STAGE TUBE: Sneak Peek - GRACIE & ROSE at Hollywood Fringe

Gracie and Rose are two women who fall in love in Wyoming in the late 1950's. Gracie has been passing as a man, George, for some time, in order to do men's work and live the way she feels most authentic. Anastasia Coon presents the full-length Los Angeles premiere of her solo show Gracie and Rose. Los Angeles Writer's Center Director Che'Rae Adams directs the limited run of the full work in development, now through June 28 at Art of Acting LA during the 2013 Hollywood Fringe Festival. Click below to watch a promo for the show!

This piece unpacks pre-Stonewall queer history in the American West, the deep human longing to live authentically despite being rendered invisible, gender performance in a butch/femme tradition, the body as landscape for desire, and the violence and redemption of breaking and making family. This story is told in a physical theatre aesthetic harnessing the rich legacy of devising work through the movement-based actor training that Coon teaches: Commedia Dell'Arte, Mask making and performance, Melodrama, Viewpoints, and the work of Le Coq, Grotwoski and Laban.

Gracie and Rose fall in love without a clue of what that means. They're flying on instinct in their desire to be together with no reflection back from the people around them. They build a life together - hidden in love, while living in plain sight. As they contend with the intense demands of the land, the animals, and running a ranch, Rose wants to have a baby... with George.

What audiences love about this piece is the power of transformation they get to experience - a chair becomes a pig, a ladder is a wild horse, and a rope will save your hide or punish your spirit.

"In the winter and spring of 2000 I spent time at Centre Selavy, an organic farm and theatre center in Grosbout, France," Coon recalls. "During this time I helped with a pig slaughter, which made a strong impression. Throughout my stay I was struck by the sheer volume and intensity of work that's required to keep a farm running. Everything else, including relationships that needed tending, came second. Necessity of survival, rather than emotions and attachments, controlled relationships among people, as well as between people and animals."

When asked why she specifically set the play in Wyoming, Coon responds "I'm familiar with the way a wide-open space of land and sky, and exposure to the elements can affect people. I am especially curious about survival tactics women, men and children employ when socially isolated in rural areas, as well as in traditionally male-dominated work. I am particularly drawn to the ways this is expressed in the body."

Anastasia Coon is an Actor and Voice & Movement Teacher currently on three faculties: at the USC School of Theatre, New York Film Academy, and The Art of Acting Studio. Recently, Anastasia served as the Movement & Mask/Commedia Coach on A Servant to Two Masters, directed by Kappy Kilburn at Chapman University, and Sara Ruhl's Dead Man's Cell Phone, and 12 Ophelias by Caridad Svich, both directed by Paul Backer at USC.

Director/Dramaturge Che'Rae Adams is the Producing Artistic Director for the LA Writers Center where she develops work by local writers. She specializes in developing and directing solo work including Chesapeake, by Lee Blessing for Venice Theatre Works; Ser: LA vs BA by Karen Anzoategui at the Downtown Urban Theatre Festival and Company of Angels; Pandora's Trunk by Blaine Teamer at LATC starring Kim Fields and at the National Black Theatre Festival starring Tonya Pinkins. She is a proud member of the Directors Lab West, which is held annually at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Gracie and Rose continues today, June 21 @3pm & 10pm, Tuesday June 25 @8pm, Friday June 28 @3pm & Saturday June 29 @10pm.. General admission is $10, Hollywood Fringe Festival participants always PWYC (subject to availability).

To post a comment, you must register and login.