The Truth is Stranger (and more Entertaining) Than Fiction
TONIGHT AT 7 PM Tasty Monster Productions will launch the first of two staged readings in our Playwright Talkback Series with a little gem called Miss Frances and the Bamboo Garden by local playwright and actor Steven Kirkpatrick. Based on Mr. Kirkpatrick’s southern upbringing the show follows the unbelievably tall tale of Miss Frances, a local spinster turned celebrity who’s misconstrued but earnest love of Buddhism transforms the small town of Montgomery, Alabama and the life of one young lady still trying to find her way in the world.
Iris, the narrator, lives outside the “world of reason” having built herself a safe haven in the words and worlds of Southern Gothic novelists such as Tennessee Williams. She is both intrigued and perplexed by the madcap antics of Miss Frances whose quotes often confuses the words of the Buddha with movie quotes and television but somehow seems to get it right in the end. As with any great southern comedy inspired by the writing of Tennessee Williams, we have a few family secrets revealed, a few relatives who are just “not quite right” and a too close for comfort encounter between cousins. Rounding out this cast of characters are the owners and employees of the Bamboo Garden, refugees from Cambodia, Korea and in the case of this production Haiti who’s battle-scarred past seems to fade in the gleam of Miss Frances’s good natured madness.
And it’s all true. Sort of.
If you’re looking for something a little different head on down to the Corner Store Arts Center. Following tonight’s performance, the playwright will be holding a talkback about the journey of this play and audience members will have the opportunity to meet and speak with Mr. Kirkpatrick.
Corner Store Arts Center is located at 900 South Carolina Street, SE, in Washington, DC. Reading begins at 7 pm. Tickets are PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN. Suggested donation $5.
