Who Are We?
MOLLY PEASE, playwright & executive producer. She is a queer southern comedy writer from Atlanta, Georgia. She holds an MFA in Writing for the Screen and Stage from Northwestern and Bachelor's degrees in Public Relations and Theatre from the University of Georgia. Molly has done pretty much every form of comedy. During her time at Northwestern, she created original sitcom pilots, plays, screenplays, and a sock puppet web series. She helps produce the annual showcase Queergasm at Northwestern. Her full-length play Stix received a stage reading at Northwestern in Spring 2017. Her feature length dramedy Can I Finish? won second place for the Krevoy Screenwriting Award. She currently lives with her cat, Bubby, in Chicago.
SUSAN E. BOWEN, director & co-producer. Since moving to Chicago eight years ago, Susan has directed and/or assistant directed at companies such as Jackalope Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, A Red Orchid Theatre, and American Theater Company, among others. Some favorite projects in Chicago include: History 2:2 by Michael Allen Harris for Jackalope Theatre Company’s Living Newspaper Festival and Queer Is Not Yet Here by Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas for Pivot Arts. Most recently, Susan directed a remake of Lope de Vega's Fuente Ovejuna, which she coadapted with playwright Kori Alston at Northwestern University, where she is an MFA candidate in directing.
RACHEL GREENHOE, co-producer. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She holds an MFA in Writing from Northwestern. She attended Sarah Lawrence College, where she studied playwriting with Sterling Spencer, Cassandra Medley and Lucy Thurber. Her play, ‘Not Retarded’, won the David Lindsay-Abaire award for playwriting and had a showcase performance the main stage. Two of her plays, ‘Not Retarded’ and ‘Tiger Trap’, have been produced in Off-Off Broadway showcases. Her latest play, ‘Monkey’, had its first reading at La Mama ETC. In addition to La Mama Rachel has worked with Mabou Mines, DTA, Fresh Fruit and Bass Films and interned with Motion picture Corporation of America and Nickelodeon.
We also have an INCREDIBLE female-centric team of actors, designers, and more working on this project. We will give you more information about them & their work as the campaign continues!
Why Stix?
It's entertaining. It's fresh. It's relevant. Don't believe us?
Let's ask our team!
From the playwright, Molly Pease: "I know a play about a talking Stick doesn't seem personal, but it feels relevant because it stems from many frustrations I have as a queer female artist today. There are so many ridiculously impossible expectations that we're suppose to meet! Sometimes it feels like a person could only meet those expectations if they were just an inanimate object that people could project their desires onto."
From our co-producer, Rachel Greenhoe: "I personally love the theme of ‘ownership of stories’ in the play. In these days of easily shared media content, sometimes it feels like no one truly owns their stories."
From creative team member, Oona O'Leary: "It's creative, it's different, it's of the moment without being on the nose."
Stix has also already had a staged reading at Northwestern University. What did they say about it?
Audience member: "This is a dystopian play about American culture seen through the eyes of a stick. He is a total narcissist who is able to rise to power through pop culture. The arc of a celebrity rising to an influential position of power is particularly relevant right now. Overall, it’s a biting, witty play about wellness vs. American Capitalism.”
Speaking of Capitalism...
Currently we have a combined $6,000 in grants from Northwestern University and the Araca Project. However, that only covers 60% of our overall budget. Our ultimate goal is to raise the other 40% to complete a working production of the show.
Realistic Budget
(based on past Araca Projects)
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Wait, but why me?
Simple, with your donation, you can:
- Compensate at least 13 hardworking, early career theatre artists.
- Get perky! Your donations give you the chance to receive awesome perks: handwritten post cards, original songs, tshirts, tote bags, dinner, and more!
- Help fund a professional showcase of multiple female artists who have been working their butts off for YEARS for the chance to work in a NYC production.
- Be a vital part of bringing new work to the NYC stages.
- Go on a weird, wonderful journey with characters who are hilarious yet oddly relatable and reflect on how society encourages us to commodify our personal tragedies.
- Make theater fun again.
"You can't underestimate the value of entertainment" - Stix.
