Flat Earth flirts with middle school gender roles and sexuality in: TALES OF A FOURTH GRADE LESBO

Flat Earth Theatre kicks off their tenth anniversary season with the East Coast premier of TALES OF A FOURTH GRADE LESBO by Gina Young, with additional writing by Amanda-Faye Jimenez. Celebrated collaborator Mariagrazia LaFauci (Doubt: a Parable; Bach at Leipzig) directs this humor- and nostalgia-filled pastiche of early ‘90s pop culture that thoughtfully captures the joy and torment of adolescence.

Following the creative process of friends Gina, Amanda, and Seven as they collaborate to write a play, TALES OF A FOURTH GRADE LESBO explores what it means to grow up a queer woman in the ‘90s through the eyes of those who have lived it. There are rules in this universe: seventh graders always win dance competitions, lunch table divisions are absolute, and there is only one right way to wear a backpack. Through vignettes, dance, and original song parody, our three storytellers navigate the wilderness of leopard-print leotards and Jane Fonda workout videos as they relive the awkwardness of early sexual awakenings.

“We’re trying to make the world a safer place for queer kids. Actually, for ALL kids,” says playwright Gina Young, “because the words ‘fag’ and ‘dyke’ are not only hurled at gay kids to make them ashamed; they’re also used to insult anyone who steps outside of gender norms – boys who are sensitive and creative; girls who are athletic or brave. I hope this play can make us all think about the ways that we prevent other people from expressing themselves.”

According to director Mariagrazia LaFauci, “This is a script that invites you to bring yourself and your personal experience into it, because it is so deeply personal, about the kinds of anxieties that all kids everywhere face. Our cast has such a wide spectrum of experiences, but we have all had moments working on this script where we’ve said, ‘that is so me.’”

TALES OF A FOURTH GRADE LESBO begins Flat Earth’s 2016 season, “Ten Years at the Edge of the World,” three shows that highlight the role of the outsider. This season marks the company’s 10-year anniversary, and also features Boston-based playwright Patrick Gabridge’s BLINDERS in June, an absurdist romp through the American political circus culminating in a media-drenched presidential election, and Suzanne Lebeau’s THE SOUND OF CRACKING BONES in the fall, the devastating story of two child soldiers’ abduction, captivity, escape, and salvation.

TALES OF A FOURTH GRADE LESBO will run March 11th – 26th at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street in Watertown, MA. Tickets can be purchased at http://flatearth.ticketleap.com/tales/ for $20 in advance, $25 at the door, or $10 student rush. Tales of a Fourth Grade Lesbo is supported in part by a grant from the Watertown Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

STAFF & CAST

TALES OF A FOURTH GRADE LESBO’s design team includes Ben Lieberson (Set Design), Arwen Miller (Costume Design), Benjamin Blum (Lighting Design), Lindsay Eagle (Property Manager), and Korinne T. Ritchey (Dance Choreographer). The Producer is Amy Lehrmitt, the Stage Manager is Elizabeth Ramirez, and the Technical Director is Adam Teti (assisted by Leigh Downes). The cast features Malari Martin, Julia Alvarez, Kathleen C. Lewis, Katharine Braun-Levine, Leah Carnow, Micah Greene, Arielle Kaplan, Arthur Gomez, Matt Arnold, Alex Roy, and Lucas Commons-Miller.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT

From ginayoung.com: Gina Young is an interdisciplinary artist whose work blurs the lines between music, theatre and time-based art. She has written and directed seven plays, all of which incorporate music. Her play Femmes: A Tragedy won the Jane Chambers Award for Playwriting and was hailed as “slyly riotous” and “dazzlingly reconceived” by The Hollywood Reporter. Her most recent work, sSISTERSs, was developed through the Studio Series at REDCAT and was a Finalist for the Drama League’s Beatrice Terry Residency. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild. Gina lives in Los Angeles where she spends a lot of time dancing (she’s not good at it) and making lists (she’s exceptionally good at it). Her primary artistic interest is queering both content and form.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Mariagrazia LaFauci is a Boston-born-and-bred director, actor, and theatre educator. She is a 2012 graduate of Brown University, and the founder of the academic and extracurricular theatre programs at Saint Joseph Preparatory High School. Recent directing credits include Bach at Leipzig, Doubt: A Parable, and Twelfth Night with Flyleaf Theater Company, and Arabian Nights, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and Our Town with SJPHS. mariagrazialafauci.com

ABOUT FLAT EARTH THEATRE

Flat Earth Theatre (flatearththeatre.com) has been collaboratively crafting thought-provoking theatre in greater Boston since 2006. The goal is to challenge audiences with a theatre experience that inspires them to question their preconceived notions about the world. Featured productions include the award-winning staging of The Pillowman with the IRNE-nominated shadow puppetry of Woellert&Clark, the dimension-traveling production of Rocket Man, and last year’s critically acclaimed The Farnsworth Invention.