Mirrorbox Theatre staging back-to-back plays in Cedar Rapids

After staging its first sold-out run with the silly-fun holiday comedy “Batman Returns Returns,” Mirrorbox Theatre isn’t resting on its laurels or hardy laughs.

The small professional troupe — christening its first season in its permanent home in Cedar Rapids’ Time Check neighborhood — is filling the next four weeks with back-to-back performances.

I (expletive) Hate Shakespeare

Audiences tuning in to the Mirrorbox pandemic online project, “Out the Box,” heard four actors reading playwright Gina Femia’s script, “This Happened Once at the Romance Depot Off the I-87 at Westchester.”

Femia, based in Brooklyn, N.Y., is back with their solo show, “I (expletive) Hate Shakespeare,” that explains the Bard’s role in shaping the artist’s origin story as a playwright.

“What I love about it,” Hallman said, “is that it is so satisfying for people who consider themselves very familiar with Shakespeare's work. On the flip side of that, absolutely no Shakespeare knowledge is required to enjoy this (piece).

If you go

Where: Mirrorbox Theatre, 1200 Ellis Blvd. NW, Cedar Rapids

What: “I (expletive) Hate Shakespeare,” solo show written and performed by Gina Femia, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 20 and 21; $20; includes 30-minute talkback with the playwright after each performance

What: “the wish: a manual for a last-ditch effort to save abortion in the united states through theater,” 7:30 p.m. Jan. 26 to 28, 2:30 p.m. Jan. 29; $20, with 20 percent of all ticket sales going to a nonprofit supporting reproductive rights

What: “Open,” Feb. 2 to 19, 7:30 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, 2:30 p.m., Sunday; $20

Details and tickets: mirrorboxtheatre.com/

“Shakespeare is, in many ways, kind of an over-represented and over-dominant force, in specifically Gina's journey as a playwright — but really for many theater artists.

“And then Gina finds this parallel between their personal coming of age and their own personal growth, and how in many ways, this journey for them was about moving beyond these abusive relationships with men who were attempting to dominate them,” Hallman said.

“In looking at that parallel between the journey of the writer, journey of themselves, I think it's just really beautifully done.

“And personally, as an advocate for new plays, as someone who likes new plays, I have criticisms and gripes when it comes to the fetishization of Shakespeare as the world's greatest playwright, and about how over-produced Shakespeare is,” Hallman said.

“But what I really love about this play is how specific Gina gets with the criticisms. And there is a healthy amount of respect for the absolute, acknowledged greatness of Shakespeare.

“The great thing about this, is that Shakespeare is big enough and great enough to not only sustain, but also to deserve some criticism, too,” Hallman said. “There's nothing that we're going to say that's going to keep Shakespeare from getting produced.”

The Wish

In the early fall, Mirrorbox Theatre began collaborating with local hosts to stage readings of "the wish“ in non-traditional places, like backyards. The intention was to have about 10 people in the audience, who would be invited to join two cast members in reading this new script, subtitled “a manual for a last-ditch effort to save abortion in the united states through theater.”

Intended to spark conversations, the Mirrorbox website describes it as a “stunning, informative, and funny collection of scenes focused on one of the most important issues of our time — reproductive rights. It's a collection of perspectives. It's a survey. It's a rant. It is a uniquely interactive performance ...”

Now Mirrorbox is staging four interactive performances inside its new home, from Jan. 26 to 29.

The play — by Justice Hehir, Dena Igusti, Phanesia Pharel, Nia Akilah Robinson and Julia Specht — originated before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022.

“Basically, Justice was commissioned to put together a piece that was about the erosion of reproductive rights,” Hallman said, “and this was done specifically as a response to the Texas legislation” known as the Texas Heartbeat Act, signed into law May 19, 2021.

“Shortly after Justice and her collaborators finished this script, the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, so I would argue that the play continued to take on even more relevancy,” Hallman added.

The script is available free of any performance royalties, he said. In addition, producing companies like Mirrorbox Theatre can edit and adapt the script to make it “suitable for engaging their own audiences,” Hallman noted.

He had worked with Hehir before, livestreaming a reading of her script “Night Creatures” on April 24, 2020, as part of the “Out the Box” online series Mirrorbox offered during the pandemic.

“The day (’the wish’) became available, Justice emailed me and said, ‘Loved working with you all on ‘Night Creatures’ and feels like this is the kind of thing that's going to be appealing to you all. I hope you'll consider it.’ ”

But the script readings didn’t gain the traction Hallman had hoped for, citing too many “unknowns” among hosts and audiences, especially with the interactive aspect, so he decided to bring it into the new theater.

“We really believe in the script, we really believe in this project, and once we moved into the space, it became clear the project could be helped,” he said. “And it could be become more successful by removing at least one of those unknowns, putting it into our space and making it a ticketed event, so we can at least address one of those concerns.”

Actors Meg Norris and McKayla Sturtz will have assigned roles, and four to eight audience volunteers each night will be given scripts to become part of the performance.

It’s not just a piece for those sharing body autonomy views. The script is structured with “places where differences of opinion can be shared” through comments gathered and read aloud by others, Hallman said, “but it's not so much a forum — it’s happening within a format.”

Open

Stage and screen actor Ellie Desautels, who starred in the Mirrorbox production of “Orange Julius” in November 2019, is returning to perform Crystal Skillman’s solo show, “Open,” from Feb. 2 to 19.

“It's an incredible solo piece about a magician and who is putting on a magic show for all of us presently in the audience,” Hallman said. “However, all of the illusions are pantomime. It's slowly revealed through the course of this magic show that the magician's partner is in the hospital and was the victim of a hate crime.

“And I say ‘slowly revealed,’ because really the show is filled with wonder and awe, and there is this dark event that undermines the action.

"However, I would say the majority of the show is really focused on that sense of wonder and awe, and the intersection in magic and in love, of having to believe in something that you can't physically see.“

Desautels, a nonbinary actor, singer and songwriter based in New York, is best known for their television debut portraying Michael Hallowell, a transgender teenage boy, in the 2018 NBC series “Rise.” They also are engaged to one of Hallman’s siblings.

“I'm just such a big fan of their work,” Hallman said. “They're also a huge advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, and the relationship that’s part of the subject of ‘Open’ is a queer relationship.

“But I think that, especially in our intimate space, and with Ellie's experience of doing on-camera work in film and television, they have a remarkable ability to really capture an audience's attention in intimate moments,” Hallman said.

“They did that so well in ‘Orange Julius,’ and I’m just really excited to bring them to town again.”

Comments: (319) 368-8508; diana.nollen@thegazette.com