David Bowie Guides MOONAGE DAYDREAM at Philadelphia Fringe

Ego Actus brings its one-woman show, Moonage Daydream to the 2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Moonage Daydream tells the story of a young woman's coming of age with David Bowie as her imaginary guide.

Moonage Daydream runs September 19-23 at 7:30 p.m. at the Philadelphia Arts Alliance, 251 S. 18th Street. All tickets cost $20 and are available at the Fringe Festival Box Office and online at www.fringearts.com.

Moonage Daydream is written and performed by Mary Monahan, an NYC based performer who grew up in Bucks County. In this piece, a young woman looks back on how rock god David Bowie was her imaginary spiritual guide. His music helped her make it through the 1980s in Suburban Philadelphia and helped her became the artist she is today. The piece is semi-autobiographical.

"I am so excited to be a part of The Philadelphia Fringe Festival and the vibrant Philadelphia theater community. I feel Moonage Daydream is a great fit for the festival since a good portion of the play is set in Philadelphia and Bucks County," said Monahan. "In addition, Philadelphia and David Bowie had a special relationship. The talent and soul of the city inspired him, so he worked with local talent and recorded Young Americans at Sigma Sound Studio. He also recorded David Live, his live concert album, at The Tower Theater. Bowie often spoke about his love for Philadelphia and his Philly fans. So, I feel that performing Moonage Daydream in Philadelphia is a great way to honor the Bowie/Philadelphia connection."

Moonage Daydream is directed and developed by Joan Kane. Cat Fisher is the Costume Designer. Bruce A! Kramer is the Lighting Designer. Jacob Subotnick is the Sound Designer and Projections are by Jim and Charles Marlowe.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Mary Monahan (performer) has appeared in many theater and film productions. Some of her favorite roles include: Mary in Moonage Daydream which she wrote and performed and was produced by Ego Actus in the United Solo Festival 2016; Charlotte, Buried In Time; Eden, Gideon (PCTF 2016); Patty, Louise in Charlestown (United Solo 2015), Alma, After Tartuffe; Janet/Lady, Magic Kingdom (FringeNYC); Jan, Doe (Santiago A Mil). A few of her film roles include: Mary Sherman, Head Trauma (LA FF, SANFIC); Woman/Mary, Windows (SANFIC, Tribeca FF, LoCarno); Q, Slice (SANFIC, Signis Award). She is a member of Black Door Theatre Company.

Joan Kane (director) is the founding Artistic Director of Ego Actus and directed I Know What Boys Want at Theatre Row, Six Characters in Search of an Author in Oslo, Norway, and Kafka's Belinda in Prague. She also directed both Safe and what do you mean at 59E59 Theaters and in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, getting four-star reviews for each. Joan was awarded Best Director in the 2016 United Solo Festival was named to the Indie Theatre Hall of Fame by nytheatre.com. She has also directed plays and readings for the Lark Play Development Center, Ensemble Studio Theatre, the NY Fringe Festival, Theater for the New City, Urban Stages, the Bleecker St Theater, the Workshop Theater, Nylon Fusion, Abingdon Theatre, Oberon Theatre, the Samuel French Short Play Festival, the Midtown International Festival, The Players Club, the Lambs Club, and The Actors Studio. Joan has an MFA in Directing from The New School, an MS in Museum Education from Bank Street College and is a member of The New York Madness Company, the Dramatists Guild, the League of Professional Theatre Women, and the Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers.

Bruce A! Kraemer (producer, playwright, and designer) is the producer of all Ego Actus shows. He wrote what do you mean which played at 59e59 Theater and in the 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. His Identity Paper was in the 2016 United Solo Festival and he co-wrote Kafka's Belinda which played in the 2015 Prague Fringe Festival and was nominated for an Inspiration Award. He has done lighting design for Roundabout Theatre and Soho Rep and has designed shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Ensemble Studio Theatre, 59E59 Theaters, the NYC Fringe, Theatre Row, and many others. Bruce also does TV and event lighting, audio, technical direction, stage management, production intercom and RF coordination. He has done one or another of those for the Summer and Winter Olympics, the Paralympics, the World Cup, two Papal visits, three SuperBowls, the Commonwealth Games, the Goodwill Games, six Tony Awards, the Grammys, three Video Music Awards, the WNBA All Star Game, the NBA All Star game, the NBA Draft, four NFL Drafts, the MLB Draft, ten Christmas Tree Lightings at Rockefeller Center, on Broadway, off Broadway, off off Broadway, for dance, fashion shows, art installations and hundreds of corporate events.

Ego Actus (Production Company) is Latin for "My Way." Joan Kane and Bruce A! Kraemer created an independent theatre in company in 2009 dedicated to doing art for art's sake. Each artist brings his or her own way of creating to our shows and we unify them into a collective "my way." Joan directs and Bruce designs, they both produce. Everything we have presented to date has been on the island of Manhattan or in Europe. Our off-Broadway shows have included Play Nice! at 59E59 Theaters and I Know What Boys Want at Theatre Row. We presented both Safe and what do you mean in Planet Connections, the East to Edinburgh Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. We are quite experienced at producing in festivals having done 16 festival shows in seven different festivals including the Prague Fringe, the United Solo Festival, and the Midtown International Festival. We have done Equity productions at Theatre Row, Theater for a New City, the Bleecker St Theater, Urban Stages, the Dorothy Strelsin Theater, and the WorkShop Theater. We are affiliated with the League of Independent Theater, A.R.T/NY, and Fractured Atlas.

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