PRESS RELEASE - Miss Bipolar
Our Own Voice Theatre Troupe presents Ms. Bipolar: A Pageant,
a satiric comedy about competition, consumerism and the marketing of
mental illness. Based on a concept by a company member with
bipolar disorder, the production was developed over the past six months
through a series of creative writing and theatre workshops directed by
Claire Rutkauskas and Valentine Leonard. Consistent with the
OOV’s mission of giving voice to the concerns of mental health
consumers, the workshop process has drawn on the actual experiences of
many people who have struggled with the mental illness and the systems
we have for treating it. The production seeks to both raise
awareness about the complexity of the symptoms that we call
“bipolar” and provoke dialogue about the way people with
these symptoms are treated in our culture.
This is the first Our Own Voice production to be directed by Claire
Rutkauskas, who has been a company member since 1995 (when she was 9
years old). She has a BFA in Theatre from Queens University in
Charlotte , N.C. The ensemble includes many actors familiar
to fans of the Our Own Voice Theatre Troupe, including Bob Klyce,
Linley Schmit, Khyber Daniel, and Alexander Mooney, as well as a host
of new members. The production promises the spectacle and
exhibition of “talent” associated with pageants, including
a heavy metal tap dance and a production number to Prince’s
“Let’s Go Crazy.”
Performances are Friday, Saturday and Sunday, June 5, 6, and 7 and
Friday and Saturday, June 12 and 13 at 8 pm, and Sunday, June 14 at 3
pm. The Sunday matinee is a “pay-what-you-can”
performance.