Fertile Ground: Do It For Mead Productions Presents THE MISADVENTURES OF MISSY BLACK

Do It For Mead Productions will present a staged reading of a new play by Riley Anna, The Misadventures of Missy Black, as part of the 2022 Portland Fertile Ground Festival. The reading, directed by Maddie Nguyen, will be available for free streaming online from January 30 through February 3, 2021.

The Misadventures of Missy Black chronicles the life and adventures of a young woman who grows up to be a legendary pirate queen in an alternate version of late 18th-century New Haven. Missy Black, the daughter of a pair of common criminals who longs to escape her parents' house, finds solace only in her close friendship with Danforth Collins, the son of the Connecticut governor. When she is forced by her parents into marriage to Jericho Black (a pirate captain and gentleman), she gathers her own crew of misfits, sailing around the world making allies and enemies - all while trying to keep afloat her friendship with Danforth, who is following his own ambitions in New Haven and beyond.

Playwright Riley Anna says, "At the heart of it is a story for anyone who's ever wished they could turn pirate: the kids who grew up on Peter Pan (and/or Pirates of Penzance depending on your parents), the girls who wanted to be Keira Knightly - or Johnny Depp. If you like a big found family, a loud song, and some cool swords, we want you to join our crew."

Filmed entirely on-site at the Gresham coffeeshop, Cafe Delirium, The Misadventures of Missy Black is presented entirely digitally and will be available through a link on the Fertile Ground website, as well as through Do It For Mead's Youtube channel. Director Nguyen is joined by a creative team that includes director of photography Kat Yo and fight choreographer Zeb Bodine, with assistance from the props department and digital lab at the University of Portland.

Do It For Mead Productions, a fledgling theater and film company, was created in the spring of 2020 as both a tribute to a beloved theater history professor and a solution to the challenges posed to live performance during the initial COVID-19 lockdowns. With a company made up almost entirely of students and recent college graduates, Do It For Mead Productions is dedicated to creating and supporting art by artists in the early stages of their careers by providing them with paid stage and screen opportunities, and "making the art you want to see in the world - even better if it's with friends."

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