Forward Theater Announces Biennial Monologue Festival

Forward Theater Company will conclude the celebration of their 10th anniversary season with the Two Steps Forward Monologue Festival, June 20-23 in Overture's Promenade Hall.

Forward Theater's biennial monologue festivals always have a unique theme, celebrating the many different ways creative authors can approach a common subject. Forward accepts monologue submissions from writers in Wisconsin and around the country to create this one-weekend only event, and audiences get to see the entire collection of monologues at each performance.

This season, the festival coincides with the 100th anniversary of Wisconsin's ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. The Two Steps Forward monologue festival will encompass a wide variety of perspectives on and interpretations of Wisconsin's long progressive tradition.

"We're excited about this theme and have been thrilled to see that the submissions received exceeded our hopes in tackling a wide variety of subjects all united by their connection to our state's legacy as a laboratory of progressive change," said Artistic Director Jen Uphoff Gray.

"The pieces chosen for inclusion in the festival engaged not only the subject of suffrage but also with immigration, LGTBQ history, electoral politics, race, and sexual freedom. The diversity of voices and the variety of both dramatic and comedic styles should make for a thrilling evening of theater."

Special Event with League of Women Voters

Forward Theater is collaborating with the League of Women Voters, who is organizing a program and Capitol Square march on Sunday, June 23rd to commemorate Wisconsin's ratification of the 19th Amendment. The event begins at 12:00pm at the Forward statue on the Square and will culminate with an attendance of the 2:00pm performance of the monologue festival at Overture.

The monologues, their authors and locations:

Wisconsin Blue Book by Eric Appleton; Madison, WI Susan B. Anthony by Andy Bayiates; Evanston, IL The Vote is Just the Beginning by Takelya Benton; Madison, WI Forward by Erin Celello; Madison, WI Butterfly Wings by Coleman; Mineral Point, WI

Awake by Sandy Dietrick; Brooklyn, NY A New Voice in Politics by Marcia Jablonski; Ft. Myers, FL Dive Flow by Karen Moeller; Madison, WI Cranberry League Stats by Ellen Monroe; Stoughton, WI #WyattCameron by Jake Penner; Madison, WI Down There by Lucy Wang; Glendale, CA Lottery by Amy White; Mt. Vernon, IA

Performances Thursday 6/20 at 7:30pm, Friday 6/21 at 7:30pm, Saturday 6/22 at 2:00pm and 7:30pm, Sunday 6/23 at 2:00pm.

Tickets Tickets are $25 for this general admission festival. Tickets are on sale now, and may be purchased online at forwardtheater.com, in person at Overture Center's ticket office, or by calling (608) 258-4141.

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