SEASON 4
2020-2021
UNDERSTOOD
AN AUDIOPLAY
Streaming Online
October 1-28, 2020
Written by Tyler Mills
Directed by Tyler Michaels King
“People, by and large, are idiots”
Chris and Julie are young, married, liberal, and struggling. After the bizarre disappearance of their dog, their relationship fractures and sends them on a crash-course with strangers who hold vastly different world-views. As they search for answers in a divided world they begin to wonder “is it ever really possible to truly understand someone?” An audioplay about relationships, the cultural divide, and how to connect with those we don’t understand.
CAST
CHRIS/JOSH - Sasha Andreev
JULIE/RACHEL - Adelin Phelps
CREW
SOUND DESIGN - Katharine Horowitz
PRODUCUTION SUPPORT - Sophie Peyton
FOUR MEASURES
Workshop and Virtual Reading
In partnership with The Playwrights’ Center
March 15, 2021
Book by Kira Obolensky
Music and Lyrics by David Darrow
Directed by Tyler Michaels King
Based on the “21 Grams Theory” and the bizarre experiments conducted by Dr. Duncan MacDougall in Haverhill, Massachusetts in 1907, this new musical follows a young nurse’s search for purpose as she aids an eccentric doctor in his bizarre experiment to weigh patients as they die to prove the human soul has physical weight. Weaving between the memories of the sick and dying and a peculiar man battling his own grief, Four Measures traverses the gap between what we leave behind and where we might go beyond our final breath.
CAST
Serena Brook
John Catron
Ryan Colbert
Robert Dorfman
Meghan Kreidler
Sara Ochs
Jason Rojas
CREW
Dramaturg - Lynde Rosario
Stage Manager - Rosey Lowe
WHAT YOU CAN’T KEEP, Part 1
A WORLD PREMIERE SHORT FILM
April 22-25, 2021
Streaming Live on Youtube
Written by Harrison David Rivers
Directed by Tyler Michaels King
Storytelling, Art, and Intimacy. Exclusively told through monologues and voice-overs, WHAT YOU CAN'T KEEP dances through memories of past loves and misdeeds. Blending theater, art, storytelling, and visual imagery, WYCK Part One is crafted as a short contemporary film exploring the inner thoughts of two characters as they experience and contemplate intimacy, art, love, passion, and their own relationships.
CAST
LUCAS - Eric Sharp
LIZZIE - Miriam Schwartz
CREW
POST PRODUCTION and EDITING - Braddon Alexander
STAGE MANAGER and AUDIO ENGINEER - Tyler Mills
TRADEMARK COMMISSIONS
In 2020, Trademark Theater launched its first ever commissioning platform supporting new and emerging voices from the twin cities area to create innovative and adventurous new works for adventurous audiences. Each artist received financial support, critical feedback, and a full calendar year to generate and develop their new stories for the stage.
FIVE
by JuCoby Johnson
Best friends Jay and Evan run a convenience store in a rapidly changing neighborhood. When a real estate developer stops by with an offer to buy the place, their deep-rooted connection is tested. As the choice to sell weighs on Evan’s shoulders, and with only 24 hours to decide, their community is ripped apart and the very foundation of the world around them begins to rumble and quake. An intimate play that races towards apocalyptic ends, 5 examines a friendship tested by money, race, and family secrets come to light.
STONE BABY
Created by Kiss the Tiger
A girl born of stone and born to rock, Stone Baby is a mythological origin story that explores unbridled liberation through one’s journey into rock and roll. Blurring the intersection of theater and live music by challenging the boundaries of each, Stone Baby presents as a live rock show with theatrical, story-driven flair. Stone Baby is an energetic, fast/loud, blood-pumping, live performance experience.
OUTLAWS
Book, Music and Lyrics by Keith Hovis
Who decides what is accepted and who is feared? Set against the backdrop of a still-forming nation, Outlaws is a queer western and dark comedy musical following three strangers who are thrown together on a toe-tapping run for their lives. As they are pursued by a determined lawman, stories about their travels grow from campfire tales into myths, forcing them to confront a world unprepared for their existence. Sounds… Heavy. An exploration into the birth of tall tales, the use of lies to maintain control, the ever fracturing idea of identity, and the gay villain trope (among other dangerous stereotypes).