Press information

press release, promotional photos, and production photos available for download

Taffety Punk Theatre Company presents

a world premiere

La Salpêtrière

by Kelsey Mesa
directed by Danielle A. Drakes


at the
Capitol Hill Arts Workshop
545 7th Street SE
Washington, DC 20003

Wed through Sat from
Sep 28 — Oct 14
with Half Price Previews on Sep 28 and 29
and one matinee on Oct 7
and a special “industry night” show on Oct 9

Press requests to press@taffetypunk.com

A 19th century hospital, La Salpêtrière, became famous as a center for the treatment of hysteria. Women were sometimes “treated" in degrading demonstrations that were open to the public.

 In Kelsey Mesa’s stunning new play, we follow new patient Yvette from her mysterious arrival in the hospital, through the many degrading practices by its doctor, to her ultimate fight to reclaim her life.

La Salpêtrière is a story as uplifting as it is heartbreaking. It mines humor from the absurd realities of the past to deliver a magnificent tale of inspiration for all.
download press release
Tickets: $15
available now at

www.taffetypunk.com

The cast of La Salpêtrière

click any photo to open hi-res / downloadable versions

Yihong Chen plays Didi. Photo by Cameron Whitman.

L to R: Kimberly Gilbert as Antoine, Fabiolla da Silva as Yvette, Danny Puente Cackley as Le Docteur. Photo by Cameron Whitman.

Fabiolla da Silva plays Yvette.   Photo by Cameron Whitman.

Kimberly Gilbert plays Antoine.  Photo by Cameron Whitman.

Fabiolla da Silva plays Yvette in La Salpêtrière, by Kelsey Mesa. Directed by Danielle A. Drakes.

Yihong Chen plays Didi in La Salpêtrière, by Kelsey Mesa. Directed by Danielle A. Drakes.

Kimberly Gilbert plays Antoine in La Salpêtrière, by Kelsey Mesa. Directed by Danielle A. Drakes.

Danny Puente Cackley plays Le Docteur in La Salpêtrière, by Kelsey Mesa. Directed by Danielle A. Drakes.

For Immediate Release:

Punk Women Cure Hysteria, Start a Riot, and Leave Hospital in Ruins

Taffety Punk presents a world premiere, set in a 19th Century house of horrors, also known as a hospital for women.
Where:  Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (545 7th Street SE, Washington, DC 20003)
When:  Sep 28 — Oct 14, 2023
Price:  $15 — Tickets available at www.taffetypunk.com

Taffety Punk is thrilled to announce the world premiere of a new play by Kelsey Mesa. The eponymous 19th-century French hospital, La Salpêtrière, gained notoriety as a treatment center for the that most specious of maladies: hysteria in women. The patients were often subjected to brutal demonstrations of their treatments that were open to the public. These treatments sometimes included repeated punches to the ovaries, or an abusive hypnosis spectacle.

In Mesa's breathtaking new play, we meet Yvette, a new patient, who wakes in the hospital completely unaware of how she arrived. Yvette meets other patients who help her endure the degrading practices employed by the hospital’s doctor. Meanwhile, Yvette discovers a latent inner power which emboldens her and her fellow patients to start a revolt against the hospital to reclaim their lives. La Salpêtrière is a story that is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. It draws humor from the absurd realities of the past to deliver a magnificent tale of inspiration for all.

Company member Danielle A. Drakes directs this poignant and timely play in the Black Box theatre at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop. With a cast of four, Ms. Drakes takes on the inherent tragicomedy at the heart of the play with Fabiolla da Silva as Yvette, the new patient and hero of the play. Ms. da Silva is joined by Yihong Chen (Didi), Danny Puente Cackley (Le Docteur) and Taffety Punk company member Kimberly Gilbert (Antoine).

Playwright Kelsey Mesa was inspired to write the play after reading about the hospital’s gruesome history, saying, “La Salpêtrière—or, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière as it's now called—has been a gunpowder factory, a women's prison, an asylum, and hospice, and one of the locations of the September Massacres; it was also the hospital where both Josephine Baker and Princess Diana died. The historical facts surrounding this hospital and its centuries-long treatment of women are absurd and grotesque.” Reading Sady Doyle's book, Trainwreck: The Women We Love to Hate, Mock, and Fear...and Why (which has a chapter about the famous hysterics of La Salpêtrière), led her to hunt down Asti Hustvedt's Medical Muses: Hysterics in Nineteeth-Century Paris. “I kept having to put the book down to laugh or cry or both. Eventually, some very theatrical images started materializing in my mind, so I thought it would make for a good play. I wasn't exactly sure where the story would go, but the characters kept guiding me deeper and deeper to the heart of it, and further and further to the end.”

A company member of Taffety Punk, Mesa workshopped the play through the company’s Generator program, which artistic director Marcus Kyd describes as “an internal artistic combustion engine.” Generator workshops kept the company members working during the pandemic when theatres were closed to the public. Various company members had a hand at the different roles over a couple years. This spring, the company held a workshop reading to give the play its first public airing, and played to a packed house.

Actor Fabiolla da Silva has been with the play for the better part of the year, as she also played Yvette during the final workshopping process. “This show offers audiences an unexpected adventure with a lot of sass, ridiculousness, and gut-punches,” says da Silva. “This script offers such a ride! Kelsey has done such a beautiful job at creating well-rounded characters that live under very insane circumstances. Just when I kept thinking things couldn't get any wilder, they did.”

An important and timeless story, Mesa's play brings to life the struggles of these women who were treated so poorly, while it celebrates the strength and resilience of the human spirit. She says, “I hope it speaks to anyone who has ever felt gaslit by our patriarchal society. You're not crazy, the system is absurd.”

