In August 2023, Kent’s Theatre Battery will return to the full production of new plays with Deep Purple Wiggle by Milo Cramer, directed by Logan Ellis.

The cast will feature Emon Elboudwarej, Malex Reed, Donato Fatuesi, Matt Lockett, Douglas Ridings, Ronan Pirkle, and Pyper. This will be the first production of Cramer’s new work, which was written in January of this year. The company will perform in an original transformed theatre space donated through sponsorship from Kent Station®, and all admissions will be given to the public at no cost through Radical Hospitality.

Play Synopsis:

Bro and Sibling are twins in their thirties who, up until now, have self-identified as dudes. When one comes out to the other as non-binary (without either of them fully knowing what it means), a queer Pandora’s box is opened. A new comedy (with music) about contemporary masculinity.

Dates and Ticket Information:

WHEN:

Performances: Aug. 24 to Sept. 10^.
Preview Performances: Aug. 24 & 25 at 8 p.m.
Opening: Aug. 26
Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 8 p.m.
Sundays at 2 p.m.

WHERE: Theatre Battery at Kent Station, 444 Ramsay Way, Suite 107, Kent, WA 98032 [Next to Gentle Dental].

COST:

No ticket charges.
60 Tickets for each performance can be reserved online through theatrebattery.strangertickets.com. The remaining 30 tickets will be released at the door to walk ups starting one hour before each performance.

CONTACT: [email protected]

WEBSITE: theatrebattery.org

TICKETS: T heatrebattery.strangertickets.com

FACEBOOK: Facebook.com/Theatrebattery

TWITTER: @theatrebattery

Features of the Space:

Air-conditioned space
Padded seating
Standing room for overflow
Ground floor lobby and theater space, accessible for all mobility devices
Free parking at Kent Station®
High quality restaurants, coffee, bars, and shopping in the immediate vicinity at Kent Station®

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Details on the Season:

After three years of working on digital projects and film at Theatre Battery, we are humbled and pumped to announce that we are returning to the full production of live theater. Deep Purple Wiggle is a work that brings taboo conversations between brothers out into the open, while welcoming an audience into a state of curiosity, humor, and questioning.

The play loosely reflects the experiences of the playwright Milo Cramer, who recently began identifying as non-binary and queer in their mid-30s. We are exploring how the emergence of queer identities has affected men’s self-image, confidence, sexuality, and relationships. The main characters of the play are ignorant of queer discourse and language, and that ignorance is the source of the play’s comedy. We witness them bumblingly attempt to make sense of themselves as they start to question what maleness actually means in a world that has identified them as oppressors.

Taking inspiration from the Great Fairy’s Fountain in the Zelda video game series, Theatre Battery’s production of Deep Purple Wiggle is set in a pool of water, wherein the actors of the ensemble become shapeshifting queer water nymphs. The production features a live harp player, original songs, movement and dance sequences, and an immersively constructed set featuring a body of water and audience seating configured in the round.

Theatre Battery is leading a community engagement effort surrounding the play’s discussion of masculinity, gender pronouns, food insecurity, and transgender and questioning identities. The company is combining networks with the City of Kent, Kent Station, the Kent School District, UTOPIA WA, Living Well Kent, Kent Youth and Family Services, and other local youth-based organizations to provide tickets in bulk and facilitate a conversation series that follows performances.

Radical Hospitality (a term coined for use in theatre by the Mixed Blood Theatre Company in Minneapolis) applies to the entire run of Deep Purple Wiggle. By removing the ticket price entirely, Theatre Battery aims to reduce barriers to arts participation within the underserved community of South King County. After a full season of no-cost admission during 2016, the staff found that eliminating ticket costs allows new theatregoers to more readily take a chance on (and spread the word about) something they have never experienced. Such increased accessibility has been prioritized so that Theatre Battery can more accurately reflect the diverse demographics of Kent within its audience. Theatre Battery’s finances are drawn entirely from grants and individual donors, most of which give anonymously following performances.

Theatre Battery is supported by grants from The Seattle Foundation, 4Culture, The Kent Arts Commission, and The Washington State Arts Commission. Shunpike is Theatre Battery’s 501(c)3 Fiscal Sponsor. The company is now paying artists the state minimum wage for their work in rehearsals, builds, and performances, moving up from previously offering artist stipends.

The 2023 Summer Season marks the tenth year of collaboration between the Kent Station® shopping center and the emerging artists of Theatre Battery. In an effort to invigorate Kent’s Downtown district with new art, Kent Station® has opened the doors of its available retail space each summer for the construction of pop-up style theatre. “We are delighted to be able to provide space to help promote theater and the arts in downtown Kent” says Kent Station® general manager John Hinds. “From transforming donated space into an amazing theater atmosphere, all the way to delivering high quality productions, Theatre Battery is a premier production company that belongs in Kent long-term”.

