The Skeletal Series is a three-week festival featuring solo shows by visiting theater artists from around the country.
The first show, opening July 27, is MAROONED! A SPACE COMEDY, by puppet company Alex & Olmsted. MAROONED! is a multimedia extraterrestrial journey that uses a mix of lo-fi and hi-tech in a story about a lost astronaut. DRIVING AROUND, by Amrita Dhaliwal, opens August 3. Amrita is a Punjabi-American comedian whose work has won numerous awards, including Best Comedy at Melbourne Fringe 2019. And Psalmayene 24’s autobiographical performance in letters, through hip hop and spoken word, DEAR MAPEL, opens August 10.
In a Skeletal Series special event, beloved actress Marsha Mason performs a staged reading of IN THAT LITTLE VILLAGE NEAR PERM, a twist on Chekov’s Three Sisters, written by Tesuque resident Gary Dontzig, on August 1.
The Skeletal Series also includes SHOP/TALKS, held on Sundays, which are part panel discussion, part workshop, and part Q&A. Visiting artists are paired with local theater artists to share works in progress and engage in conversations with each other and the audience. SHOP/TALKS welcomes audience members to volunteer for participatory aspects of the sessions, including the reading of new work.
MAROONED! A SPACE COMEDY
Alex and Olmsted
July 27–31
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 27–Saturday, July 30
2 p.m. Saturday, July 30
SHOP/TALK: 10 a.m.–1 p.m. Sunday, July 31
Marooned! is an uncommon multimedia puppet show about an astronaut who crashes on an uncharted planet. Can she survive strange creatures, isolation, and an anomalous atmosphere — and find her way home?
IN THAT LITTLE VILLAGE NEAR PERM
Marsha Mason performs a staged reading of Gary Dontzig’s play.
August 1
7 p.m. Monday
Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters is one of literature’s most enduring classics. But what might have become of the Prozorov family after the last time we saw them, in 1901? It’s now 1950 and we’re about to find out what happened to Olga, Masha, Irina, and their brother, Andrei. Tesuque resident Gary Dontzig has written for and produced numerous television shows, including Murphy Brown, Suddenly Susan, and A Different World.
NOTE: This event does not include a SHOP/TALK
DRIVING AROUND
by Amrita Dhaliwal
August 3–7
7:30 p.m. Thursday, August 3–Saturday, August 6
2 p.m. Saturday, August 6
SHOP/TALK: 11 a.m.–2 p.m. Sunday, August 7
A provocative brew of physical comedy, absurdism, and American naivety are on a fanciful bus ride. In a show full of insights into what unites us and separates us, a bus driver takes you on a ride that is so far past stupid that it becomes compelling! Dhaliwal was a best comedy winner at Melbourne Fringe 2019. She is a Punjabi American comedian and devising artist based in Los Angeles whose style has been compared to Mel Brooks. Her work explores themes of humanity through the lens of the current political climate.
DEAR MAPEL
by Psalmayene 24
August 10–14
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, August 10–Saturday, August 13
2 p.m. Saturday, August 13
SHOP/TALK: 11 a.m.– 2 p.m. Sunday, August 14
Psalmayene 24 performs letters to a father he never really knew. In turns dramatic, gripping, and comedic, occasionally delivered as spoken-word poetry, the narrative chronicles the playwright’s creative coming-of-age, recalls his Brooklyn childhood, formative showbiz experiences, encounters with racism, and more.