La Salpêtrière opens at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (545 7th Street SE, Washington, DC 20003 – two blocks from Metro’s Orange/Blue Line stop at Eastern Market) on Saturday, Sep 30 and runs through Saturday, Oct 14 on Wednesday and Thursdays at 7:30pm, and Friday and Saturdays at 8:00pm. There are two half-price previews on Sep 28 and 29 at 7:30pm. There is an additional Monday night (industry night) performance on Oct 9 at 7:30pm, and there is is one matinee on Saturday, Oct 7 at 2:30pm. In keeping with Taffety Punk’s promise to keep ticket prices low, tickets are $15, available at https://www.taffetypunk.com.

This show runs 90 minutes without an intermission.

Featuring company member Kimberly Gilbert (Antoine), with Fabiolla da Silva (Yvette), Yihong Chen (Didi), Danny Puente Cackley (Le Docteur). Curiously, Ms. Gilbert and Ms. da Silva have both won Helen Hayes Awards for separate portrayals of Marie Antoinette — Gilbert in David Adjimi’s Marie Antoinette at Woolly Mammoth directed by Yury Urnov, and da Silva in Lauren Gunderson’s The Revolutionists at Prologue Theatre, directed by Jessica Lefkow. La Salpêtrière is directed by company member Danielle A. Drakes. Lights designed by elijah Thomas. Costumes designed by Johnna Presby. Set and Prop Manifestation by Daniel Flint. Movement, Fights, and Intimacy Direction by Lorraine Ressegger. Sound designed by Marcus Kyd. Stage Manager: Jenna Keefer.

For hi-res photos, go to: https://www.taffetypunk.com/press/.

Taffety Punk Theatre Company is the resident company at Capitol Hill Arts Workshop. Founded to establish an actively collaborative company of actors, dancers, and musicians, the company has been at the forefront of theatre innovation, presenting groundbreaking productions that inspire audiences and introducing new playwrights and stories to the stage, new works of choreography, and new compositions of original music. Through its artist-nurturing Generator program Taffety Punk has a rich history of developing original works that challenge theatre norms. Generator projects that have realized full production include the widely celebrated dance plays suicide.chat.room, Fragments of Sappho, and Enter Ophelia, distracted; as well as the world premieres of Liz Maestri’s Inheritance Canyon, and Lindsay Carpenter’s Our Black Death, and the newest of these: Kelsey Mesa’s La Salpêtrière. Over the years, Taffety Punk has garnered numerous accolades and recognition for its work and, in fact, won the very first John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company from the Helen Hayes Awards. The Washington Post declared the company “The most vital of the city’s small troupes.” The company’s all-female ensemble, the Riot Grrrls, have repeatedly delighted audiences delivering impassioned productions of classical plays while empowering women in theatre. The Bootleg Shakespeare is a widely celebrated event the company hosts with the partnership of the Folger Theatre providing the most exciting night of theatre anyone could ask for: an entire Shakespeare play rehearsed and performed in a single day. The company has released albums by its company members and their tangential bands, most notably the indie rock sensation Beauty Pill, the musical home for two Taffety Punk Company Members: composer Chad Clark and singer Erin Mitchell Nelson. Taffety Punk’s music catalog is available on all streaming platforms and via taffetypunk.bandcamp.com where LPs and singles can be ordered. As Taffety Punk Theatre Company moves forward, it remains committed to its mission to ignite a public passion for theatre by making the classical and the contemporary exciting, meaningful, and affordable. The company is excited to continue its legacy of excellence and making the greatest theatre for the lowest price.

Kelsey Mesa (Playwright) Directing credits include Fefu and Her Friends at the University of Maryland, College Park; Crimes of the Heart at Catholic University; The Pavilion, The Magi, and Wish List at the Hub Theatre; and Othello, Antigonick, She Rode Horses Like the Stock Exchange, Riot Grrrls The Trojan Women, Charm, and dREAMtRIPPIN’ at Taffety Punk Theatre Company. She has also directed for The Inkwell, The Source Festival, Rorschach Theatre Company's Klecksography, Young Playwrights' Theatre, the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, and Theater Alliance’s Hothouse New Play Development Series. Kelsey is a company member at Taffety Punk Theatre Company, as well as the Manager of KCACTF and Theater Education at the Kennedy Center, where she is the Resident Director of the Kennedy Center Directing Intensive. She's an alumna of Directors Lab North. In 2021, Kelsey received the Kennedy Center Gold Medallion, recognizing contribution to the teaching and production of theatre, and to the development of KCACTF. Kelsey grew up in Miami, FL and is a graduate of Northwestern University.

Danielle A. Drakes (Director) is a multi-faceted theatre professional with extensive experience in performance, directing and arts administration. A company member with Taffety Punk Theatre Company, she recently directed Lise Bruneau’s narration of Shakespeare’s epic poem Lucrece to be released early in 2024 as an audiobook. She has also acted for Taffety Punk in the Riot Grrrls productions of Trojan Women, and Othello in which she played the title role — both directed by Kelsey Mesa. Even more recently, she directed two world premiere productions: The Wilting Point at Keegan Theatre and Ghost/Writer at Rep Stage. She developed and directed Paige Hernandez’s solo shows Paige in Full and Havana Hop, both continuing to tour nationally and internationally. Professionally, her work has earned her Helen Hayes Award nods for outstanding direction. Additional professional credits include The Kennedy Center and Ford’s Theatre, where she originated the role of Elizabeth Keckley in History on Foot (recipient of the Helen Hayes, The Washington Post Award). Danielle has dedicated her career to using theatre as a tool for envisioning a more empathetic and equitable society. As an actor, she blends living history with social impact. As an artistic doula she has supported artists on their creative journeys from idea to execution with care. She is a member of Actors' Equity Association and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. She received her BA in Theatre from Goucher College and MFA in Acting from The Catholic University of America. Currently, Ms. Drakes is splitting her time between the stage and the classroom as an assistant professor of theatre arts at Towson University.

