Forward Flux Productions presents
DOUBLE FEATURE
las mariposas Y los muertos by Benjamin Benne
and
No More Sad Things by Hansol Jung
Two new plays with live music showing on the same night at West of Lenin
September 19th – October 7th, 2017
Seattle, WA — Forward Flux Productions is thrilled to share cast and creative team information for the upcoming Double Feature, playing September 19 – October 7 at West of Lenin in Fremont (203 N 36th St, Seattle, WA 98103)! This is the third year in a row that the company will present two new plays in the same space on the same night, back to back.
The Double Feature will start with las mariposas Y los muertos by Benjamin Benne. This is a world premiere commission from Forward Flux, and features a full rock band live on stage.
The cast features Grace Carmack, Sophie Franco, Jordi Montes and Anabel V. Hovig. Carmack, Franco and Montes play the three members of the band “las mariposas,” and they have been in rock band boot camp for the past month learning 4 brand new songs with music & lyrics by Angie Citlali Vance. Montes has played drums for the past 10 years, but the other cast members are picking up instruments for the first time, and started work with Music Coach Jakob Liljenwall in February. Franco also sings lead vocals.
Grace Carmack – Grace graduated from Cornish College of the Arts in 2014 with a BFA in theater. She most recently performed as Echo in Copious Love’s production of The Untitled Play About Art School and Lauren in Annex’s production of Puny Humans. Previously, she appeared in MAP Theater’s production of The Art of Bad Men. Prior to Cornish, her training consisted of ballet, jazz, tap, modern dance, and Irish step dancing. Grace is also a playwright and a poet whose work focuses on queerness, trauma, and the various ways love manifests in our lives.
Sophie Franco – Sophie is a Peruvian American theatre artist working in the Seattle area. A Cornish graduate with an emphasis in Original Work. Sophie recently performed with Seattle Shakespeare Company’s educational touring shows where she played Katherine in a bilingual production Taming of the Shrew and Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet. She has previously performed with Forward Flux in The Flux Salon reading of las mariposas Y los muertos. Keep an eye out for her comedy show “Surviving the Franco Regime”, a story about Latinx identity, culture clash, and a tribute to all the awkward brown kids out there.
Jordi Montes – Jordi’s recent stage credits include ACME and The Lost Girls with Annex Theatre and The Last Stop on Market Street and Flora and Ulysses with Book-It Repertory Theatre.
Anabel V. Hovig – Anabel is a local actor. She performs with Parley productions and has been seen in Ghost Light Theatricals’ production of A Gogolplex, and Eclectic Theatre’s Festival of Shorts.
Benjamin Benne (Playwright) – Benjamin Benne is a 2017 Robert Chesley/Victor Bumbalo Playwriting Award winner, a 2017-18 McKnight Fellow in Playwriting at the Playwrights’ Center, and was previously a 2016-17 Many Voices Fellow. His plays include a mortality-themed trilogy: Terra Incognita, At the Very Bottom of a Body of Water, What \ Washed Ashore / Astray. His work has been produced and/or developed with The Lark’s Playwrights’ Week (NY), Two River Theater (NJ), the Playwrights’ Center (MN), Pillsbury House Theatre (MN), Annex Theatre (WA), Forward Flux Productions (WA), Parley (WA), Umbrella Project (WA), and Seattle Repertory Theatre (WA), among others. Additionally, his plays have been finalists for the Princess Grace Award, O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Headwaters New Play Festival, and Austin Playhouse’s Festival of New American Plays, as well as the runner-up for the National Latino Playwriting Award and semi-finalist for the Blue Ink Playwriting Award. Benjamin participated in a bake-off with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel as part of the Dramatists Guild Fund’s Traveling Masters Program, the 2013 NoPassport Playwriting Intensive with OBIE Award-winning playwright Caridad Svich, and the New York Theatre Intensives 2011 summer conservatory (in association with EST/NY).
Angie Citlali Vance (Music & Lyrics) – Angie is a singer-songwriter, pianist, guitarist, and vocalist, her original songs are highlighted by a unique mix of Afro-Latin rhythms, Folk-Punk energy, soulful vocals and empowering lyrics. Within traveling from her home in South Chicago to her mother’s home in Mexico City, Angie was largely influenced by her musically talented grandfather and her Chicana culture. As a classically trained pianist from seven years old, Angie began learning traditional Mexican ballad songs on guitar while singing duets with her grandfather.
About the play: Through their musical talents, but also a series of strategically planned maneuvers, Las Mariposas have poised themselves to be the next great buzz band. As momentum picks up and their following grows, the band begins to divide over what artistic compromises are too much to make. In the digital age, when everything put into cyber space leaves a permanent imprint, Elena, Celestina, and Molly find themselves questioning their identity, integrity, and public image.
Run time: 70mins
Following las mariposas will be the Northwest regional premiere of No More Sad Things by Hansol Jung. The play will feature live Hawaiian music.
The cast features Kiki Abba, Lance Valdez and Nabilah Ahmed. Ahmed plays the Guidebook, who plays ukulele and sings original songs by Hansol Jung and Jongbin Jung. She has been playing uke for over six years. Valdez taps his Hawaiian roots to play Maui local Kahekili; he was born and raised in Maui until the age of 18.
