By VIRGINIA GRANTIER
Bismarck Tribune
Bismarck Tribune
There are some actors in Bismarck who wanted to stretch.
In some potentially uncomfortable ways.
And so they're doing it. Like now. Today.
They told the Tribune they know Bismarck is a fairly conservative community that likes the traditional family friendly productions - and those productions will still happen.
But not this week.
The actors want some artistic freedom and so are pushing things this week - into possibly taboo areas, said Amanda Irvine, 25, artist in residence at Dakota Stage Ltd. and a theater teacher in the public schools.
This week's production, called "Late Night Alternative" - which opened Thursday, and continues today and Saturday at 8 p.m. at High Prairie Arts & Science Complex, 1810 Schafer St. - includes comedy sketches, a dark ballet piece and a two-woman play called "Parallel Lives" that includes material on subjects that some people may consider controversial. And it includes some tough language.
And it includes a kiss:That same kind of kiss that took place a while back between singers Madonna and Britney Spears.
Irvine said she's certain it's the first same-sex kiss to take place on a Bismarck stage.
"It's done in all good fun,"said Irvine, 25, who shares a kiss with actress Amanda Pitzer, 19.
It takes place during a scene of two middle-aged women whose husbands are no longer in the picture. The two women end up kissing while attending a women's studies event. The kiss is open to interpretation, Irvine said. She said it's not clear whether there is some sexual intent in the kiss.
Irvine, a Drake University theater graduate who grew up on a ranch near Bismarck, specifically came back home to broaden the theater scene and opportunities here.
"There's so much more that we could be doing ... so many resources to tap into,"Irvine said.
She said theatrical experiences are so important because they "tap into a whole new level of communication."
She said Dakota Stage, the area's community theater group, lacks a younger audience and one way to draw them in is to tap into subject areas that may be considered controversial, Irvine said.
"Something like ("Parallel Lives") has never been put on here," Pitzer said.
However, she thinks the audience will be pleasantly surprised.
"I think there's a calling for something that does delve into more taboo matter," Irvine said.
She said that type of material also gives local actors something they need.
"It gives us artistic freedom,"she said.
Irvine and Brian Brady, artistic director at Dakota Stage, created "Late Night Alternative" to provide those types of opportunities a couple times a year for the actors and audiences.
"We wanted to bring in one-acts, short scenes, monologues ... that won't be censored, an alternative platform for people to express themselves,"Brady said in a recent interview.
He said he expects some people will find the language offensive. But for this particular venue, for this "Late Night Alternative" production, "we want to leave it as written," said Brady, director of this week's production.
The overall message of "Parallel Lives"- a long-running Broadway play written by Kathy Najimy, a cast member on CBS's drama "Numb3rs," and actor Mo Gaffney - is that people take things too seriously and "need to lighten up a bit,"Brady said.
Irvine discovered the play when a semi-professional theater group in Des Moines, Iowa, did it. Irvine said she has wanted to put it on ever since.
"It's such an amazing show,"she said.
In a collection of scenes, Irvine and Pitzer juggle a multitude of characters - female characters who are dealing with issues ranging from plastic surgery to prostitution to religious beliefs to feminism to homosexuality to a tribute, of sorts, to Shakespeare.
"It has a nice balance of comedy and drama,"Irvine said.
In addition to Irvine and Pitzer, other actors will perform in comedy skits throughout the evening. One skit, a Disney moms' support group, brings together moms such as Snow White's, who expresses angst about her teen-age daughter having to live with seven little men.
Also on the program will be a contemporary dance piece, "Aphotic Angel," choreographed by Alysia Klein, who, before returning to North Dakota to teach dance at Northern Plains Ballet, worked as a choreographer for a Las Vegas show and danced for a Portland, Ore., modern dance company.
"This dance piece would not be considered light and fluffy,"Klein said. "It's definitely a dark piece."
She said she is using music from the band Massive Attack, a band that "definitely does deep pieces."Before choreographing it, she said she asked the dancers to talk about how the music made them feel - and she then created a dance that "doesn't tell a story... (it's) based off of pure emotion."
Irvine plans to contribute to Bismarck's theater scene for some time to come.
She said cementing that plan is that her fiance, a University of North Dakota graduate who works in Rep. Earl Pomeroy's office, has settled in Bismarck.
Irvine's goal is to some day open a theater in Bismarck.
"Late Night Alternative" is being promoted as a night of edgy modern theater for an adult audience and is being put on at High Prairie's stage instead of at the downtown Dakota Stage facility.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students and seniors and will be available at the door.