#  #  #

 

Taffety Punk Theatre Company presents

a world premiere

This Inherent Echo

Directed and Choreographed by Erin Mitchell Nelson

with live original music by Amy Domingues and Amy Farina

and an active set installation by artist Rania Hassan

at the
Capitol Hill Arts Workshop
545 7th Street SE
Washington, DC 20003

Opening Acts

May 4 : Corina Iona Dalzell

May 5 : Katie Sopoci Drake and Malcolm Shute

May 6 : Chloè Richier and Raeanna Grey

This Inherent Echo examines the choices we make and the shadows those choices cast. It is a collaborative dance work that considers our experiences and connections to people and places, and how these threads create ripples that affect us knowingly or unknowingly, presently and beyond.

The production is directed and choreographed by Erin Mitchell Nelson, with live, original music by Amy Domingues, and Amy Farina, in collaboration with artist Rania Hassan Katie Harris Banks, Paulina Guerrero, Safi Harriott, Katie Murphy, and Chloè Richier. May 4-6, 7:30pm, at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop. At each performance there will be an opening act, featuring the original work of area choreographers.

download press release

Tickets: $15

www.taffetypunk.com
May 4, 8:00pm

May 5, 8:00pm

May 6, 4:00pm & 8:00pm

Katie Harris Banks and Safi Harriott in This Inherent Echo, choreographed and directed by Erin Mitchell Nelson. Photo by Chris Grady.

Composers Amy Domingues and Amy Farina in This Inherent Echo, choreographed and directed by Erin Mitchell Nelson. Photo by Chris Grady.

Katie Harris Banks in This Inherent Echo, choreographed and directed by Erin Mitchell Nelson. Photo by Chris Grady.

Safi Harriott in This Inherent Echo, choreographed and directed by Erin Mitchell Nelson. Photo by Chris Grady.

Paulina Guerrero in This Inherent Echo, choreographed and directed by Erin Mitchell Nelson. Photo by Chris Grady.

The cast of This Inherent Echo, choreographed and directed by Erin Mitchell Nelson. Photo by Chris Grady.

Katie Murphy, Katie Harris Banks, and Safi Harriott, in This Inherent Echo, choreographed and directed by Erin Mitchell Nelson. Photo by Chris Grady.

Clockwise from left: Katie Harris Banks, Katie Murphy, Paulina Guerrero, and Safi Harriott in This Inherent Echo, choreographed and directed by Erin Mitchell Nelson. Photo by Chris Grady.

Choreographer Erin Mitchell Nelson. 

Composer Amy Farina. Photo by Daigo Oliva.

Composer Amy Domingues. Photo by Christina Domingues.

Artist Rania Hassan.

Choreographer Corina Iona Dalzell.  May 4th opener.

Choreographers Katie Sopoci Drake and Malcolm Shute. May 5th openers. 

Choreographers Rae Grey and Chloè Richier. May 6th openers.

Poster art by Lex Thomas.

Taffety Punk Premieres New Dance with DC Legends

contact press@taffetypunk.com for media and press requests

Where:  Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (545 7th Street SE, Washington, DC 20003)
When:  May 4 - 6, 2023, 8:00pm, with a 4pm matinee on Saturday May 6.
Price:   $15. Tickets available at www.taffetypunk.com.

Taffety Punk is thrilled to announce the world premiere of a new Dance Work by our very own Erin Mitchell Nelson. This Inherent Echo is the culmination of more than a year of collaborative composition that includes some of DC’s finest artists. Nelson’s choreography is known for her unique and collaborative style, and her history of creating visually stunning experiences.

Adding to the dynamism of the performance is live, original music provided by cellist Amy Domingues and drummer Amy Farina, that was written simultaneously and collaboratively with the development of the choreography. Both Farina and Domingues are beloved stalwarts of the DC punk community. Powerful and melodic, the music drives the action of the dance from subtle discoveries to heights of intensity.

Artist Rania Hassan has been a key contributor to the creation of this piece, which includes her artwork as partially a set piece and partially an apparatus which the dancers manipulate or respond to in concert with one another. Hassan’s work, focusing on weaving sculptural stories about our connections, is the perfect material component for this new dance.

Nelson describes the work as a piece about stories, journeys, and intersecting narratives. “It’s a piece about strength and connections, community and support. It’s about the choices we make that become part of our narratives,” she says. “These experiences echo through time and generations. What kind of shadows do we cast, and are shadows necessarily negative?”

Amy Farina says, "If more people communicated through dance, it might allow for a deeper connection to what is essential in our lives, or at least that connection might be more readily available to us. What at first seems abstract may reveal itself to be the clearest way from here to there; this has been my experience with This Inherent Echo thus far.”

To honor their punk roots of inclusivity, diversity, and community each performance will showcase an opening act of original choreography from artists across the DC dance community. On May 4, Corina Iona Denzell opens; on May 5, Katie Sopoci Drake and Malcom Shute; and on May 6, Chloè Richier and Rae Grey.

Tickets are available now and can be purchased online or at the venue box office.

Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity to experience the artistry of Erin Mitchell Nelson’s direction of this incredibly creative ensemble. Get your tickets today!