Kiki Abba – Originally from Iowa, Kiki has been in Seattle for nine years working as an actor, teaching artist, director, producer, and marketer for the arts. Recent credits include Scary Mary and the Nightmares Nine (Annex Theatre), IRL: Craigslist (Horse in Motion), Scab (Many Hats Theatre), Girl (Annex Theatre), and Belleville (MAP Theatre). She is also a Producer for Forward Flux Productions and an Associate Artist with Parley. Other credits include work at Seattle Rep, Seattle Children’s Theatre, and Village Theatre. She was recently recognized as the People’s Choice Award Winner for Outstanding Actress for the 2016 Gregory Awards.
Nabilah Ahmed – Nabilah has been living and working in Seattle for a year. Her stage credits include Waning and ACME at Annex Theater, along with Forward Flux’s The Flux Salon reading of A Small History of Amal by Amal, Age 7 (as Amal). Though now an actress, music was her first foray into the performing arts; she played the violin for nearly a decade, picked up the ukulele six years ago, and has been singing for much longer. She continues to enjoy experimenting with instruments.
Lance Valdez – Born and raised on Maui, Lance is excited to share this beautiful story that takes place in his homeland as Kahekili. This is Lance’s second appearance with Forward Flux, he was last seen as The Guard in Chisa Hutchinson’s The Wedding Gift. He recently received his BA in Theatre at Seattle Pacific University where some of his favorite performances included The Tour Manager in Elephant’s Graveyard, and John Logan’s RED, which he co-produced and starred in as Ken. He also appeared in Bainbridge Performing Art’s Production of Big Fish: The Musical as Don Price.
Hansol Jung (Playwright) – Hansol is a playwright and director from South Korea. Plays include Among the Dead (Ma-Yi Theatre), Cardboard Piano (Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville), No More Sad Things (co-world premiere at Sideshow Theatre, Chicago and Boise Contemporary Theatre), Wolf Play, and Wild Goose Dreams. Her work has been developed at the Royal Court (London), New York Theatre Workshop, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, O’Neill Conference, Sundance Theatre Lab, Lark Play Development Center, Salt Lake Acting Company, Boston Court Theatre, Bushwick Starr, Asia Society New York, and Seven Devils Playwright Conference. She is the recipient of the P73 Playwright Fellowship at Page 73 Productions, Rita Goldberg Playwrights’ Workshop Fellowship at the Lark, 2050 Fellowship at New York Theater Workshop, MacDowell Colony Artist Residency, and International Playwrights Residency at Royal Court (London). Her plays have received the Paul Stephen Lim Playwriting Award (Among the Dead), Honorable Mention from the 2014 Arch and Bruce Brown Playwriting Competition (Cardboard Piano), and was named 2014 finalist for the Ruby Prize (No More Sad Things). She has translated over thirty English musicals into Korean, including Evita, Dracula, Spamalot, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, while working on several award winning musical theatre productions as director, lyricist and translator in Seoul, South Korea. Jung holds a Playwriting MFA from Yale School of Drama, and is a proud member of the Ma-Yi Theatre Writers Lab.
About the play: A woman catches a last-minute flight to Maui to escape the woes of her mainland life. She meets a boy on the shores of Ka’anapali, and something strange and familiar draws them to each other. Their encounter sets in motion a magical journey through the past and present as she attempts to avoid the sad things in her life. They spend the week together and are forever changed. The woman is 32. The boy is not.
Run time: 70mins
The creative team for the Double Feature is as follows:
- Wesley Frugé– Producer & Director of No More Sad Things
- Pilar O’Connell– Casting & Director of las mariposas Y los muertos
- Andy Buffelen– Producer & Production Manager
- Emily Penick– Creative Director & Dramaturg for las mariposas Y los muertos
- Ana Maria Compoy– Assistant Director / Dramaturg for las mariposas Y los muertos
- Jakob Liljenwall– Music Director / Coach for las mariposas Y los muertos
- Kenny Passarelli– Music Consultant for las mariposas Y los muertos
- Zanna King– Lighting Design
- Erin Bednarz– Sound Design
- Jordan Gerow– Scenic Design
- Brandon Riel– Scenic Design Assistant / Set Painter
- Stephen Kelsey– Scenic Builder
- Fantasia Rose– Costume & Makeup Design
- Zane Exactly– Stage Magic Design
- Cassandra Thorpe– Stage Manager for las mariposas Y los muertos
- Anasophia Gallegos– Stage Manager for No More Sad Things
- Haley Butler Bates– Production Assistant
- Joe Moore– Photographer
- Catherine Roach– Art Director
Forward Flux is a dynamic live arts production company that presents innovative projects designed to connect people with art in unexpected ways. The company is focused on presenting new works by women and artists of color, and cultivating a new, younger audience.
Tickets for the Double Feature start at $50, and, as always, Forward Flux will make a portion of tickets available at subsidized prices starting as low as $15. The subsidized tickets are available to anyone with need, regardless of age or industry affiliation, and are first come, first serve. Learn more or purchase yours today atwww.forwardflux.com
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