Swandive Theatre to Stage KID-SIMPLE: A RADIO PLAY IN THE FLESH This Spring

Swandive Theatre marks their 11th year in the Twin Cities with an ambitious production of Jordan Harrison's tribute to all things aural - KID-SIMPLE: a radio play in the flesh.

The production features a live foley artist as "the machine" - an invention built by Moll, the 16-year-old female protagonist. Able to hear sounds that can't be heard by the human ear, the machine is stolen by a Mercenary for two nefarious dark dwellers who plan to undo all of creation with its power. Moll must embark on an epic adventure with the 11th grade's last virgin to save sound as we know it.

Moll, an extremely clever teen, wins the science fair with The Third Ear, a machine for hearing sounds that can't be heard. But when she falls for a nefarious Mercenary, posing as angsty bad boy Garth, she loses not only her machine, but her heart. She is forced to find the last male-virgin in the 11th grade and set out on a dangerous quest over cadaversom chasms and raging rivers to rescue her machine, confront her first love, and prevent sound from breaking down.

KID-SIMPLE: a radio play in the flesh features foley artist Derek Trost as The Third Ear. Trost will be onstage creating live sound effects with the help of the ensemble. Video designer Ian Knodel use a mix of live video feed and projections.

Known for their focus on design, Swandive Theatre was featured in the Jan 2014 issue of American Theatre Magazine for their production of An Outopia for Pigeons by Justin Maxwell. "I was attracted to KID-SIMPLE because the challenges of the sound and video design mirrored the challenges we faced with the design of the set and lighting on Outopia" says Co-Artistic Director Meg DiSciorio. "We were lucky to connect with Derek Trost for the foley and sound work. His musicianship and sound making capabilities will certainly be put to the test creating such noises as toenails growing on a mouse and the sound of solitary jelly."

With a recent cultural focus on leading female characters, including the attention the new Star Wars() movie has garnered, Swandive is looking forward to telling a story about a 16 year old girl who is a female inventor and scientist. "We have two daughters and so this script really hit home about the roles that women can often be pigeonholed into." says Co-Artistic Director Damon Runnals "Moll is an incredible character who puts everything, including a piece of herself, into this machine. She makes these incredibly adult decisions in light of the struggle of how she feels about her greatest creation." Boo Segerson helms the role of the 16 year old inventor genius.

FEATURING:

Debra Berger

Sarah Broude

Kip Dooley

Nathan Gebhard

Kevin McLaughlin

Boo Segersin

DESIGN TEAM:

set design- Anne Henly

lighting design- Jesse Cogswell

sound design/foley- Derek Trost

costume design- Lucas Skjaret

directed by- Meg DiSciorio & Damon Runnals

graphic design by- Kate Ahern-Loveric

IF YOU GO:

April 29-May 22

The Southern Theater

1420 S. Washington Ave

Minneapolis, MN 55454

FREE for ARTshare members

Individual tickets $24 GA | $18 Students

southern.ticketworks.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=41

To post a comment, you must register and login.