This Inherent Echo opens at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop on Thursday, May 4 and runs through Saturday, May 6 (Thursday—Saturday nights at 8pm, with one matinee on Saturday, May 6 at 4:00pm. Featuring dance artists Katie Harris Banks, Paulina Guerrero, Safi Harriott, Katie Murphy, and Chloè Richier. Lighting design by Chris Curtis. Costume design by Elizabeth Morton. This Inherent Echo was partially developed during a Local Theatre Residency at the REACH at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

The full program is estimated to occupy 90 minutes of show time. Give or take.

Taffety Punk Theatre Company is the resident company at Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (545 7th Street SE, Washington, DC 20003 – two blocks from Metro’s Orange/Blue Line stop at Eastern Market.

For hi-res photos, go to: https://www.taffetypunk.com/new/press/

Taffety Punk Theatre Company won the John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company at the 2008 Helen Hayes Awards. More recently, the company received two Helen Hayes nominations for original choreography in both Phaeton and An Iliad. The company was also a 2010 finalist for the D.C. Mayor's Arts Award for Innovation in the Arts. Taffety Punk's mission is to maintain a dynamic ensemble of actors, dancers and musicians who ignite a public passion for theatre by making the classical and the contemporary exciting, meaningful, and affordable.

Erin Mitchell Nelson (Director, Choreographer) Erin Mitchell Nelson has been a professional performing artist, choreographer and teacher for over 20 years. She is a cofounder of Taffety Punk Theatre Company, and has created original movement for many of their productions, including “Enter Ophelia, distracted”, “suicide.chat.room”, and dance films “Tulips”, “The Surround”, and “At a Loss”. She has danced with the Latin Ballet of Virginia (Richmond) and Wellspring/ Cori Terry and Dancers (Michigan); faculty at Western Michigan University Department of Dance, Exploring Ballet with Suzanne Farrell, and Experimental Film Virginia. Erin holds a BFA in Dance & Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University, and an MA in Arts Management from American University. She is a vocalist for the band Beauty Pill.

Amy Domingues (Composer) is a cellist, viola da gamba player, singer, historical music specialist, and composer residing in Washington, DC. She has released three cello-oriented rock albums under the name Garland of Hours and appears as a recording artist on over eighty rock, pop, and classical albums. Chesapeake Shakespeare Theatre: Winter's Tale (2018). Taffety Punk: The Tempest (2015) Live scoring for Enter Ophelia, Distracted (2014) and Bootleg Shakespeare: Pericles (2014), Love’s Labours Lost (2013). Film: The Weather Underground (2002) Short Film: Harmony (2014). www.amydomingues.com

Amy Farina (Composer) has been an active drum set and orchestral percussionist, performing internationally, composing, and recording since the early 1990's. She is a dedicated student of the drums, and also a music and fine arts enrichment teacher at schools and studios throughout Washington, DC. In addition to the privilege of dance accompaniment, Amy has performed and recorded with numerous groups, including Coriky (with Ian MackKaye and Joe Lally, both formerly of Fugazi), The Evens, The Warmers, Ted Leo, and Lois Maffeo.

Rania Hassan (Artist): Rania Hassan creates site-specific installations that weave sculptural stories about our connections to time, place, and circumstance. The five main themes she works with embody ideas of community, synchronicity, identity, time, and memory. Her work is about levels of interconnectedness. From a single strand of thread, we are all connected. Rania’s artwork is included in the permanent collections of the National Institutes of Health (NIH, Bethesda, MD), Amazon Web Services (Herndon, VA), and the District of Columbia’s Art Bank Collection (Washington, DC). Previous solo exhibitions include The Front (New Orleans, LA), Gormley Gallery (Baltimore, MD), and Artisphere (Rosslyn, VA). She has given presentations about her artwork at area Universities (George Mason University, 2014) and Museums (Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building, 2019; Textile Museum, Washington, DC, 2012, 2015), and her work has been featured in publications including the Washington Post, Washington City Paper, and Vogue Knitting. In 2009 she received a Craft Award of Excellence from the James Renwick Alliance and has been awarded multiple Artist Fellowship Program Grant Awards from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

# # #

Taffety Punk Theatre Company presents

a modern play set in the middle ages

Our Black Death

Plagues, Turnips, and Other Romantic Gestures

by Lindsay Carpenter

directed by Marcus Kyd

The Bubonic Plague strikes, and love is a battlefield.

starring company members Esther Williamson and Tonya Beckman, with Connor Padilla, Gregory Scott Stuart, and Dawn Thomas Reidy

Tickets: $15
www.taffetypunk.com

Sep 22—Oct 8, 2022



at the
Capitol Hill Arts Workshop
545 7th Street SE
Washington, DC 20003


Playwright Lindsay Carpenter.  Photo by Stephanie Hawkins.

Dawn Thomas Reidy (left) and Esther Williamson as Bit and Frol. Photo by Chris Grady.

Gregory Scott Stuart as the Man. Photo by Chris Grady.

Tonya Beckman (left) and Esther Williamson as Lovesick Lady and Frol. Photo by Chris Grady.

Tonya Beckman (left) and Esther Williamson as Lovesick Lady. Photo by Chris Grady.

Esther Williamson as Frol. Photo by Chris Grady.

Esther Williamson (left) and Dawn Thomas Reidy as Frol and Bit. Photo by Chris Grady.

Connor Padilla as the Nobleman. Photo by Chris Grady.

Taffety Punk Theatre Company presents
two new short films by Emily Marquet and Erin Mitchell Nelson

Taffety Punk's

The Surround


available now at
www.taffetypunk.com
and
https://vimeo.com/743170709

Beauty Pill's

“At a Loss"

From the soundtrack to our original dance play suicide.chat.room.
available now at
www.taffetypunk.com
and
https://vimeo.com/686004898

Click on photos below for Hi-Rez versions.


