiya Swanson
I can't believe that a production - even one this funny and campy! - can be a solution to problems. But I do believe it can be a salve to the open-hearts who come to see it. I do believe it can be a good conversation starter. And that's one small thing that we at SU can do; we can start important conversations, and maybe those conversations in a performance space can lead to action out in the streets. And then maybe we can all pay a little more attention.

EX-GAYS: NOT A STR8 REMOUNT

September 14 - 30, 2017

at SpringHouse Ministry Center
610 West 28th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55408

Written by Eric F. Avery
Directed by Laura Leffler
Created with Savage Umbrella and the ensembles

It's CAMP. It's SATIRE. It's a CAMP SATIRE.
TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW > > >
Tickets: $15 - $25, Pick Your Own Price
***** Space is limited, so reserve your tickets today! *****
Picture

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    November 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    October 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010

    RSS Feed

Picture
Together is better.
Get under the umbrella.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Copyright 2019
​Umbrella Collective
  • Home
  • About
  • Projects
  • Play
  • Support
  • Connect
  • Blog