FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: In-Fin Tuan, August 26, 2019 email: [email protected] | text 651-998-4011
New theater experience celebrates Steinem’s early years, personal journey and career in Gloria: A Life
Gloria Steinem is a visionary, an icon, a hero to millions of women and me.” – Oprah
SAINT PAUL – HERstory Theatre presents the regional premiere of Gloria: A Life written by Tony Award- winning playwright Emily Mann and directed by Risa Brainin. This powerful theatrical event celebrates the life of one of the most important figures of America’s feminist movement: Gloria Steinem. Gloria: A Life premieres at History Theatre, September 28-October 20, 2019.
Gloria: A Life is a new theater experience that recounts Steinem’s early years, personal journey and so much more. The richly detailed tapestry breaks all forms which is what Gloria Steinem’s life was all about,” shares Mann. The first act details her life and the history of the feminist movement and how one reflects the other. The second act is a 20-minute talking circle of the audience “integral to the play-in-performance experience and proved to be amazingly moving and meaningful for audience.”
“More than a play, this is an event, a happening: a fast-paced travelogue through Gloria’s incredible life. And a conversation – a talking circle,” Brainin said. The audience will meet dozens of people – feminists, allies and activists who influenced and inspired her, as well as many who tried to impede her mission as a feminist. Nearly half a century later, Ms. Steinem's fight for gender equality is still a battle yet to be won. “To be directing Gloria: A Life at this particular moment in time is a gift. Gloria Steinem is such an inspiration and boy do we need her right now.”
Gloria calls herself a “hope-aholic,” Brainin added. “My hope is that the play can lift the audience out of these divisive times we are living in, and shed some light on how to move forward in a positive way. We can all still be inspired by the life of Gloria Steinem…and she’s still at it at 85!”
Led by the extraordinary Charity Jones (A Christmas Carol) as Gloria, the brilliant all-female ensemble cast includes Katie Bradley, Lolly Foy, Cathy Fuller, Jamila Joiner, George Keller, and Dana Lee Thompson. The creative team includes Joel Sass (Scenic), Mary Shabatura (Lighting), Amelia Cheever (Costume), Abbee Warmboe (Properties), C Andrew Mayer (Sound), Miko Simmons (Video), and Meggie Greivell (Assistant Director).
Ticket Information Adults: $20-$48; Seniors (60+ years old): $20-$43. Golden Circle: $53. Students (age 5 to college, ID required ): $15. Discount rates are available for groups of 10 or more. Call 651-292-4320 or email [email protected]. Dynamic ticket pricing applies. Performances will be held at History Theatre, 30 E. 10th St., St. Paul, MN 55101. Tickets available at History Theatre Box Office at 651-292- 4323 or www.historytheatre.com/tickets.
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1 Gloria: A Life Special Events
Opening Night Post-show Reception Saturday, September 28, 10pm | History Theatre | Free Celebrate the world premiere of Gloria: A Life. Enjoy desserts and refreshments. Mingle with special guests, the artists and creative team of Gloria: A Life!
Talking Circle Part of each performance. The first act is Gloria’s story; the second act is ours to tell. Each performance, a special guest will lead a talking circle with the audience who are invited to speak up on issues that resonated with them. For updates to Talking Circle special guests, please visit historytheatre.com/2019- 2020/gloria-life Note: All topics are subject to change.
• Friday, September 27 (preview): Mikki Morrissette, Editor and Owner, MN Women’s Press • Saturday, September 28 (opening night) • Two powerhouse women fighting for equal rights in Minnesota: Rosemary Rocco, life-long activist and friend of Gloria Steinem, former board member, ERA MN) and Betty Folliard, founder, ERA MN • Sunday, Sept 29 - Erin Murphy, Former Majority Leader, MN House of Representatives, 2007-19 • Thursday, October 3 - Catherine Jordan, Director, WARM Art Gallery, Women’s Art Collective • Friday, October 4 - Ellen Kennedy, Executive Director, World Without Genocide • Saturday, October 5 - Cathie Harnett, Ms. Foundation for Women Board Member • Sunday, October 6 - Nekima Levy-Pounds, Former Black Lives Matter Leader, Activist, Attorney • Thursday, October 10 - Jennifer J. Polzin, CEO, Tubman • Friday, October 11 - Marcie Rendon, Enrolled Member, White Earth Nation, Playwright, Poet, Freelance Writer • Saturday, October 12 - TBA • Sunday, October 13 - Sara Fenalson, Executive Director, Ann Bancroft • Thursday, October 17 - Rev. Kristine Holmgren, God Girl playwright, Pastor, One of the first women to graduate from Princeton Theological Seminary • Friday, October 18 - Sharon Day, Founder, Executive Director Indigenous People’s Task Force, Enrolled Member Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe • Saturday, October 19 - Mary Kuneish-Podein, Rep. District 41B, DFL Party Assistant Majority Leader • Sunday, October 20 - Hayden Howland, President, Smith College Club
About the Play
2019 and the Recent Past. This new work by Tony Award-winning playwright Emily Mann celebrates the life of one of the most important figures of America’s feminist movement. Nearly half a century later, Ms. Steinem’s fight for gender equality is still a battle yet to be won. Her work continues in this powerful theatrical event with an all-female cast led by Charity Jones as Gloria Steinem.