"Sorry You're Here is that rare record that doesn't merely live up to unrealistic expectations, but in its best moments, exceeds them."

—AFROPUNK

Taffety Punk Omar D. Cruz in The Surround. Still by Emily Marquet.

Taffety Punk Omar D. Cruz in The Surround. Still by Emily Marquet.

Taffety Punk’s The Surround. Still by Emily Marquet.

Taffety Punk Safi Cruz in “At a Loss”. Still by Emily Marquet.

The Surround

Taffety Punk Theatre Company
presents
The Surround

Directed by Emily Marquet
Movement directed by Erin Mitchell Nelson
Performances by Omar D. Cruz
with Ben Ashworth, Sam Boo, De”R”ray “Ravo” Brown, Erika Brosnihan, Omar D. Cruz, Rafael A. Escobar, and Adrian Kamal
Choreography by Erin Mitchell Nelson with Omar D. Cruz
Music by Ryan Nelson

Director of Photography: Emily Marquet
1st Assistant Camera: Jack Salmon
Gaffer: Colegrove Heller
Key Grip & Colorist: Peter Chun

A massive thank you to Andy and Amy Neal, and to Ben Ashworth and Finding a Line.

“At a Loss"

BEAUTY PILL - "At a Loss" (Official Music Video)

Official Video for "At a Loss," off BEAUTY PILL's "Sorry You're Here" LP. Order today from Taffety Punk Theatre Company: https://taffetypunk.bandcamp.com

Music also available digitally on most platforms.

Presented by Taffety Punk Theatre Company and Mudroom Films
Directed by Emily Marquet
Produced by Marcus Kyd
Movement directed by Erin Mitchell Nelson

Performances by Safi Harriott and Kathryn Zoerb
Based on choreography originally created by Paulina Guerrero, Lise Bruneau, and Liz Maestri, with additional choreography by Erin Mitchell Nelson, Safi Harriott, and Kathryn Zoerb
Executive Producer: Taffety Punk Theatre Company
Assistant Camera: Jack Salmon
Gaffer: Margaret Avery
Production Assistant: Linda Lombardi
Lighting Technicians: Chris Curtis, Katie McCreary, and Danny Cackley

Shot on location at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop in Washington, DC

Special Thanks to
Caroline Borolla, Jason Aufdem-Brinke, Omar Cruz, Dischord Records, and the folks at Bandcamp 

Click here for PDF of Press Release

or scroll down for web version

New Video Available April 1, 2022

 New Beauty Pill Video by Taffety Punk

"At a Loss"

featuring dancers Safi Harriott and Kathryn Zoerb

at  www.taffetypunk.com

and widely over digital media

Working as a theatre and dance company during a pandemic has its challenges. We are excited to continue our collaboration with Beauty Pill to bring you this new music video

This video was created for Beauty Pill's "At a Loss", featuring performances by cast members from the 2020 show suicide.chat.room: Safi Harriott and Kathryn Zoerb. Choreography was led by Erin Mitchell Nelson and the film is directed and shot by Emily Marquet of Mudroom Films.

Beauty Pill's Sorry You're Here LP is the original soundtrack to Taffety Punk's dance play suicide.chat.room. The show was built from scratch through a collaboration of actors, dancers, and Beauty Pill. The source material for the show was taken from years of posts from internet groups focusing on suicide.

Beauty Pill's Sorry You're Here LP is available to order from taffetypunk.bandcamp.com

And also available on most digital and streaming platforms.

Photo Stills by Emily Marquet

Click on these photos to open downloadable hi-res versions. 

Safi Harriott, photo by Emily Marquet
Safi Harriott
Kathryn Zoerb and Safi Harriott - still by Emily Marquet
Kathryn Zoerb and Safi Harriott

Band: Beauty Pill
Video: "At a Loss" from Sorry You're Here LP
Label: Taffety Punk Theatre Company
Release: April 1, 2022
Link: www.taffetypunk.com

Beauty Pill Video for At a Loss

Press Release

For immediate Release

Press Contact:
Caroline Borolla
caroline@clarioncallmedia.com

Beauty Pill Incursion into Modern Dance Continues with Taffety Punk

A new music video from the soundtrack to Taffety Punk's controversial dance play will be released on April 4

Beauty Pill's Sorry You're Here LP marked a great aesthetic turning point for the band—the long awaited official release coincided with the 2020 remount of Taffety Punk Theatre Company's original dance play suicide.chat.room for which the music was written. On the the two-year anniversary of the release, and the twelve-year anniversary of the original production, Taffety Punk has created a new video for "At a Loss", the third track on the album, featuring performances by cast members from the show Safi Harriott and Kathryn Zoerb under the guidance of choreographer Erin Mitchell Nelson.

When the project began, Taffety Punk's goal, as ever, was to bring musicians, actors, and dancers into the same space and build a show from scratch. The source material for this project was to be taken directly from Internet groups devoted to suicide. Reviewing the original production, DC Theatre Scene proclaimed the music "fabulous" and "inspired," and went on to say the show was "unquestionably one of the most successful efforts . . . to put dance at the service of the story." Since the inception of the show, there have been three casts, three different spaces for performance, multiple designers, the full-length album, and now this new video. The constant in all of this has been the music of Beauty Pill.

Taffety Punk and Beauty Pill have a long history of collaboration, yet neither are interested in nostalgia. Artistic Director Marcus Kyd says, "We don't look back. We look forward. We try to build from what has come before." He adds, "There is something about this show that never changes, but each time we pick it up, there is also no end to discovery."