Theatre Battery brings artists from around the country to create new plays in Kent each summer. Founded by graduates of Kent-Meridian and Kentridge high schools, the company aims to share socially pertinent contemporary plays with the diverse audience of the Puget Sound region. Through the sponsorship from Kent Station® for rehearsal and performance space, Theatre Battery is able to pay higher wages to its artists and still reach an untouched audience.

Cast and Creative Team:

Deep Purple Wiggle features:

Emon Elboudwarej (he/him), Malex Reed (he/she/they), Donato Fatuesi (she/they), Matt Lockett (he/him), Ronan Pirkle (they/he), Pyper (they/them) & Douglas Ridings (he/him). Alesha Greene (she/her) is an understudy/swing for the production.

The creative team includes: Scenic Designer: Nicholas Ponting (he/him), Costume Designer: Meg Powers (they/them), Lighting Designer: Cricket Neiss (they/them), Casting Director: Kathryn Stewart (she/her), Graphic Design: Aaron Mayper (he/him), Stage Manager: Kait Mahoney (she/they), Original Music: Malex Reed (he/she/they), Choreography: Douglas Ridings (he/him), Dramaturg: Alex Vermillion (ze/zer/zers), Director: Logan Ellis (he/him).

About the Artists:

Milo Cramer (Playwright) is a writer and performer. Their solo musical SCHOOL PICTURES premiered at The Wilma in Philadelphia (“Charming from start to finish … beautifully heartbreaking” – Talkin’ Broadway), and is upcoming at Playwrights Horizons. Other works include CUTE ACTIVIST at The Bushwick Starr (“a brilliant match of material and theater… a fable for our times” – NYT), and MINOR CHARACTER: 6 TRANSLATIONS OF UNCLE VANYA AT THE SAME TIME (“delightful… a spring green forum on youth’s discontents” – Helen Shaw, The Village Voice), created with New Saloon and seen at The Public Theater’s Under The Radar Festival. Milo is a MacDowell Fellow, an MFA candidate at UCSD, and under commission from Clubbed Thumb.

Logan Ellis (Director) is a director and producer of theater and film from Kent, WA. Logan graduated from the MFA Directing program at the Yale School of Drama in 2020 and was the winner of the Julian Milton Kaufman Memorial Prize for directing. He formerly served as the literary manager of Playwrights Foundation and Producer in Residence at Magic Theatre in San Francisco. At Yale, Logan directed the Tom Waits’ opera ALICE, Shakespeare’s Henry 6, Part 3, Noah Diaz’s The Juniors, and Audley Puglisi’s blues for miss lucille. As the Producing Artistic Director of Theatre Battery, he has directed WE ARE PUSSY RIOT, Hooded or Being Black for Dummies, Milk Like Sugar, A Maze, and other plays. He most recently directed and animated the webseries LEGO Harry Potter and the Transgender Witch and directed the tour of Øyvind Torvund’s Forest Concerts in Luxembourg and Vienna. Logan is in collaboration with Ilia Isorelýs Paulino as co-founders of Cusp of Rebirth Productions in Los Angeles, a new film production company.

Mission/Bios of Theatre Battery and Kent Station®:

Theatre Battery produces new plays for the suburban community of Kent, Washington. We aim to nurture our audience’s understanding of the connection between storytelling and relevant social issues through the presentation of contemporary works in nontraditional settings. Theatre Battery tasks local artists to create socially testing and unapologetic work that ignites the community.

In collaboration with audiences, artists, and fellow businesses alike, we envision providing our region with a vital outlet for artistic reflection and invigoration, one that champions the tremendous diversity of Kent and Western Washington. We envision serving an audience with access to new material otherwise kept exclusive to urban centers, while growing as a professional home for emerging and established artists from around the Sound.

To date, Theatre Battery has produced eight summer main stage productions, six new play festivals, and five series of developmental workshops.

For more information about Theatre Battery, visit w ww.theatrebattery.com or contact Logan Ellis at (206) 334-6046.

Located on 18 acres in the heart of downtown Kent, Kent Station® is an urban shopping village developed by Tarragon, a developer with offices in Seattle and Sumner, WA. The 470,000 sq. ft., mixed-use development features locally-owned and national retail stores, professional office space, and dining and entertainment, including a 14-screen AMC Theatres Cineplex and a branch campus of Green River College.

For more information about Kent Station®, visit www.kentstation.com or contact Cynthia Boyd at [email protected].