 As you may know, Give to the Max Day is coming up in exactly one week: Thursday, November 17.
It’s usually my favorite day of the year—full of generosity, gratitude, and camaraderie. And it really is an incredibly important day for a small (yet mighty!) company like Savage Umbrella. But this year feels different. It feels even more important. It feels even more important to share stories that have been silenced throughout history. It feels more important to make art that asks questions and has real conversations. It feels more important to support new work that reflects and connects our community. We're trying our best to keep moving forward with the tools we have and we'd love for you to join us. (Read more on the SU blog.) Next week, I encourage you to seek out and support artists / companies / organizations that are telling important stories, lifting up unheard voices, and working towards a brighter future every day. Together is better. You can schedule your support today or make a contribution on November 17 at https://www.givemn.org/fundraiser/savageumbrella  We've been busy putting the pieces back together for SWEET DREAMS, ALFIE at the Twin Cities Horror Festival. Blood budgets, lighting experiments, script rewrites, and lots of white paint. Here we go!
See you there October 31 - November 6, 2016.  Savage Umbrella is throwing a big party on Monday, September 26 to kick off our TENTH ANNIVERSARY SEASON! What?! Join us at SPACE from 6:00 - 9:00 PM for performances, beverages, snacks, and surprises.
Tickets and more information on the Savage Umbrella website. See you under the umbrella! Last night, I had the immense privilege of watching my fierce and talented friends perform a little piece of my heart on stage. The State Theater stage. At the Ivey Awards. I'm pinching myself. Forgive me if I get a little sappy and/or too personal in this post; I'm feeling so overwhelmed with gratitude and joy.
To see so many women and queer bodies taking up space on that big stage feels truly radical and so validating. Creating JUNE over the past few years has been not only an incredible artistic journey, but also a tremendous personal journey. The past year has been particularly difficult—personally, locally, nationally, globally, etc. As an extroverted empath with anxiety and depression, I tend to feel a lot and I feel it deeply. It’s sometimes difficult for me to figure out how to move forward when everything feels so broken. One small way I can try is to bring my whole, authentic self into the world every single day. This week is Bisexual Awareness Week. Many of you already know this about me, but I am a fierce and powerful bisexual woman. (To those who don’t know, welcome.) Reclaiming and fully embracing my queer heart has opened me up in ways I never thought possible. As June says, “I feel like I’m on fire.” My hope is that by bringing my whole (vulnerable, complicated) self, it will create space for you to bring your whole (messy, beautiful, strong) self, too. Because we all contain multitudes. And together is better.  I don’t know how to end this post other than to say thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you to my support system, to my collaborators, to my Savage Umbrella loves, to my family, and to my community. Being human is really hard sometimes, but I just feel so honored to be a human with all of you.
Cheers to making art, conversation, and change.  "After fringeing for days this show was so nice. Walking around not being stuffed into theatre for an hour is a nice relief, also a great way to show off a beautiful Minneapolis park. [...] Great way to show this pretty well known story in a new light with some brevity and wit. May be my favorite show at fringe this year."
"I wasn't sure what to expect from Penelope, but what I got was a quirky fun show with strong characters and some great physical acting. The immersive style of the show also gives audience members a chance to stretch their legs, but don't worry, there's no audience participation!" "Sometimes I wonder at the choice for a BYOV. Not here! Wonderfully executed by all. I loved the split scenes - you could go to different areas, yet you never lost something important. Highly recommend, and a nice way to get outside during fringe." "Loved the use of the park as a venue, and I loved finding a scene to watch and being able to peek at something odd happening in another scene. A very funny and quirky retelling of this story, and great comedic acting." "Great use of the park and directing focus. Funny and a fantastic one liner about a modern orgy" "This is a fun, refreshing show on a number of levels. First, Savage Umbrella's spin on classic Greek is engaging and enjoyable. Second, you get to be outside in what has been beautiful weather in MN. Third, not to diminish what other productions are doing, but turning the Fringe model of sitting in a theater for 55 minutes on its head is a wonderful change. You get a great show, great characters, the great outdoors, and glimpse of what more productions should be doing: taking a chance on being different." "If you find yourself drawn to character-driven shows, this one is for you... Come prepared to wander around (quite literally) in a rich world created by a very