Bruka Theatre BIGGEST little Theatre & New Works Festival 2024
THURSDAY - 1/18/24
PHYSICAL THEATRE WORKSHOP
LED BY MARTIN A. DAVID
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
The workshop is open to all—non-performers and performers alike. Martin A. David, a multi-disciplinary artist and performer, guides participants to new discoveries, and to new ways of approaching familiar territory. David’s workshops use theatre games and exercises to cover such topics as shapes, energy, abstraction, and spatial relationship. The tone usually varies between intense, serious concentration, and giddy fun.
SATURDAY - 1/20/24
THE HUNGRY GAMES
Performing @ Bruka Theatre
Saturday, January 20, 2024
2:00 PM
Bob Gabrielli - Writer/Director
Synopsis: It’s a typical day for food bank volunteers at a drive-thru distribution.
BIO: Reno native Bob Gabrielli has written/acted/directed in local theater for more than 40 years. While much of that activity was at Reno Little Theater, Bob has been grateful to Bruka for the opportunity to test out new material before wonderful, smart, astute, nice-smelling beautiful people who typically make up a Bruka audience. This year’s entry, The Hungry Games, follows in the footsteps of previously produced short plays at Bruka: Life Loafers, Love-40 and Blood Lust. Thanks always to Cathy.
PLAY WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A TALK BACK WITH THE AUDIENCE & PLAYERS.
SATURDAY - 1/20/24
FLAUNT YOUR FLAWS
Hybrid Musical/Improv - All Audiences
Writer/Producer: Stephanie Gittleman Director: Tim Mahoney
Vocal Director: Cindy Sabatini
Performing @ Bruka Theatre
Saturday, January 20, 2024
7:30 PM
Synopsis - A Musical Improv of a mock dating reality show in which the first half will feature live solos by characters who have relationship baggage (and personality faults!) confessing what exactly is wrong with them via an original song. During a brief break the audience will vote for who they’d like to see matched together and then they will proceed to improv a first date, moving in together, a wedding and a marriage therapy session.
PLAY WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A TALK BACK WITH THE AUDIENCE & PLAYERS.
BIO - The creator, Stephanie Debra Gittleman, is a playwright, novelist, columnist, humorist, and blogger who has a passion for bringing relationship novelty and nuance to life onstage. “TWISTED” an evening of ten-minute plays, premiered in Reno in 2022 and went into production in NYC early 2023 at the Chain Theatre. The surprise twist endings shocked and delighted audiences. “OOPS, YOU’RE ON MUTE” is a two-act musical dramedy about a contentious couple on the brink of divorce who must quarantine together during the pandemic. “FLAUNT YOUR FLAWS” was also conceptualized during covid, when looking in the mirror and wincing became a new stay-at-home pastime for Stephanie. However, today she’s extremely grateful to have Tim Mahoney directing this talented cast and everyone involved anxiously awaits tallying up your votes to see what whimsy and mayhem ensues.
FRIDAY - 1/19/24
THE BIG SCHMOOZE & BOHEMIA
COCKTAILS & SCHMOOZE TIME
6:45 PM - 7:30 PM FESTIVAL
$5 SUGGESTED DONATION
NO HOST BAR
7:30 PM - 9:30 PM BOHEMIA - WORDSMITH
Doors open @ 7:15 for Bohemia. The show begins at 7:30 PM. $10 per person
HOSTED BY MICHAEL GRIMM
AS CHARLIE THE MIME
~ Featuring ~
GREGORY HILLMAN’S - THE LIMERENCE
&
KELL KITTELL’S - QUE SERA, SERA
OPEN MIC - Sign Up With Your New Work Online. 5 Minute Slots Available.
Sign up for open mic spots at: https://forms.gle/4oYjxQYGvu5wh7om8
SATURDAY - 1/20/24
THE PROBLEM
&
THE REHEARSAL
Performing @ Bruka Theatre
Saturday, January 20, 2024
4:00 PM
Written & Directed By Martin A. David
Synopsis: Martin A. David presents two of his original plays: in The Problem two actors rush in through the audience. They are measuring and working but nothing seems to go right. Finally they agree that Mercury must be in retrograde. The second piece - The Rehearsal asks the question : Is it real life or just a rehearsal? This adventure in Theatre of the Absurd features two actresses who argue and kill each other.....again and again and again. The Rehearsal has been presented at the San Francisco Theatre Festival and The Gathering Festival in Kinsale, Ireland. PLAY WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A TALK BACK
SATURDAY - 1/20/24
TRANSFORMING TYRANTS
Stage Reading @ Bruka Theatre
Saturday, January 20, 2024
NOON
Writer/Director - Michael Wilder Frazel
Synopsis: Four reality TV stars join forces to extreme makeover a dictator and his struggling country. While they claim they are there for the right reasons, secrets will be revealed, alliances will be betrayed, and there might even be a musical number. This darkly comedic romp through your favorite reality TV shows like Love Is Blind, Ghost Hunters, The Great British Baking Show, and The X Factor examines modern monetary theory, heartbreak, and whether people can ever really change. FOLLOWED BY A TALK BACK WITH THE AUDIENCE & PLAYERS.
Bio: Michael Wilder Frazel recently moved to Reno and could not be more ecstatic to be a part of this new works festival! Originally from Chicago, IL, he received his MFA in Writing for the Screen And Stage from Northwestern University, and his plays and scripts have been read and performed at Chicago Dramatists, The Once and Future Festival, and Broken Bell Reads. His short fiction podcast The Phone Booth and interview podcast The Chef’s Monologue are available wherever you get your podcasts. As an actor, you might have recently seen him as part of the Die Difficult cast at Goodluck Macbeth (yippie-ki-yay!), and you can see him performing this March in Witch at Restless Artists Theater in Sparks. All the love to Heron and Shanti and endless thanks to Brüka, Mary, and his cast!
SATURDAY - 1/20/24
THE BALLAD OF
FRANKEE & MATILDE
Clown/Physical Theatre
Performing @ Bruka Theatre
Saturday, January 20, 2024
6:00 PM
Lyndsey Langsdale (Co-Writer/Co-Director/Co-Stage manager/Performer - Frankee)
Carrie Lynn (Co-Writer/Co-Director/Co-Stage manager/Performer - Matilde)
Synopsis - The Ballad Of Frankee & Matilde, created by and featuring Carrie Lynn & Lyndsey Langsdale. Inspired by music from the 1966 French film “A Man and a Woman,” The Ballad of Frankee & Matilde may appear at first glance to be a simple love story, two lost and awkward souls finding each other and being carried away by new and sudden infatuation. But at its core, the tale of these two lovers is about the battle between novelty and nuance and the invisible mechanism that both pushes us away from and pulls us nearer to those we love the most in this world. The Ballad of Frankee & Matilde is a wordless theater clown performance set to music.
PLAY WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A TALK BACK WITH THE AUDIENCE & PLAYERS.
SATURDAY - 1/20/24