May, 2018 – The OK Diaries
The OK Diaries ran May 3rd through 6th, 2018
at the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre
949 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215
Exclusively based on first-person accounts and actual messages submitted by women, Jesse Strachman’s original play THE OK DIARIES is a rich and darkly humorous exploration of how women are treated in today’s world of dating.
Featuring:
Elise Blanchard * Srin Chakravorty * Lucas Commons-Miller * Olivia Dumaine * Liz Eacmen * Matt Goldstein * Kevin Kordis * Francis Norton * Joshua Rubenstein * Tader Shipley * Aisha Stewart * Daniel Victor * Molly Weinberg * Roberto Williams
Production Team:
Director – Jesse Strachman
Scenic Design – Allison Choat
Costume Design – Heather Oshinsky
Lighting Design – PJ Strachman
Sound Design – Mirabella Pisani
Graphic Design – Kristin Boucher
Production Stage Manager – Shannon Weinacht
May, 2013 – Faerie Tales
Directed by Jesse Strachman
Music Direction by Dan Rodriguez
Choreography by Kira Cowan
Featuring Teresa Winner Blume and Abigail Clarke
Also featuring special orchestral performances:
Adam Brooks on percussion
Maiani da Silva on violin
Kett-Chuan Lee on cello
Costumes and Sets by Lindsay Hurley
Lighting by PJ Strachman
Act 1: Goblin Market
Polly Pen and Peggy Harmon, music by Polly Pen, adapted from the poem by Christina Rossetti
- Left to right: Teresa Winner Blume, Abigail Clarke
This classic tale of two sisters, one disastrously enchanted by merchant goblin men, has throughout the years been interpreted variously as a charming children’s story, a coming-of-age allegory for women, and an example of Victorian-era eroticism. As staged by Blue Spruce Theatre, on a simple stage of subtle greens and blues, a few bits of fabric and lighting templates became the magical glen of legend.
Act 2: World Premiere of The Rag Doll
Music and Lyrics by David Reiffel, Book by Silvia Graziano
- Left to right: Teresa Winner Blume, Abigail Clarke
Loosely based on the Grimm’s Fairy Tale “The Goose Girl at the Well,” this charming and fanciful tale takes place in a seemingly ordinary modern convenience store, run by a young shopgirl. One strange stormy day, a mysterious woman comes to visit, and as is usually the case with things like this, both of their lives are forever changed. This original piece was developed specifically as a companion piece for Goblin Market by the FRINGE WARS winning team of David Reiffel and Silvia Graziano.
IRNE Nomination: Best New Play, 2013
November, 2012 – Fort Point Theatre Channel’s “Napoleon Bowling”, featuring “The Royal Institute for the Support and Healing of the Arts”
Left to right: Ian Flynn as “Love”, Marie McCarville as “Song”, Dan Rodriguez (Music Director), David Carney as “Dance”, Jackie Theoharis as “Princess Sheila”
A remount of the Round 2-winning entry for FRINGE WARS, as a small part of Fort Point Theatre Channel’s “Exclamation Point 11.”
Performed at the Currier Museum (Manchester, NH), and also at Fort Point Theatre Channel in Boston.
Music and Lyrics by David Reiffel, Book by Silvia Graziano. Directed by Jesse Strachman, Choreography by Kira Cowan
January and July, 2011 – Company One’s “Fringe Wars”
During our hiatus from producing mainstage musicals, we were invited to participate in Company One’s “Fringe Theatre” competition. This involved writing short pieces in a one-month time-frame with certain restrictions – a theme, a character with a certain name, a prop, and a line. This also begun a major shift in Blue Spruce Theatre’s production history, where we started focusing primarily on the development of new works. There were three rounds initially, and the winners from each of those rounds were entitled to go to the “finals” and compete for the title of “Fringe Wars Champion” (or something like that).
We were entered into the second round, and won with the 15-minute musical “The Royal Institute for the Support and Healing of the Arts” (see above for the remount in 2012).
Theme: Dark Comedy
Character: Princess Sheila
Prop: A hammer
Line: “There’s no time!”
We were then eligible for the final round, where we entered our 25-minute entry “Potter’s Field Bed and Breakfast” (again Music and Lyrics by David Reiffel, book by Silvia Graziano). We narrowly defeated our sister fringe theater company Heart and Dagger‘s fabulous entry, titled “Family Portrait” – featuring music and marvelous interpretive dance. It was down to the wire, but due to Erica Spyres’ heroic performance in birthday-party-game inspired “trials” after the performances (who can pull tissues from a box the fastest?), we emerged as the “Fringe Wars Champion.” Naturally, we flaunted this new title and lorded over all of the other fringe theaters in the area.
Theme: Mystery
Character: Ramon
Prop: A rose
Line: “Do you have a license to carry that?”