Company Of Fools Presents INSIDE, OUTSIDE, UPSIDE DOWN!

Company of Fools' 22nd season of theatre programming will conclude with the charming production of Inside, Outside, Upside Down! - a mini-musical commissioned by Company of Fools (COF) and the Sun Valley Center for the Arts as part of its new BIG IDEA project, Bees. Two free public performances are scheduled for Saturday, April 21 at 6 p.m. and Sunday, April 22 at 2 p.m. Both will be held at the Liberty Theatre in Hailey and will be followed by a unique interactive workshop.

Created for young audiences by award-winning theatre writers Maggie-Kate Coleman and Erato A. Kremmyda and directed by Ilana Becker, Inside, Outside, Upside Down! follows Kimi, a young adventurer, on a musical journey through our ecosystem as she meets and interacts with local pollinators. The short musical is geared toward children and was inspired by the visual artwork in The Center's BIG IDEA project, Bees (exhibition on view April 13-June 22, 2018 at the museum. In addition to the free public performances on April 21 and 22, The Center will offer student matinees for elementary school students on April 19 and 20.

"These young playwrights have done a wonderful job of developing a fun and playful show that shares important information about the pollinators at work in our forests," said Kris Poole, Artistic Director at Sun Valley Center for the Arts. "Young children and families will enjoy this short, sweet and interactive production, which serves as a great foundation for The Center's BIG IDEA project about bees."

Following the performance, the creative team and education staff will engage younger audience members in interactive activities to reinforce the information shared during this new work. While not required, audience members will be encouraged to stay and participate.

The cast of Inside, Outside, Upside Down! features Melodie Taylor-Mauldin and Annabelle Lewis, with stage management by Chris Henderson.

Inside, Outside, Upside Down! Is generously sponsored by a Springcreek Foundation grant directed by Local Food Alliance.

Maggie-Kate Coleman is a NYC-based playwright, bookwriter and lyricist from Happy Day Farm (Keedysville, MD): Book & lyrics for POP! - music by Anna K. Jacobs - (Yale Rep, Pittsburgh City Theatre, Studio Theatre DC, etc.) POP! received three Connecticut Critics Circle Awards, seven Helen Hayes Award nominations, and was a Pittsburgh Tribune Top Ten choice of 2012. Other recent: The Map of Lost Things (Hangar Theatre, Ithaca), and with Erato A. Kremmyda, lyrics for Field Trip: A Climate Cabaret (Superhero Clubhouse NYC), Hotel Mediteranee (Between the Seas Festival/Wild Project), The Way They Live (The Civilians at the Met) and more. Current work: The Gift of the Magi with Jeffrey Hatcher and Andrew Cooke (Arkansas Rep), and Marie in Tomorrowland with Erato A. Kremmyda and Sam Pinkleton, developed through The Civilians R&D Group, The Orchard Project, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, and Catwalk Institute. MK is a 2017 Jonathan Larson grant recipient. MacDowell Fellow 2015, MFA NYU Musical Theatre Writing, B.A. Ithaca College.

Erato A. Kremmyda is a NYC-based composer born and raised in Athens, Greece. Current work: Marie in Tomorrowland (with Maggie-Kate Coleman and Sam Pinkleton) developed at Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, Catwalk Institute, The Orchard Project, SPACE on Ryder Farm, and The Civilians R&D Group; and Io (with Laura Tesman) for the International Filippi Festival 2017. Recent: Riot Antigone by Seonjae Kim (La Mama) and with Maggie-Kate Coleman: The Way They Live (The Met/The Civilians); Hotel Mediteranee (Wild Project/Between the Seas Festival); Field Trip: A Climate Cabaret (Superhero Clubhouse, NYC) and more. Erato is a 2017 Larson Grant winner, a Fulbright Fellow, and an Anna Sosenko Trust grant recipient. Her compositions have been heard at Megaron (Athens), Joe's Pub, Ars Nova, NYMF, BRIC, HERE, Irondale, Teatro Duo (Rome), Bios (Athens) etc. MFA NYU (Musical Theater Writing, Dean's scholar), MM NYU (Film Scoring), Athens University, Athens Conservatoire.

Since 1996, COF has produced high quality plays, musicals and new work along with substantial arts-in-education programming in Sun Valley, Idaho. A member of The Theatre Communications Group and an Actors Equity Small Professional Theatre, COF has always put an emphasis on the connection between theatre and community, a commitment to excellence in acting and design, and the signature intimacy of its home, the Liberty Theatre. COF has been recognized for its significant contributions to the arts, receiving the Idaho Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts in 2004 and being honored as Arts Advocate of the Year by the Sun Valley/Ketchum and Hailey Chambers of Commerce in 2009. Founding members Denise Simone and John Glenn are both individual recipients of the Idaho Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts - Simone in 2014 and Glenn in 2016. In 2013, COF merged with the Sun Valley Center for the Arts - a multifaceted organization that runs museum-quality art galleries and presents educational programs, music, dance, and film screenings in venues around the Wood River Valley - to become what is now the largest arts institution in the state of Idaho. The sponsors of COF's 22nd season include The Shubert Foundation, Barbara & Stanley Zax, Kenneth Lewis, Priscilla Pittiglio, Mary Ann & John Underwood, Arrow R Storage, the Carr Foundation, Linda & Bob Edwards, Scott Miley Roofing, and media sponsor The Weekly Sun.

Tickets for the April 21 and April 22 public performances of Inside, Outside, Upside Down! are free, but a $10 donation is suggested.

Advance seat reservations are recommended. Patrons may reserve seats online at sunvalleycenter.org, by calling 208.578.9122 or by visiting the Liberty Theatre box office at 110 N. Main Street in Hailey, open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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