Up a River/Down the Aisle, a new solo show written and performed by Jake Lipman (developed with Mark Hoverman), will be premiering in the 2009 Midtown InterNational Theatre Festival, directed by Brian W. Seibert. Performances begin Tuesday, July 28th.
Up a River/Down the Aisle is about the tumultuous year in the life of a girl named Jake, who loses her colorful mother three days after she turns 27.In part one, 'Up a River', Jake's bohemian family (her father, 2 brothers, tomboy sister, sister-in-law and uninvited, tactless family friend) embarks on a houseboat trip up the Shannon River in Ireland to scatter her late mother's ashes. From the bad weather and cramped quarters, to her father's unsuccessful attempts to get drunk and the shenanigans of her siblings, the trip is anything but smooth sailing.In the second part of the piece, 'Down the Aisle', Jake recalls the good and bad surprises of the last year: her father remarrying on short notice, her boyfriend proposing on Valentine's Day, and a show down with an aggressive bridal sales woman named Ennis. When an unexpected letter from the past arrives just weeks before her wedding, Jake finds faith in her ability to navigate the next steps of her life.Videos