talented team of artists" "What fun in Mathews Park! Wildly creative, funny, and witty :)"  The year is 2066. Natural resources are expiring; new leaders are emerging; and immortality is a very real (and potentially dangerous) thing. In this vision of the post-revolution United States, Savage Umbrella unfolds the intersections of the self, the body, and the community in this new suspiciously free society. Who's in charge? Through the lens of revolution and what could be scripture, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY examines leadership, communal thought, and survival strategy as the connective tissue between zeitgeist ideas and social movements. How will you be remembered? How will you survive? Speaking about the piece's beginnings, writer Lisa Brimmer says, "We spoke broadly about the challenges of success, and the coordinative dangers of power, ego, and legacy. The Futurism rings true, thinking about where America will be in the years to come, how individuals function within that greater society and the impacts on our humanity. The impacts of our human flaws as they guide and shape the world we live in." (Read more on the Savage Umbrella blog.) Two nights only! June 10 & July 1 Tickets // More Info Rehearsals are underway for Savage Umbrella's PENELOPE (at the MN Fringe Festival!). We'll be performing August 4 - 14, 2016. Keep an eye on the Savage Umbrella blog in the coming months for more behind-the-scenes treats. More info at www.SavageUmbrella.org/Penelope-Fringe  Photo by Carl Atiya Swanson Hannah K. Holman and Laura Leffler-McCabe of Savage Umbrella produce a series of new work-in-progress by local makers. Intended to be an annual event, the 2016 line up includes Harrison David Rivers, Katie Kaufmann, and collective unconscious performance. Join us for presentations, libations, and conversations. April 7, 8, 9 & 14, 15, 16, 2016 Tickets // More Info Here's what people are saying about JUNE: [June] is a richly textured look at another time that allows us to see how far we’ve come, and marvel at how we ever got here. It also shows us the resilience of the human spirit, and the human heart, in the face of things that even now seem reluctant to change. Pull up a stool at the bar. We’re all lesbians tonight. Matthew A. Everett, Single White Fringe Geek It's a powerful, moving show. [...] There's so many little moments of connection all throughout the piece that were just beguiling. John Townsend, Fresh Fruit It feels brave for Savage Umbrella to take such an unflinching look at the arousal and desire of female bodies without objectification. Sheila Regan, City Pages So thoughtful, complete, fresh, surprising, haunting. What a cast! Heather Meyer, audience member (Facebook) This was exactly what I needed. Anonymous, audience member [June] was so captivating. A truly important piece of theater. Thank you for sharing that story with the world!! Tessa Cacek (Facebook) Savage Umbrella's June was dope. So many badass women. Killin' the game. #whoneedsmen #fuckthepatriarchy Theo Langason, audience member (Facebook) It's important that you go see Savage Umbrella's JUNE at the Southern if you want to support art that has a message relevant to our community. Even better, it's relevant beyond our community and pretty much everyone would benefit from seeing it. It's hilarious and sad and sexy and brave. You will find yourself somewhere on that stage. And you will be confronted with people that maybe you never thought about, but you probably should have. Bravo Hannah for directing some really wonderful work! Laura Mason, audience member (Facebook) Some beautiful performances and an important history on stage. Congratulations and bravo to director Hannah Holman and all the company. Lisa Channer, audience member (Facebook) Very glad I got to see this last Saturday. It's a really wonderful show with 8 interesting characters that are living life despite being victims of the times. Great music, too. Kudos to Savage Umbrella, Hannah Holman, Allison Witham, et al. Mark Long, audience member (Facebook) Last night I had the pleasure to see June The Southern Theater - a striking show in a beautiful space. Jamie Schumacher, audience member (Facebook) Thank you for a wonderful night of theater, Hannah! Kudos to the entire team that made the show possible, Laura Leffler-McCabe, Alana Horton, Emily Dussault, Kathryn Fumie, Meagan Kedrowski, Allison Witham, Hope Nordquist, Marika Proctor, Leslie Vincent, KT Thompson, and all the rest. What a new way of capturing a piece of history often overlooked! Scott Mayer, audience member (Facebook) Hey, peeps. I saw Savage Umbrella's JUNE last week & really dug it. And tonight it's PWYC. Besides the fact that there's some fantastically moving & sometimes funny work by Emily Dussault, Kathryn Fumie, Hope Nordquist & the bubbly outsider in the story, Leslie Vincent, it lays out a fascinating tale of love that hides in the shadows of an oppressive society that can't accept it. Sam Landman, audience member (Facebook) I got the best Valentines Day present ever! I was surprised with tickets to this amazing show: June! Done by the super talented crew of Savage Umbrella. Go see this show!! Joey Jones, audience member (Facebook)   Photo by Carl Atiya Swanson |