For more information, call 258-4998.
In some potentially uncomfortable ways.
And so they're doing it. Like now. Today.
They told the Tribune they know Bismarck is a fairly conservative community that likes the traditional family friendly productions - and those productions will still happen.
But not this week.
The actors want some artistic freedom and so are pushing things this week - into possibly taboo areas, said Amanda Irvine, 25, artist in residence at Dakota Stage Ltd. and a theater teacher in the public schools.
This week's production, called "Late Night Alternative" - which opened Thursday, and continues today and Saturday at 8 p.m. at High Prairie Arts & Science Complex, 1810 Schafer St. - includes comedy sketches, a dark ballet piece and a two-woman play called "Parallel Lives" that includes material on subjects that some people may consider controversial. And it includes some tough language.
And it includes a kiss:That same kind of kiss that took place a while back between singers Madonna and Britney Spears.
Irvine said she's certain it's the first same-sex kiss to take place on a Bismarck stage.
"It's done in all good fun,"said Irvine, 25, who shares a kiss with actress Amanda Pitzer, 19.
It takes place during a scene of two middle-aged women whose husbands are no longer in the picture. The two women end up kissing while attending a women's studies event. The kiss is open to interpretation, Irvine said. She said it's not clear whether there is some sexual intent in the kiss.
Irvine, a Drake University theater graduate who grew up on a ranch near Bismarck, specifically came back home to broaden the theater scene and opportunities here.
"There's so much more that we could be doing ... so many resources to tap into,"Irvine said.
She said theatrical experiences are so important because they "tap into a whole new level of communication."
She said Dakota Stage, the area's community theater group, lacks a younger audience and one way to draw them in is to tap into subject areas that may be considered controversial, Irvine said.
"Something like ("Parallel Lives") has never been put on here," Pitzer said.
However, she thinks the audience will be pleasantly surprised.
"I think there's a calling for something that does delve into more taboo matter," Irvine said.
She said that type of material also gives local actors something they need.
"It gives us artistic freedom,"she said.
Irvine and Brian Brady, artistic director at Dakota Stage, created "Late Night Alternative" to provide those types of opportunities a couple times a year for the actors and audiences.
"We wanted to bring in one-acts, short scenes, monologues ... that won't be censored, an alternative platform for people to express themselves,"Brady said in a recent interview.
He said he expects some people will find the language offensive. But for this particular venue, for this "Late Night Alternative" production, "we want to leave it as written," said Brady, director of this week's production.
The overall message of "Parallel Lives"- a long-running Broadway play written by Kathy Najimy, a cast member on CBS's drama "Numb3rs," and actor Mo Gaffney - is that people take things too seriously and "need to lighten up a bit,"Brady said.
Irvine discovered the play when a semi-professional theater group in Des Moines, Iowa, did it. Irvine said she has wanted to put it on ever since.
"It's such an amazing show,"she said.
In a collection of scenes, Irvine and Pitzer juggle a multitude of characters - female characters who are dealing with issues ranging from plastic surgery to prostitution to religious beliefs to feminism to homosexuality to a tribute, of sorts, to Shakespeare.
"It has a nice balance of comedy and drama,"Irvine said.
In addition to Irvine and Pitzer, other actors will perform in comedy skits throughout the evening. One skit, a Disney moms' support group, brings together moms such as Snow White's, who expresses angst about her teen-age daughter having to live with seven little men.
Also on the program will be a contemporary dance piece, "Aphotic Angel," choreographed by Alysia Klein, who, before returning to North Dakota to teach dance at Northern Plains Ballet, worked as a choreographer for a Las Vegas show and danced for a Portland, Ore., modern dance company.
"This dance piece would not be considered light and fluffy,"Klein said. "It's definitely a dark piece."
She said she is using music from the band Massive Attack, a band that "definitely does deep pieces."Before choreographing it, she said she asked the dancers to talk about how the music made them feel - and she then created a dance that "doesn't tell a story... (it's) based off of pure emotion."
Irvine plans to contribute to Bismarck's theater scene for some time to come.
She said cementing that plan is that her fiance, a University of North Dakota graduate who works in Rep. Earl Pomeroy's office, has settled in Bismarck.
Irvine's goal is to some day open a theater in Bismarck.
"Late Night Alternative" is being promoted as a night of edgy modern theater for an adult audience and is being put on at High Prairie's stage instead of at the downtown Dakota Stage facility.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students and seniors and will be available at the door.
For more information, call 258-4998.