Collaborating with filmmaker Emily Marquet of Mudroom Films, the new video pushes the exploration of the show's themes into yet another medium. Marquet embraced the complexities of abstract storytelling saying, "The music was our script. I spent a long time in pre-production trying to decipher how the music made me feel. It felt impenetrable at times: hazy, upsetting, melancholic, intelligent and layered. Informed by these emotions, I decided to go with handheld camera movements to breathe with and interact with the dancers. The simple act of turning the camera lens onto our performers introduced layers and layers of being seen. As a female camerawoman, I felt a push and pull with the dancers and relied on intuition to know when to move in or out, when to keep looking and when to look away."

Nelson adds, "Watching while she was filming, it looked like a dance between the cast and Emily. And I love that we see glimpses of Emily in this." Kyd welcomes the new vision saying, "Emily is now part of this experience. This piece has become so multi-faceted; you can now look at it or listen to it from so many different angles."

The company had to overcome the inherent challenges of the pandemic to make the video shoot happen. There were up to six weeks of rehearsals where Nelson reviewed the choreography and opened doors to new phrases. She took on the job of ensuring that cast and crew were tested before filming began, and again during the shoot. Initially there were three dancers rehearsing for the video, but two days before the first day on set company member Omar Cruz tested positive for Covid-19 and had to quarantine himself at home. (This took him out of the video, but the company are very happy that Cruz recovered and remains healthy.) The loss of Cruz as a dancer in the video put more work on the shoulders of Harriott and Zoerb. Both dancers worked with Nelson and Marquet to achieve the filmmaker and choreographer's joint vision for the piece. Harriott says, "At first I wasn't sure what we were going to be doing. Am I showing up to do my part? Am I showing up as something something entirely different? And how is this movement character meeting the new medium? With this new level of abstraction, making new material, finding what it has to say now — that was lovely to feel."

Sorry You're Here can be seen as Beauty Pill's marriage of high art and pop sensibility. Since its creation, the band has continued to push the boundaries of what their founder imagined for them. While Beauty Pill continues to compose highly stylized and genre-bending songs, the Clark finds himself being commissioned for more and more scoring projects: notably a recent project for HBO, soundscapes for NPR, and a play at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, DC.

The official release date of the video for "At a Loss" is April 1, 2022. It will be available at Taffety Punk Theatre Company's website, www.taffetypunk.com, and to be distributed widely over digital media. For hi-res photos, go to: www.taffetypunk.com/press.

Beauty Pill's Sorry You're Here LP is available to order from taffetypunk.bandcamp.com, and also available on most digital and streaming platforms.  

Beauty Pill, founded by Chad Clark, is a wonderfully difficult-to-categorize band. Beauty Pill's mercurial nature was a built-in feature right from the start, allowing Clark to call on musicians beyond his immediate bandmates for sonic contributions where needed. After several records and tours, the band began decentralizing guitar in their music, principally because that’s what the songs wanted. But for Chad Clark, this shift was also a deliberate way to distance himself from "rock dude culture." At that time, as Clark remembers, "indie-rock dude culture was pervasive, largely male and largely white, parochial and anhedonic." The band continued experimenting, but took a long hiatus in 2008 and 2009 when Clark was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. During his recovery, Marcus Kyd approached him about making the music for suicide.chat.room, the music that is featured on the 2020 album, Sorry You're Here. The creation of this music, for a very different purpose than the band was used to playing, paved the way for the band, and for Clark in particular, to further question everything about the music they made, and how they made it, and how they performed it. In 2015 the band released their highly praised 2015 album Beauty Pill Describes Things as They Are. In 2018 Nelson joined the band and 2020 saw the release of two EPs, Please Advise and Instant Night. The music video released for thier single "Pardon Our Dust", featuring the dance performance of Nelson and directed by filmmaker Meredith Bragg, is another earmark in Beauty Pill's continued foray into multidisciplinary collaborations.

Taffety Punk Theatre Company (www.taffetypunk.com) is the resident company at Capitol Hill Arts Workshop in Washington, DC. Taffety Punk's mission is to maintain a dynamic ensemble of actors, dancers, and musicians who ignite a public passion for theatre by making the classical and the contemporary exciting, meaningful, and affordable. The company won the very first John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company at the Helen Hayes Awards. More recently, the company received two Helen Hayes nominations for original choreography in both Phaeton and An Iliad.

Mudroom Films (https://mudroom-films.com) is Emily Marquet's creative brainchild. A Washington, DC native daughter, Emily has a background in advertising and acting. She has designed, shot and directed films that have screened in film festivals all over the world. Mudroom Films and Emily are both currently based in London, UK and regularly work across the UK, US and Europe.


#  #  #

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Taffety Punk's original dance play

suicide.chat.room

at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop
545 7th Street SE WDC 20003
 + February 26—29 at 8pm
Feburary 29 at 3:00pm

Tickets available now
 www.taffetypunk.com
The groundbreaking play returns with original cast member Kimberly Gilbert in conjunction with the long-awaited release of the Beauty Pill score.

Beauty Pill's "lost" album

Sorry You're Here

on limited edition coke-bottle clear vinyl, and digitally

Available February 21, 2020
worldwdie

pre-orders available now
 www.taffetypunk.com
The never-before-released soundtrack to the controversial 2010 play suicide.chat.room finally comes to light. Created while Clark recovered from emergency open heart surgery,

Click on photos below for Hi-Rez versions.


"Sorry You're Here is that rare record that doesn't merely live up to unrealistic expectations, but in its best moments, exceeds them."

—AFROPUNK

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Taffety Punk Kimberly Gilbert in original production. She returns as lostbooks. Photo by C. Stanley Photography.

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Taffety Punk Kimberly Gilbert in original production. She returns as lostbooks. Photo by C. Stanley Photography.

