Celebrate Women's Futures at The Rose Theater

The Rose Teens 'N' Theater program will present Broken Mirror #17 in conjunction with The Future Is Female Festival on Thursday, March 9 at 7 pm, Saturday, March 11 at 7 pm and Sunday, March 12 at 4:30 pm on The Rose Theater's Hitchcock Stage.

Theaters, playwrights, directors and actors throughout the US and Canada have united during Women's History Month to present The Future Is Female Festival, a series of staged readings and productions of 10-minute plays written by women of all backgrounds on the subject "The Future is Female" and what that means to them.

"Instead of spending March celebrating women's history, we'll celebrate women's futures," said festival creator and writer Mya Kagan.

Broken Mirror #17, in collaboration with The Future Is Female Festival, explores the theme of "identity." Each of this year's pieces uses poetry, movement, personal stories, and improvisation to explore topics and issues that are important to the young artists in this show. The pieces were created courageously created with thoughtfulness, bravery, grace, and, of course, a wonderful sense of humor.

"The artists in this group have poured their hearts into this project and have created a night of theater that represents their lived experiences.," said Kimberlee Stone, director.

Stone, along with Louisa Foster and Alanna Reeves, lead the production. Their goal was to give the actors as much freedom in expressing themselves as they could. "Our maIn Focus is to let each person express their identity through humor and personal stories," said Stone, who is directing her first Rose Teens 'N' Theater production.

Broken Mirror will include skits about personal experiences, life in 2017, poetic monologues and a few pieces from The Future Is Female Festival. All of the participants took months to write and perfect their skits, and they will all be compiled into three scenes; Part 1: Where I Come From, Part 2: Who I Am and Part 3: Who I Am Becoming. In the end, Broken Mirror #17 promises to be a wonderful production.

These young women have worked tirelessly with each other to bring their vision to life. "I am so lucky to be performing alongside some amazing women," said participant Christina Lee.

The show you will see is one of 26 outposts in 18 cities from coast-to-coast and Canada, jointly amplifying the voices of about 130 women to reach over 2,000 audience members. Instead of spending the month celebrating women's history, we celebrate women's futures.

The cast of Broken Mirror #17 includes Maggie Begbie, Kate Caniglia, Dalliya Conway, Jane Helms, Jaime Katzenstein, Christina Lee , Maya Lusk, Somer Young and Grace Umphreys.

Schools represented include: Glenwood Middle School, Gross Catholic High School, Lewis and Clark Middle School, Thomas Jefferson High School, Papillion Junior High School, Central High School and Fremont-Mills High School.

Broken Mirror #17 will be presented in The Rose Theater's Hitchcock Theater on Thursday, March 9 at 7 pm, Saturday, March 11 at 7 pm and Sunday, March 12 at 4:30 pm. Teens will be admitted for free at the Thursday night performance. Tickets are $6 each and available at The Rose Box Office, (402) 345-4849, or at the door the day of the show.

Broken Mirror #17 is sponsored by The Mukti Fund, Mammel Family Foundation, the Nebraska Arts Council Nebraska Arts Council in conjunction with The Future is Female Festival and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.

Teens 'N' Theater is open to middle/high school students who have not yet graduated. There is no cost to participate and the program is open to all interested students. For more information about Teens 'N' Theater, visit www.rosetheater.org/education/teens.

This program provides teens, ages 13 to 18, opportunities to roll up their sleeves and get active in world of theater. The Rose produces six teens-only shows each season, where teen participants are given opportunities to act, direct, write, design and stage manage. Students perform fresh, thought-provoking work at The Rose's Hitchcock Theater.

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