about:
mOTHER, a play
One woman's journey to otherhood.
As present history and politics are once again trying to define how women make choices about their bodies and reproduction, this new one-women play discussing the often taboo choice of opting-out of motherhood debuts with a 2017 Summer/Fall tour.
Playwright Stacey Vespaziani’s autobiographical piece follows the character of OTHER from her first period on into the downright awkwardness of sex education, through the mishaps of teenage sexual exploration, then to the societal pressures of adult partnership and ultimately to the moment of personal truth.
The play’s best intention is not to judge other people’s choices around parenthood, but– by focusing on one true story– simply give a voice to anOTHER way to be a woman in today’s world.
Odds & Ends Productions premiered the show to audience and critical acclaim at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival in June with performances in Boulder, Chicago and Pittsburgh to follow.
"Stacey Vespaziani bares all in her solo show about the societal dichotomy between being a woman and being a mother.” ~Jackie Mulay (Cincinnati City Beat)
Stacey Morrison-Vespaziani (playwright/actor): is a yoga teacher, writer, actor, and storyteller. She earned her BFA in Dramatic Performance at the University of Cincinnati, CCM in 2003. Her plays include Brittany Spears, And All The Other Shit We Deal With!; From Where, To My Bed?; Waterproof; Running My Ass Off... And Getting Nowhere and Better/Worse (co-written). Her work has been produced by Odds & Ends Productions, The Cincinnati Fringe Festival, The New Voices Series, and Bricolage Production Company (B.U.S. 2 & WordPlay). She produced the Future Ten Play Festival in 2008 & 2009 and served on the board of directors for the Center For Theater Arts from 2012-2016. After taking nearly ten years off from writing and performing, Stacey is ecstatic to be returning to the stage with her new autobiographical solo play, mOTHER– and working with the extraordinary director Lisa Ann Goldsmith.
Morrison-Vespaziani is the owner of South Hills Power Yoga in Pittsburgh, PA where she lives with her husband and their newly adopted pups, Danger & Zoe.
(Website: www.StaceyVespaziani.com)
Lisa Ann Goldsmith (director): Lisa Ann is thrilled to be working on this gorgeous piece with the stunning Stacey Morrison-Vespaziani!!
Directing credits include: Pittsburgh: the world premieres of Findings (Pittsburgh Playwrights), The Devil’s Arithmetic and Walk Two Moons (Prime Stage); Out of This Furnace (Unseam’d Shakespeare), the premiere of Amy Hartman’s Disinfecting Edwin (Open Stage); The Proposal/To Hell and Back, The Monkey’s Paw/Happy Garden of Life, and Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers (at Pittsburgh Opera) with The Microscopic Opera Company; As You Like It (Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks); The Rocky Horror Show (immersive production - Brisbane Management); and the East Coast premiere of Allison Moore’s Eighteen (Pittsburgh Playwrights). New York: Dark Lady of the Sonnets (Protean Theatre Company at Primary Stages); Jesus is My Goalie (Winner – One-Minute Play Contest); The Miss Firecracker Contest (Queens Theatre in the Park). Regional: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Tulsa Shakespeare in the Park); The Butterfingers Angel, Mary and Joseph, Herod the Nut and the Slaughter of 12 Hit Carols in a Pear Tree (Tulsa Repertory Theatre); Jesus Christ Superstar and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (Centre Stage); Pump Boys and Dinettes (Broadhollow Theatre).
Lisa Ann is also a professional actor with many New York and regional credits, including Kate Rearden in the recent World Premiere of Windfall directed by Jason Alexander of Seinfeld fame! (Arkansas Rep). She has appeared in numerous films, including the 2013 Sundance Dramatic Competition Nominee The Lifeguard, The Umbrella Man, Progression, The Next Three Days, Love and Other Drugs, One for the Money, and Mombies.
(Website: www.LisaAnnGoldsmith.com)
Lee Anne (LA) Finfinger (production artist): is an untrained illustrator in the wake of the 2016 election. She is also the founder of Free City Yoga, a grassroots yoga collective which provides studio-quality yoga free for communities in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, D.C, and Denver. She is working on her first book of essays and lives with her husband, and spirit animal, Mewgaret Catcher, in Baltimore city.
Odds & Ends Productions: was established in 2003 as a multi-city theatre tribe originally comprised of University of Cincinnati-CCM drama graduates and has generated new work from Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, and New York City. After a long hiatus, the company has been reestablished and is ready for its second act.
Show Image Acknowledgements:
Concept by Courtney Seiberling
Photo by Alex Riegert-Waters
Drawing by LA Finfinger
Next Up:
FRIGID New York: February-March 2018
mOTHER Performances @ Under St. Marks Theater
94 St. Marks Place
New York, NY 10009
(Between 1st Avenue & A Avenue)
Friday, February 16 @ 5:30PM - NYC PREMIER!
Sunday, February 18 @ 5:10PM
Thursday, February 22 @ 10:30PM
Saturday, February 24 @ 8:50PM
Monday, February 26 @ 8:50PM
Thursday, March 1 @ 5:30PM
Past Performances:
Thank you for joining us at the Pittsburgh debut of mOTHER, a play!
Produced By Odds & Ends Productions: October 2017
mOTHER Performances @ Bricolage's Theater
937 Liberty Avenue, 1st Fl
Pittsburgh PA, 15222
Friday, October 27 @ 7PM - Pittsburgh Premiere!
Saturday, October 28 @ 2PM & 7PM*
*Please Note: The 7PM performance on Saturday, October 28 will be followed by light snacks and a very special bonus performance of the unique variety show, Campfireball, conceived by traveling performer Cory Howard and featuring: comedian Jason Planitzer, musical act Williams Honor and writer/performer Courtney Seiberling.
More Info On Cory Howard & Campfireball:
“On loan from Los Angeles, Campfireball is part variety show, part living organism... the experience pushes the boundaries of storytelling as host Cory Howard bands together with the audience and a diverse line-up of performers for an immersive, existential, backyard (or inside a theater) extravaganza."
Cincinnati Fringe Festival: June 2017
THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ATTENDED OUR CINCINNATI PERFORMANCES!!!
mOTHER Performances @ Art Academy Auditorium
1212 Jackson Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202
Thursday, June 1 @ 9PM - WORLD PREMIER!
Monday, June 5 @ 7:45PM
Tuesday, June 6 @ 8:30PM
Saturday, June 10 @ 1:45PM
Boulder International Fringe Festival: August 2017
THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ATTENDED OUR BOULDER PERFORMANCES!!!
mOTHER Performances @Pine Street Church Fellowship Hall
1237 Pine St
Boulder, CO 80302
Friday, August 18 @ 6:30PM
Thursday, August 24 @ 8:00PM
Friday, August 25 @ 6:30PM
Saturday, August 26 @ 3:30PM
Chicago Fringe Festival: August/September 2017
THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ATTENDED OUR BOULDER PERFORMANCES!!!
mOTHER Performances @ CCJP Gym
5320 W Giddings St.
Chicago, IL 60630
Thursday, August 31 @ 8:30PM
Friday, September 1 @ 10PM
Saturday, September 2 @ 5:30PM
Sunday. September 3 @ 7PM
Monday, September 4 @ 4PM
Cincinnati City Beat Review of mOTHER, a play
"A truly captivating narrative that left me pondering long after it ended." ~ Jackie Mulay
ALOC Media's Review of mOTHER, a play
"I found Stacey’s story both brave and relatable." ~ Gabrielle DeCristofaro
media:
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