LADY LIBERTEASE Comes to Santa Monica Playhouse

Lady LiberTease, a hit at August's Hollywood Fringe Festival, is back for a single performance at the Binge Free Festival at Santa Monica Playhouse.

Kirsten is an educator and theatre director. She's happily married with two kids. When Hillary Clinton loses the 2016 election to Donald J. Trump, Kirsten is compelled to contemplate the world in which her kids will grow up. It spurs her to activism.

As a point of inspiration, she conjures up the goddess Columbia, an original, female, personifying symbol of America (much as France is personified by Marianne and the United Kingdom is personified by Britannia). Although largely forgotten today, except as the logo of a motion picture studio, Columbia was a powerful symbol of America in the first 150 years of its existence, of a free country with liberty and justice for all. When Kirsten takes a deeper dive into history, however, she discovers that the image of Columbia has been subverted, for example, when it was used to promote the white supremacist doctrine of Manifest Destiny, forcibly removing American Indians from their ancestral lands; and, sixty years later, to promote the agenda of the Ku Klux Klan.

Kirsten may have to look at the history of earlier generations of her own family to find out whether they were involved in an unsavory chapter of American history. She's aware of her own privilege, but wants to participate in creating a better world for her family and her community. How does she accomplish that without falling into the trap of becoming the White Savior? She may have to look inside, to expunge herself of her own unexamined racial biases and misogyny.

So, in the end, is Columbia our Lady Liberty, or is she just a Lady LiberTease?

Kirsten Laurel Caplan is an actor, writer, director and educator. She's been a Department Chair of Performing Arts for Music, Dance and Theatre. She's directed 20 middle school productions. She's been a middle school Diversity and Inclusion coordinator (prompting her son to call her "The Includinator"), She has also been an adjunct professor at Mt. St. Mary's University. Kirsten created one previous solo show, Whose Dream Is This Anyway? The Studio City native studied classical theatre at the Claremont Colleges and earned her MFA from Towson University.

Jessica Lynn Johnson directs Lady LiberTease. Acclaimed both as a solo performer and as a director of solo artists, she is the founder of the company Soaring Solo Studios and a recipient of the Best National Solo Artist Award. Her directing credits include Unemployed Finally, The Mermaid Who Learned How to Fly, 365 Days of Crazy, Triangles Are My Favorite Shape, Bully-mia, Not My Show, Answers Outta The Blue, Dear Yoko, and more.

Lady LiberTease will be performed in front of a live audience at the Santa Monica Playhouse Other Space. The performance will also be livestreamed, for those who prefer an online option.

In addition to Kirsten's engaging performance, Lady LiberTease is enlivened with multimedia projections including obscure images of historical memorabilia from the last two centuries, particularly images of our beautiful Columbia, that you're unlikely to see anywhere else.

Lady LiberTease is a fascinating look at where America has been, where it is now, and where it might be going from here.

BONUS! 3:15 - 4:15 Post-show anti-racist workshop

Come join Kirsten for an interactive and reflective workshop- where EVERYONE is INCLUDED.

Explore issues of Diversity, Inclusion, Justice, and Equity... or as Kirsten says- come learn about being a JEDI. Join Kirsten's follow-up workshop after Lady LiberTEASE.

(Note: Feel free to come for the workshop even if you aren't seeing the show, or vice versa)

Binge Free Festival 2021 is presented through generous grants from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of arts and Culture, the City of Santa Monica, the Santa Monica Arts Commission, and Playhouse PALS.

Covid safety protocols in effect on the day of performances will be observed.

WHAT: Lady LiberTease. A Binge Free Festival selection.

WHO: Written and performed by Kirsten Laurel Caplan. Directed and developed by Jessica Lynn Johnson. Produced by Living Up to Your Laurels and Soaring Solo Studios.

WHERE: Santa Monica Playhouse, 1211 Fourth Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401. Parking is available in a municipal structure across the street.

WHEN: Saturday, October 16, 2021 at 1:30 p.m. Performance is followed by an optional one-hour anti-racism workshop at 3:15.

ADMISSION: FREE.

RESERVATIONS:ARE REQUIRED: Call (310) 974-9779 ext. 1, or e-mail theatre@santamonicaplayhouse.com When making reservations, mention the name of the show, how many seats you need, your full name, and your phone number.

ESTIMATED RUNNING TIME: 90 minutes.

CONSUMER ADVISORY: Suggested for ages 13 to Adult.

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