About the Artists
Emily Mann Playwright Tony Award winning Artistic Director and Resident Playwright in her 30th and final season at McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, New Jersey. Her plays include: Having Our Say, adapted from the book by Sarah L. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth; Execution of Justice; Still Life; Annulla, An Autobiography; Greensboro (A Requiem); Meshugah; Mrs. Packard, and Hoodwinked (a Primer on Radical Islamism). Currently in development: The Pianist. Adaptations: Baby Doll, Scenes from a Marriage, Uncle Vanya, The Cherry Orchard, The House of Bernarda Alba, and Antigone. Awards include: Peabody, Hull Warriner, NAACP, Obie's, Guggenheim; Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations, a Princeton
2 University Honorary Doctorate of Arts, a Helen Merrill Distinguished Playwrights' Award, and the Margo Jones Award. This year, she was awarded the TCG Visionary Leadership Award.
Risa Brainin Director Risa directed Oh, Pioneers and Beth Gilleland’s Civil Ceremony in the mid-‘90s! Over her 10 years in the Twin Cities (1987-97), Brainin directed at the Cricket Theatre, Illusion, Mixed Blood, U of M, SteppingStone Theatre, and the Guthrie Theater where she served as Resident Director under Garland Wright and Associate Company Director under both Wright and Joe Dowling. Other artistic posts include Associate Artistic Director at Indiana Repertory Theatre and Kansas City Repertory Theater, and Artistic Director of Shakespeare Santa Cruz. She has directed for the Pittsburgh Public Theater, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Actors' Theatre of Louisville, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, American Players Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Portland Stage Company, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Great Lakes Theater, Denver Center, Syracuse Stage, Playmakers Repertory Company among others. She is the Founder/Artistic Director of the groundbreaking new play development program LAUNCH PAD at UC Santa Barbara where she has developed dozens of new works over the past 15 years. Brainin is past President of the National Theatre Conference, and a graduate of the Carnegie-Mellon Drama Program.
Charity Jones Gloria Steinem Charity last performed in History Theatre’s Teen Idol: The Bobby Vee Story. sShe played the Duenna in the Guthrie Theater’s production of Cyrano de Bergerac, and will return to the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in select performances there, later this year. She has also performed at theaters throughout the Twin Cities, including the Jungle Theater, Park Square, Mixed Blood and the Children’s Theatre Company.
About HERstory Theatre HERstory Theatre continues with Gloria: A Life and Beyond the Rainbow: Garland at Carnegie Hall. From January to June 2019, History Theatre transformed into HERstory Theatre and shined a spotlight on amazing women, encouraged conversation around gender equality and created the importance of telling herstory. HERstory Theatre premiered Stewardess!, Sisters of Peace and Dirty Business, written by and telling real stories about real women in Minnesota. Through History Theatre’s 41 years of being a leading producer of new works, we continue to tell important stories of real women in Minnesota.
About History Theatre Since 1978, the History Theatre Experience has created: Inspiration. History Theatre features real stories about real people to the stage in an immediate experience that touches our lives. 120 world premiere performances, more than any other theater in the Twin Cities. History Theatre is one of the country’s most impressive new play development homes – bringing to full production new work by Jeffrey Hatcher, Melanie Marnich, Craig Wright, Kim Hines, Dorie Baizley, John Olive, Kira Obolensky, and more. Brave, entertaining explorations of all the histories that make up our diverse community. From Farm Boys to Snapshots: Life in the City, from the celebratory Wellstone! to the dark, complex Piece of the Rope about Minnesota’s first public execution, HT has moved Minnesotans to rediscover, relive, and respect every piece of their history. More than 200,000 students have connected with history at History Theatre. History Theatre entertains, educates and engages through creating, developing and producing new and existing works that explore Minnesota’s past and the diverse American experience. Our work provides a unique lens which links our past to the present, explores our common heritage, and illuminates our understanding of what it means to be American. History Theatre is a four-time IVEY Award-winning theater, and is recognized nationally as a leader in producing historical work.
