The Strand Theater Presents Second Annual Friends and Neighbors Festival

The Strand Theater announces its second annual Friends and Neighbors Festival: Works by Women, sponsored by the Maryland State Arts Council. The Friends and Neighbors Festival, includes a diverse group of up-and-coming female playwrights. Over four weeks in June, a new work will be featured at the Strand each weekend. Admission to each show in the festival is only $5.
 
“Last year we received eight submissions for the Friends and Neighbors Festival, this year we received nearly fifty,” said Jayme Kilburn, artistic director of The Strand.  “The quality of the work is tremendous. The festival is an opportunity for our patrons to affordably see new productions. The women whose works have been selected are diverse and inspiring.”
 
The Friends and Neighbors Festival is an opportunity for emerging female playwrights to showcase their work in a semi-professional (Really?  Your place is only “semi” professional?!) environment. It also allows patrons the chance to view new works of theater inexpensively. The playwrights in the 2010 festival were hand selected from a group of nearly 50 submissions. The plays exemplify creativity in writing, use of space and theater techniques. The four plays vary from traditional to experimental.
 
The XX Chromosome Genome Project by S. Ann Johnson will run June 3, 4 and 5.  It is a multicultural choreopoem that explores the cultural similarities and differences between women through original spoken word poetry, monologues, song and dance.
 
The second production is Kate Bishop’s How I Learned to Eat Pussy (HILTEP), which runs June 10, 11 and 12.  The play follows one woman's sexual awakening as a means to expose the universal mechanisms of identity construction. As a monologue in four voices, HILTEP suggests that every mind is a collection of shifting perceptions, all jabbering to make their points and grabbing at the wheel.
 
Ronda Cooperstein’s The Ladies of Libraryland premieres June 17, 18 and 19, and is a tribute to librarians of the world.
 
The festival closes with Jobie Watson’s Maybe Limbo on June 24, 25 and 26.  Maybe Limbo is a comedy about a woman learning to feel.  Prodded forward by her alter ego, she uncovers frustrations set in motion by her father and confronts him one last time.
 
The Friends and Neighbors Festival: Works by Women runs Thursday, June 3 thru Saturday, June 26. All performances begin at 8pm. Each performance is $5. Tickets can be reserved by calling 443-874-4917. For more information, please visit www.strandtheatercompany.org.
 
The Strand Theater is a community theater dedicated to providing opportunities for women artists, writers, designers and directors. With a focus on producing original works, The Strand hopes to foster a love of theater for a new generation of patrons.

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