THE FROM-HOME FEST Launches This Month

Frustrated by opportunities for virtual theatre already disappearing from fringe festivals, actor/creator Tia Shearer Bassett (known locally as the cancer-surviving "TheatreWolf") has founded a festival dedicated to the work that kept her feeling connected and inspired as she underwent chemotherapy in 2020: online, telephone, and by-mail theatre (a category she hopes to include in future Fests).

"The From-Home Fest is a celebration of the theatrics that blossomed at the start of the pandemic...shows that bravely and playfully expand the definition of 'theatre;' welcome artists and audiences who may be unable to physically go to a theater; and surprise us with an experience of real human connection."

The inaugural From-Home Fest runs between October 28th and November 5th, 2023. A designated space on Discord will serve as "fringe central," where audiences and artists can meet and mingle. The small-but-mighty festival includes the following works:

· Juxtapose Tenement - a whimsical interactive website inspired by the works of Joseph Cornell, featuring vintage spectacle, physical theatre and theatrical clown. Created and presented by Happenstance Theater (DC area).

· The Ritual - a one-on-one horror show via telephone, guiding audiences through a ritual to fend off an eldritch terror. Created and presented by Phoenix Tears Productions (FL).

· Edward and Christine - a Zoom/object theatre/solo performer reimagining of a poem-play by Kenneth Koch. Presented by Anna Lathrop, Deb Sivigny and Tia Shearer Bassett (DC area).

· in a way that matters - a live multimedia performance exploring death acceptance and the body through mushrooms, trans ancestors, and a dash of Hamlet. Created and presented by Tristan Willis (DC area).

· Void Main - a live online production where audiences' choices determine the fate of one astronaut alone on a station 750 million miles away. Created and presented by CirqueSaw (NY/MA).

Pay-What-You-Wish tickets to these shows can be purchased on the From-Home Fest website, fromhomefest.com. Festival logo created by Bagels N Pretzels Illustration.

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