Accessibility History Theatre is equipped with an FM hearing enhancement system. We offer ASL interpreted and Audio Described performances. We have complimentary wheelchairs for those patrons who need extra assistance into the building. The handicap-accessible entrance is on Cedar St. just inside the entrance is an elevator that will take patrons to the theatre level. Patrons are asked to indicate any special needs when ordering tickets. Contact box office at 651-292-4323 for more information. 3
American feminists highlighted in Gloria: A Life
Gloria Steinem A writer, political activist, and feminist organizer, she was a founder of New York and Ms. magazines, and is the author of My Life on the Road, Moving Beyond Words, Revolution from Within, and Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, all published in the US, and in India, As If Women Matter. She co-founded the National Women’s Political Caucus, the Ms. Foundation for Women, the Free to Be Foundation, and the Women’s Media Center in the United States. As links to other countries, she helped found Equality Now, Donor Direct Action, and Direct Impact Africa. For her writing, Steinem has received the Penney-Missouri Journalism Award, the Front Page and Clarion awards, the National Magazine Award, the Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Society of Writers Award from the United Nations, and the University of Missouri School of Journalism Award for Distinguished Service in Journalism. In 1993, her concern with child abuse led her to co- produce an Emmy Award–winning TV documentary for HBO, Multiple Personalities: The Search for Deadly Memories. In 2013, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. In 2016, she and Amy Richards co-produced a series of eight documentaries on violence against women around the world for VICELAND. Notable Quote “The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn.”
Belle Abzug (1920-1998) A New York-based attorney with the nickname “Battling Bella,” she was an early participant in the antiwar group Women Strike for Peace and went on to become a U.S. representative for three terms between 1971 and 1977 after campaigning on the slogan, “This woman’s place is in the House — the House of Representatives.” Notable Quote “Never go back, never apologize, and never forget we’re half the human race.”
Dorothy Pitman Hughes Dorothy co-founded both Ms. Magazine and the Women’s Action Alliance with Steinem. She organized the first shelter for battered women in New York City and co-founded what is now known as the New York City Administration for Children's Services. Notable Quote “It was my mother who taught us to stand up to our problems, not only in the world around us but in ourselves.”
Florynce “Flo” Kennedy (1916-2000) A graduate of Columbia Law School, Flo represented Black Panther members and musicians Billie Holiday and Charlie Parker. She founded the Feminist Party in 1971—which nominated Shirley Chisholm for president—and co-founded the National Black Feminist Organization. She also helped found the Women's Political Caucus. She was an avid abortion rights activist. Notable Quote “You've got to rattle your cage door. You've got to let them know that you're in there, and that you want out. Make noise. Cause trouble. You may not win right away, but you'll sure have a lot more fun.”
Wilma Mankiller (1945-2010) A leading advocate for the Cherokee people, Wilma became the first woman to serve as their principal chief in 1985. "As the Cherokee Nation's first female chief, she transformed the nation-to-nation relationship between the Cherokee Nation and the federal government, and served as an inspiration to women in Indian Country and across America," President Barack Obama (2010). Notable Quote “Remember that I am just a woman who is living a very abundant life. Every step I take forward is on a path paved by strong Indian women before me.”
4 Gloria: A Life
Performance Schedule September 28-October 20, 2019 History Theatre, 30 E. 10th St, St. Paul, MN 55102 651-292-4323 www.historytheatre.com
Thursday, September 26 Preview 7:30 p.m. Friday, September 27 Preview 7:30 p.m. Saturday, September 28 Opening 7:30 p.m. Sunday, September 29 2:00 p.m. Thursday, October 3 10:00 a.m. 7:30 p.m. Friday, October 4 7:30 p.m. Saturday, October 5 7:30 p.m. Sunday, October 6 2:00 p.m. Thursday, October 10 1:00 p.m. 7:30 p.m. Friday, October 11 7:30 p.m. Saturday, October 12 7:30 p.m. Sunday, October 13 ASL/AD 2:00 p.m. Thursday, October 17 7:30 p.m. Friday, October 18 7:30 p.m. Saturday, October 19 OC 7:30 p.m. Sunday, October 20 Closing 2:00 p.m. OC
AD/ASL = Audio Description & American Sign Language interpreted performance OC = Open Captioning performance Note: No Afterthoughts (post-show) discussion after Sunday 2pm matinees. Each performance will include a second act Talking Circle.
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