Glass & Lady M.

 Created by

Lindsey Bushnell and Martha B. Johnson

Presented by Full Circle Theater Company

Part of the 2019 Fringe Festival’s Minnesota Fringe Independently Produced (IP) Series.

August 1-11, 2019 at Dreamland Arts

Directed by Martha B. Johnson

​

Glass by Lindsey Bushnell 

Described by its playwright Lindsey Bushnell as “A Feminist Absurdist Play,” Glass is set in a dystopian world where four women are psychologically trapped and controlled behind glass by an unseen Man. Each woman is an archetype--nurturer (Apple Woman), housekeeper (Sweeping Woman), mother (Rocking Woman), and woman obsessed with body image (Too Woman)--and each has her own views of escape. Glass tackles gender, economic, and societal issues faced by women throughout the centuries.

​

Lady M. Conceived by Martha B. Johnson

Conceived by Martha B. Johnson, Lady M. is a reimagining of Lady Macbeth’s iconic sleepwalking scene (“Out, damned spot”) from Shakespeare’s Macbeth.  Using mythical and ritualistic theatrical techniques, this piece re-envisions Lady Macbeth’s profound remorse and guilt as a wake-up call for America to similarly acknowledge the problematic nature of American history, and to feel the humanizing power of remorse.

Caught

 Area Premiere

 by

Christopher Chen

Presented by the Guthrie Theater

Dowling Studio Theater

May 17  - June 2, 2019

Directed by Rick Shiomi

​

In this highly entertaining, dark comedy, Chen applies his playful imagination to the work of a Chinese dissident artist. This hybrid play invites us to navigate a labyrinthine trail between truth and perception, authority and authenticity, illusionary art and real jeopardy.     

Caught was a huge hit with audiences at InterAct Theatre in Philadelphia and received four Barrymore Award Nominations (New Play, Outstanding Direction, Acting Ensemble and Set Design) and has been produced across the country. Christopher Chen won a 2017 Obie Playwriting Award for Caught. In the most clever and imaginative ways, Chen asks us to question our own assumptions and to look deeper into the issues around us. The play challenges audiences to think about their perspectives and assumptions, to question their own beliefs and values in the search for a deeper sharing of truth, values and understanding.

Under This Roof

 World Premiere

 by

Barbara Kingsley

Presented by the Guthrie Theater in its Dowling Studio Theater

May 4  - 20, 2018

Directed by James A. Williams

Assistant Direction by Roxane Battle
 

Set in the late 1940s against the backdrop of post-WWII recovery in America, this four- character, two-act play takes place in the segregated black neighborhood of Central Cleveland, where characters Mamie and Raymond Warren reside.  Mamie desperately needs household help after her husband has a serious accident. On the recommendation of a friend, Mamie hires a down-on-her-luck woman named Bessie, whose arrival brings surprises and new challenges. In this setting, Under this Roof explores themes of mature love, family, disability, and race on an ever-shifting axis, with often-unexpected comic, painful, and heartfelt results.

​

365 Days/365 Plays by Suzan-Lori Parks:
A 2017 REmix

Presented at Penumbra Theater, St. Paul

May 26 – June 11, 2017  

​

365 Days/Plays marked the company’s first major production and exemplified our mission of investigating diversity through contemporary viewpoints.  The production was co-directed by Full Circle core artists Rick Shiomi, Martha B. Johnson, Stephanie Lein Walseth, and Lara Trujillo and guest co-director Harry Waters Jr.  Core artist James A. Williams served as artistic and cultural consultant. 

​

The production intertwined 46 short plays selected from Parks' 365 Days/365 Plays, viewed through a 2017 lens, to create a compelling theater experience and deeply involve diverse audiences in Parks' unique humor and vision of healing in America.  

​

The plays ranged in genre from hilarious parody and theater-of-the-absurd to pieces of powerful lyricism and epic tragedy, and spoke forcefully to past and present issues:  major events in American history, racism, anti-war themes, and other pressing social concerns.  A racially mixed cast of 10 professional actors tackled these themes, playing multiple roles.

Theater: A Sacred Passage St. Paul Tour

  By Full Circle Original Core Artists: Martha B. Johnson, R.A. Shiomi, Lara Trujillo,

Stephanie Lein Walseth, and

James A. Williams

Showcasing Diverse Artists’ Paths to a Life

on Stage 

Director:  Rick Shiomi

Dramaturg:  Martha B. Johnson

​

Five St. Paul community based organizations and venues benefitted from Full Circle’s tour of their play, Theater: A Sacred Passage (see details about the premiere of this production below) supported by a Knight Arts Challenge grant This tour concluded with three public performances at Dreamland Arts on April 22 - 24.

“With our personal stories performed on stage, we hope to inspire youth and adults from diverse backgrounds to feel confident that they have the right and power to enter the theater world, that they can have the talent and calling to pursue a career in theater,” said co-artistic director Rick Shiomi.

​

Theater: A Sacred Passage 

(World Premiere)

 By Full Circle Original Core Artists: Martha B. Johnson, R.A. Shiomi, Lara Trujillo, Stephanie Lein Walseth, and

James A. Williams

Presented at Dreamland Arts, St. Paul, November 6 - 22, 2015  

​

Director:  Rick Shiomi

Dramaturg:  Martha B. Johnson

​

This production was an original performance piece devised by the original five core artists of Full Circle from their personal journeys into theater. Their narratives embodied their many challenges and transformational experiences in becoming theater artists and how their lives and work reflected the huge changes in local and national theater communities over the past two decades. The piece incorporated acting, storytelling, choreography and music.