Reminder: Play: Octopus's Garden at Statewerx @ Sat Apr 21 8pm - 9pm (Queer Things)

more details » Play: Octopus's Garden at Statewerx Octopus's Garden by Scott Herman confronts same-sex parenting and the meaning of the modern family in a PianoFight world premiere PianoFight is proud to announce the world premiere of the first full-length play by Scott Herman, Octopus's Garden, the slice-of-life story of a modern family made up of two moms and an 8-year-old daughter named Anna, living the American dream of domestic normalcy. This is threatened by the arrival of Anna's absentee biological father, which forces them -- and us -- to examine the necessary yet difficult decisions made when starting a family on your own terms. Octopus's Garden is showing Saturday nights at 8pm from March 17 - April 7 at the Alcove Theater, 414 Mason Street, then transferring to Stage Werx Theater at 446 Valencia Street from April 12 - 28 where it will become part of PianoFight's Triple Threat. Tickets for Octopus's Garden are $25 at the door and $20 online at http://www.pianofight.com. Lilly and Claire's family is unconventional -- they are a lesbian couple with an eight year old daughter Anna, living in Boulder, Colorado -- but their lives are very conventional. They take their daughter to school, they argue over money, they tickle fight and they support and love each other. This version of domestic tranquility is put in jeopardy with the unexpected arrival of Grant, a gay music teacher from New York who is Anna's biological father. The story unfolds backwards revealing that Grant has never met his daughter, and that he is the former best friend of Lilly, Anna's biological mother. Act I chronicles the evening of Grant's arrival, and Act 2, jumps to nine years earlier and the events that lead to Anna's conception. Making her first appearance in a full-length dramatic play, recently-turned 12-year-old Nandi Drayton plays Anna. Nandi, A Bay Area native whose experience thus far is in musical theater, took the role of Anna because, "I read the script and loved the progressive story and was super excited to work with PianoFight." Nandi also noted a first for PianoFight, "Right from the first audition, I knew that I would enjoy working with this group. I felt completely welcomed. Getting to be the first young actor cast in a PianoFight production is a great opportunity." Nandi, who was just nominated for Best Female Lead in a Musical by the SF Bay Area Critics Circle, is joined on stage by PianoFight company members Gabrielle Patacsil, who plays Anna's biological mother Lilly, and Andy Strong, as Anna's father Grant. Leah Shesky as Anna's other mom, Claire, rounds out the cast. "At its heart, it's a story about the ambiguities of the modern family," says director Devin McNulty "what does family mean in the year 2012, with increasing societal acceptance for less traditional, non-nuclear families? On its surface this play is about the unique experience of gay men and women in America trying to find their own sense of normalcy. However, at its heart Octopus's Garden is a classic American tale of kinship told through a modern lens." The full-length and dramatic Octopus's Garden is a marked departure from PianoFight's wheelhouse of interactive theater and sketch comedy. However, how the play came about is in typical PianoFight fashion. "We read the script in mid-January," says Artistic Director Rob Ready, "And we knew immediately this was an excellent play. Plays can spend years going through workshops and rewrites. But with Octopus's Garden, we knew that this was a story that needs to be told now, not after two years of tweaks and readings." Herman was equally surprised by the speed with which the production developed, "I know Rob from a surfing trip to Northern Ireland, and I've followed PianoFight's progress in comedy over the years, but seeing how excited everyone is to put up this show and how fast everything has moved since I sent the script is really amazing." PianoFight LLC is an SF-based production and venue management company founded by Rob Ready and Dan Williams in the summer of 2007. Former managing partners of the Off-Market Theaters until its close in 2011, PianoFight is building a state of the art theater complex with a restaurant and bar in downtown San Francisco. In five years, The award=winning PianoFight has produced over 250 original short and full-length plays, created the largest audience-judged playwriting competition in the country, tackled a choose-your-own-adventure play series, recklessly invited audiences to Throw Rotten Veggies at the Actors Night, and garnered international critical acclaim all while staying true to its goal of producing New Work by New Artists. When Sat Apr 21 8pm – 9pm Pacific Time Calendar Queer Things Who • larrybob@gmail.com - creator

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