SHEFEST to Celebrate Chicago's Queer Female and Non-Binary Artists at Pride Arts Center

SheFest (formerly LezFest) is Pride Arts Center's' semi-annual celebration of Chicago's queer female and non-binary artists.

SheFest showcases the diverse range of queer female and non-binary artists in Chicago as well as the diverse stories and experiences of queer femininity. The sixth installment of the festival, this year's SheFest, will be hosted by stand-up comedian Shannon Noll, and will feature spoken word poetry, Moth-style stories, comedy, clowning, a fire act, and dance.

The performance will be: June 12 at 7:30pm at the Broadway, Pride Arts Center , located at 4139 N. Broadway Ave., Chicago.

Performers will include Molly Brennan, Tamale Sepp, Ada Cheng, Khloe Janel, Anna Wolfe, Alex Seligsohn, Jade, June Thiele, Shannon Leigh Webber, Niki Gee, Michelle Zacarias, and Terri Hudson, and Jessica Martin. SheFest is produced by Iris Sowlat and Julia Rufo, and stage-managed by Daiva Paulis.

Pricing: General Admission tickets cost $10 and can be purchased either online or at the door. VIP tickets cost $15. Pride Films & Plays is also offering an "Adopt A Performer" sponsorship option, as well as other levels of sponsorship.

Proceeds from ShetFest will be put towards Pride Films & Plays' LezPlay writing contest and workshop program. The contest is set to enhance the visibility and advance the viability of lesbian-centered stories for stage and screen. To that end, LezPlay honors excellence in storytelling by women-identified writers who present lesbian characters and themes-past, present, and future-in a pivotal, positive way. For more information on how you can enter the contest, please check out www.filmfreeway.com/festival/lezplay. Further proceeds raised from SheFest go directly to help queer female playwrights, directors, and actors produce work during the 2017-18 season!

All five past installments of SheFest (or LezFest) have been sold out, and Pride Arts Center is looking forward to another sold out house!

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Shannon Noll: Shannon Noll brings playfulness to their humor about gender, sexuality, and odd jobs. Currently they can be seen performing all over Chicago including at The Revival, The Laugh Factory, The Annoyance, as a producer/host of the shameful story-telling show We Still Like You, and as a writer/voice actor for the podcast The Koch Brothers' Mystery Show (Cards Against Humanity).

Shannon is also a proud member of the queer improv team Baby Wine (The Annoyance) and producer/host of the queer variety show SPACE (The Revival). In the past Shannon has opened for Beth Stelling, performed at CYSK, iO Theater, ComedySportz, Impress These Apes, Hell Yes Fest (New Orleans), Bird City Comedy Festival (Phoenix), Arch City (Columbus), and the Chicago Comedy Expo.

Molly Brennan" src="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/184f6f79ac41c7c0a854eb191/images/bd49e3e8-bc26-4b69-b083-7f63e3fbc9cf.jpg" align="left" width="264" />Molly Brennan: Molly Brennan has been professionally putting on funny hats and falling down for the nice people since 1993. In Chicago, she has performed at Lookingglass, Goodman, Steppenwolf, Neo-Futurists, About Face, Lifeline, Second City, Lyric Opera, House, Factory, and 500 Clown. She has toured the U.S. extensively as well, most notably Denver Arts Center, PS 122 in NYC, the Arsht in Miami, Alliance in Atlanta, and the Kennedy Center.

She recently appeared with her p(ART)ner Malic White for "Picnic" at ATC, directed by Will Davis. Molly teaches Clown and Physical Theatre at the Actors Gymnasium and hangs around Salonathon on the regular. She is a member of AEA and represented by Paonessa Talent. Photo by Joe Mazza, Brave-lux.

Molly Brennan's SheFest piece is a clowning exploration "Any of My Enemies," a music and physical theatre piece.

Tamale Sepp: Tamale Sepp trained in improv at I.O. Chicago, Second City's Conservatory Program, and Annoyance Theater, and has performed burlesque with the Sissy Butch Brothers Burlesque, Lavender Cabaret, Angela Eve, and Varietease Cabaret.

She travelled with the international gender performance troupe, Windy City Blenders and began performing drag with members of the Chicago Kings at events like the International Drag King Extravaganza (IDKE) and The Great Big International Drag King Show ("The Great Big"). Somewhere along the way, she picked up fire dancing, performing with members of SPUNN, Pyrotechnique, and Temple of Poi.

Ada Cheng: Ada Cheng is a professor-turned storyteller. She has been featured in storytelling shows in Chicago, Atlanta, New York, and Cedar Rapids. She will be performing her solo show, Asian Woman by Desire, at The Public House Theater on June 1st, 8th, 15th, and 22nd. She will be taking her solo show on national tours to National Storytelling Conference fringe, Capital Fringe Festival, Minnesota Fringe Festival, and Boulder International Fringe Festival in July and August.

Anna Rose Wolfe: Anna Rose Wolfe is a Jewish, 'baby queer,' writer, performer and teaching artist. Anna is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago, where she earned a BA in Acting and a minor in Gender Studies. She is the co-founder of Scout & Birdie, an online literary magazine and podcast.

Anna has been featured in Fillet of Solo, Greenhouse Theater's Solo Celebration, Abbie Fest, Greenhouse Theater's SoloPerformance Lab, and The Election Monologues. She has performed with The LIVINGroom, The Plagiarists, National Cool Shorts, and most recently Miss Spoken.

Anna will be performing an original solo performance piece.

Khloe Janel: Khloe Janel is a proud queer poet, actor, singer, and voice actor of color! They have performed original spoken word around Chicago and recently was crowned the winner of National Vans College Open Mic Series. Khloe has performed at Steppenwolf Theatre, Broadway Playhouse, Greenhouse Theater, and Madison Street Theater. They also recently co-starred on an episode of Empire and can be heard in various animations and commercials around the Chicago area. Khloejanel.com

Khloe is performing an original spoken word.

Alex Seligsohn: Alex Seligsohn is a stand-up comic based in Chicago. Her comedy performances have been described as a "one-woman mosh pit." She is a writer and producer for the hit variety show "Secrets, Lies & Alibis" in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. Alex is also a Notary.

June Thiele: June Thiele is a queer, two-spirited, Native American actor, writer, and performance artist. Indigenous to Alaska she travelled to Chicago 10 years ago to study at Columbia College. She's been fortunate enough to have worked with some awesome theatre companies including Kinematics, LiveWire, Nothing Without a Company, Ensolo and others.

June Thiele will be performing an original Solo Performance piece.

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