I had gone to see Flu Season with Youngblood. There on the table with everything else were tiny, little green cards advertising a show that was set to make it to Carte Blanche studios in May. Hadn’t heard of the theatre company before. Must be new.
As it turns out Affectivity Theatre Company has something of a startup website and everything. Just held auditions this past weekend. In May, it will be staging a production of Melanie Marnich’s Tallgrass Gothic.
“This is the Americana of the Great Plains,” begins Marnich’s description in the script, “fields of wheat and tallgrass, crumbling barns and stone walls, peeling white paint around old windows. There are places of brilliant sunlight, rolling clouds and dusty shadows. Rural, stark, beautiful and violent.” There’s a woman there in silhouette. She’s singing Oh My Darlin’ Clementine. So begins the play . . . there’s a stark and simple poetry to the language. Should be a good one. There’s a woman trapped in the rural Midwest. A man passing through town offers a chance at a change--a chance to get out.
A really interesting choice for a first show for Affectivity. The show runs May 16th -19th. For ticket reservations, visit Brown Paper Tickets.