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Beauty Pill's founder and frontperson, Chad Clark. Photo by Stephan Giovannini.

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The album cover art, designed by Nora McKelvey of Little Big Creative. (Cover photo by Brian Libby, as rendered by Chad Clark).

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Taffety Punk Kimberly Gilbert in original production. She returns as lostbooks. Photo by C. Stanley Photography.

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Taffety Punk Kimberly Gilbert in original production. She returns as lostbooks. Photo by C. Stanley Photography.



Available February 21, 2020

www.taffetypunk.com

In 2010, Marcus Kyd commissioned Beauty Pill to score a new work he was developing with Taffety. The work was a new play called “suicide.chat.room." (Marc called it a “dance play” because it involved as much choreography as text.).

“suicide.chat.room” had intrinsic social risks and ethical complexities. The play blended raw non-fiction with fiction by cutting/pasting from actual suicide support usenet groups of the 1990’s. Real suicidal people’s words were used verbatim (albeit anonymously), many of whom had died before the play was written. This daring methodology would prove shocking or offensive to some people.

Beauty Pill’s Chad Clark was inspired by the play’s nexus of technology, human pathos, and bricolage to experiment with electronic music and orchestration. This experimentation took the band far afield from the guitar-bass-drums world of DC punk. Kyd felt the score deserved to be released as an album, but Clark was reluctant. The occasion of the 2020 remounting of the play and the very positive reception to Describes Things As They Are encouraged Clark to reconsider.

Describes Things is widely considered a watershed work in Beauty Pill's canon, but the experimentation in Sorry You're Here laid the foundation.

Taffety Punk Theatre Company presents

from Toronto

The Chekhov Collective, and Theatrus

 I Take Your Hand in Mine...

A play suggested by the love letters of Anton Chekhov and Olga Knipper

by Carol Rocamora
directed by Dmitry Zhukovsky

a spellbinding story of love between legends of the theatre

starring
Richard Sheridan Willis and Rena Polley

Tickets: $15
www.taffetypunk.com

Dec 9 - 13, 2019
 
Mon—Fri, 8:00pm

Limited Engagement

at the
Capitol Hill Arts Workshop
545 7th Street SE
Washington, DC 20003


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Rena Polley as Olga Knipper and Richard Sheridan Willis as Anton Chekhov. Photo by Miriana Mitrovich.

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Richard Sheridan Willis as Anton Chekhov and Rena Polley as Olga Knipper. Photo by Miriana Mitrovich.

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Richard Sheridan Willis as Anton Chekhov and Rena Polley as Olga Knipper. Photo by Miriana Mitrovich.

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Rena Polley as Olga Knipper and Richard Sheridan Willis as Anton Chekhov. Photo by Miriana Mitrovich.

Taffety Punk Riot Grrrls present Othello

Riot Grrrls

The Tragedy of

Othello

The Moor of Venice

by William Shakespeare

directed by Kelsey Mesa

Tickets: $15
Sep 19 - Oct 12, 2019 
Wed—Sat, 7:30pm

Previews:
Sep 19, 20, 21, 25, 26 at 7:30pm

Industry Night:
Oct 7 at 7:30pm

Saturday Matinee:
Oct 12 at 2:30pm

at the
Capitol Hill Arts Workshop
545 7th Street SE
Washington, DC 20003


Photos

click any image below to reveal the large, hi-res, downloadable and ready-to-print photo

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Danielle A. Drakes as Othello. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Julie Weir as Desdemona. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Lise Bruneau as Iago. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Tonya Beckman as Emilia. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Julie Weir as Roderigo, Lise Bruneau as Iago. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Tonya Beckman as Brabantio, Danielle A. Drakes as Othello, Lise Bruneau as Iago. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Lise Bruneau as Iago.
Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Lise Bruneau as Iago, Teresa Spencer as Cassio. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Stefany Pesta as Bianca. (Teresa Spencer in foreground as Cassio.) Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Teresa Spencer as Cassio. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Liz Daingerfield as the Duke of Venice, Tonya Beckman as Brabantio. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Julie Weir as Desdemona. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Danielle A. Drakes as Othello, Julie Weir as Desdemona. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Lise Bruneau as Iago, Danielle A. Drakes as Othello. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Lise Bruneau as Iago, Julie Weir as Roderigo. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Tonya Beckman as Emilia. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Tonya Beckman as Emilia, Julie Weir as Desdemona. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Danielle A. Drakes as Othello. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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The Riot Grrrls cast of Othello. Photo by Marcus Kyd.

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Danielle A. Drakes. Photo by Marcus Kyd.

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Lise Bruneau. Photo by Marcus Kyd.

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Julie Weir. Photo by Marcus Kyd.

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Tonya Beckman. Photo by Marcus Kyd.

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Teresa Spencer. Photo by Marcus Kyd.

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Stefany Pesta. Photo by Marcus Kyd.

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Liz Daingerfield. Photo by Marcus Kyd.

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Full poster art by Ryan Carroll Nelson.

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Adapted poster image for web.

