Orbiter 3's A KNEE THAT CAN BEND Runs Now thru 12/20

This December the playwright producing collective Orbiter 3 will present the world premiere of Emma Goidel's A Knee That Can Bend. Over the past two years Goidel has risen to the forefront of emerging American playwrights, working with and being recognized by organizations such as Ars Nova, the Kilroys, Labyrinth Theater Company and the Playwrights Realm. A Knee That Can Bend will mark her full-length theatre debut.

A Knee That Can Bend depicts Kate, an American sociology student, who stumbles into an underground circle of queers in Sénégal. Soon her semester abroad transforms into an intimate tour of Dakar's hidden gay nightlife. A Knee That Can Bend explodes into the ethical sand-traps of Americans telling African stories, falling in love far from home, and searching for people like you in a country that doesn't believe you exist.

The play was inspired by Goidel's "experience as a college student living abroad in Dakar and making a documentary theater piece about a group of local closeted queer women."

"Writing that play raised more questions in me than it answered -- about the right to have an out queer identity, and who wants that right, and who needs that right, and whose life is imperiled by that right. About the ethics of living and partying and falling in love with the people you're writing about. About who gets to tell African stories to the American academy, and an American public."

Following the James Ijames' "spectacular" Moon Man Walk, A Knee That Can Bend will be the second production of Orbiter 3, Philadelphia's playwrights producing collective dedicated to creating sustainable and radical theatre. Starting with Ijames' production this past July and continuing through 2018, Orbiter 3 will produce six new plays in the city of Philadelphia. In 2018 when each production has been completed, the collective will release their plays and documentation of their development as a resource for theatremakers. The collective will then dissolve.

With a burgeoning population of young playwrights committed to the city, Philadelphia is uniquely poised to become a hub for new plays. The members of Orbiter 3 created their company to advance that vision.

Jennifer Kidwell, coming off her "fierce" performance in The Wilma's Antigone, will star in Knee as Aicha. Also starring is Danielle Leneé, Candace Moore, and Anna Szapiro. The production features lighting design by Maria Shaplin, scenic design by Colin McIlvaine, costume design by Jillian Keys, props by Sara Outing, as well as sound design by Nick Kourtides. Knee will reunite Goidel with director Kittson O'Neill, who together developed the play through InterAct Theatre's Core Playwrights program.

Members of Orbiter 3 include Emily Acker, Emma Goidel, James Ijames, Mary Tuomanen and Douglas Williams, the collective is led by Artistic Director Maura Krause.

Performances for A KNEE THAT CAN BEND run from tonight to December 20 at Studio X at 1340 S. 13th St. Tickets are $15 - $20 and available online at www.orbiter3.org

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