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Taffety Punk presents a Greek double-feature

both works translated by Anne Carson

Antigonick

Sophokles

translated by Anne Carson

directed by Kelsey Mesa

choreography by Kelly King


Tickets: $15
www.taffetypunk.com

8:00pm on
May 23, 24, 25, 30, 31
June 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8
2019

+ 2:30pm on June 3

at the

Capitol Hill Arts Workshop

545 7th Street SE
Washington, DC 20003

The Fragments of Sappho

a text-driven dance concert

translated by Anne Carson

choreography by Katie C. Sopoci Drake

directed by Marcus Kyd

Photos

click any image below to reveal the large, hi-res, downloadable and ready-to-print photo

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Lilian Oben plays Antigone in Anne Carson's Antigonick. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Lilian Oben plays Antigone and Teresa Spencer plays Ismene in Anne Carson's Antigonick. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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L to R: Rachel Felstein, Lilian Oben, Danny Puente Cackley in Anne Carson's Antigonick. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Lilian Oben plays Antigone in Anne Carson's Antigonick. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Lilian Oben plays Antigone in Anne Carson's Antigonick. In Background, Louis E. Davis, Rachel Felstein, Danny Puente Cackley, Teresa Spencer. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Lilian Oben plays Antigone and Dan Crane plays Kreon in Anne Carson's Antigonick. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Choreographer Katie C. Sopoci Drake in The Fragments of Sappho. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Choreographer Katie C. Sopoci Drake in The Fragments of Sappho. In Background, Dan Crane, Esther Williamson, Katie Murphy.

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Erin White and Teresa Spencer in The Fragments of Sappho. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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The ensemble of The Fragments of Sappho. Photo by Teresa Castracane. 

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Lilian Oben plays Antigone in Anne Carson's Antigonick. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Lilian Oben plays Antigone and Teresa Spencer plays Ismene in Anne Carson's Antigonick. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Choreographer Katie C. Sopoci Drake, The Fragments of Sappho. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Choreographer Katie C. Sopoci Drake, The Fragments of Sappho. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Choreographer Katie C. Sopoci Drake, The Fragments of Sappho. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Cast of Antigonick from L to R: Rachel Felstein, Dan Crane, Esther Williamson, Lilian Oben, Teresa Spencer, Danny Puente Cackley, Katie Murphy, and Louis E. Davis. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

Too Like the Lightning

Love Poems to my Street Harassers

by Teresa Spencer

a reading, and a screening
with food and some voluntary games


Tickets: $15
 
www.taffetypunk.com

Saturday
December 1, 2018
7:00pm

One night only


at the

Capitol Hill Arts Workshop

545 7th Street SE
Washington, DC 20003


two blocks south of
Eastern Market Metro

Photos

click any image below to reveal the large, hi-res, downloadable and ready-to-print photo

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Teresa Spencer, reading her poetry set "Too Like the Lightning". Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Actor and poet Teresa Spencer. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Actor and poet Teresa Spencer. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Actor and poet Teresa Spencer. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

US Premiere

Pramkicker

by Sadie Hasler

directed by Linda Lombardi
starring company members Tonya Beckman and Esther Williamson

Tickets: $15
Sep 14-29, 2018
Wed—Sat, 8pm
with Sat matinees at 3:00pm

Special weekday matinee:
Sep 27, 12:30pm

Pay-What-You-Can previews:
Sep 12 & 13 at 7:30pm

at the
Capitol Hill Arts Workshop
545 7th Street SE
Washington, DC 20003

Content warning: This production contains discussions of sexual assault and abortion, as well as depictions of violence. If you require more information call us at (202) 415-4838.

Production Photos

click any image below to reveal the large, hi-res, downloadable and ready-to-print photo

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Esther Williamson as Jude, in Sadie Hasler's Pramkicker. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Esther Williamson as Jude (L) and Tonya Beckman as Susie (R), in Sadie Hasler's Pramkicker. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Tonya Beckman as Susie (L), and Esther Williamson as Jude (R), in Sadie Hasler's Pramkicker. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Tonya Beckman as Susie (L), and Esther Williamson as Jude (R), in Sadie Hasler's Pramkicker. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Tonya Beckman as Susie in Sadie Hasler's Pramkicker. Photo by Teresa Castracane.


Promotional Photos

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Tonya Beckman as Susie, and Esther Williamson as Jude, in Sadie Hasler's Pramkicker. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Tonya Beckman as Susie, and Esther Williamson as Jude, in Sadie Hasler's Pramkicker. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Tonya Beckman as Susie, and Esther Williamson as Jude, in Sadie Hasler's Pramkicker. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Tonya Beckman as Susie, and Esther Williamson as Jude, in Sadie Hasler's Pramkicker. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

Bootleg Shakespeare: Henry VI, part 3

TPUNK058

July 16, 2018

Bootleg Shakespeare

Henry VI, part 3

one night only

directed by Marcus Kyd
starring company members Tonya Beckman, Dan Crane, Kimberly Gilbert, and Esther Williamson

Tickets: Free 
available only at the Folger Theatre
on the day of the performance

Limit two tickets per patron.

Seats not claimed by 7:15pm
will be released to patrons on standby.

July 16 7:30pm 
at the
Folger Theatre
201 East Capitol Street SE
Washington, DC 20003


Good Luck!

Photos

click any image below to reveal the large, hi-res, downloadable and ready-to-print photo

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Tonya Beckman as Queen Margaret, in Henry VI, part 3.  Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Esther Williamson as Henry VI, and Tonya Beckman as Queen Margaret, in Henry VI, part 3.  Photo by Teresa Castracane.

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Esther Williamson as Henry VI, in Henry VI, part 3.  Photo by Teresa Castracane.

Esther Williamson as Henry VI, in Henry VI, part 3. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

Tonya Beckman as Queen Margaret, in Henry VI, part 3. Photo by Teresa Castracane.




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Taffety Punk Theatre Company

PO Box 15392 Washington, DC 20003 • 202.873.5330 • 123go@taffetypunk.com

Theatre in Residence at the

Capitol Hill Arts Workshop

A Place where the Arts Connect and Transform People

545 7th Street SE, Washington, DC 20003

© Taffety Punk Theatre Company
Logo by Ryan Nelson