*SNAP* FIRST PERSON ARTS FESTIVAL

The Flynn is committed to using the arts to build connections and strengthen communities. We are launching *snap* to celebrate the power of first-person narratives across disciplines because we believe everyone has stories to tell and that sharing these stories teaches empathy by allowing us to recognize commonalities and learn about each other’s unique experiences.

From January 19-21, 2024, the Flynn celebrates the power of storytelling and solo performance with a weekend-long festival that includes workshops and solo performances by professional and emerging artists.

Through a series of performances and workshops, we will create a dialogue between performers and the audience and provide opportunities for the community to join and support the conversation. Performances will include meaningful time for questions and thoughts from the audience. Our expectation is that performers listen to audience feedback and have it shape their work, and that our audiences develops a deeper understanding of this important art form.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 2024 7:00 PM

The Flynn Presents

WE’RE ONLY ALIVE FOR A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME

written and performed by David Cale

with Matthew Dean Marsh on piano

About the Performance

We're Only Alive for A Short Amount of Time

written and performed by David Cale

with Matthew Dean Marsh on piano

lyrics by David Cale

music by David Cale and Matthew Dean Marsh

musical underscoring composed by Matthew Dean Marsh

A musical memoir of hope, family and transcendence. Growing up, writer/performer David Cale escaped his parents’ fraught marriage by singing in his bedroom and tending to birds in his backyard animal hospital—until a tragedy changed everything. Lush songs, by Cale and Matthew Dean Marsh, and an intimate portrait of his mother unite in Cale’s vivid “survival story, deeply moving in its courage” (Chicago Tribune).

About David Cale

Acclaimed as “an enthralling writer-monologist” by the New York Times, two-time Obie Award-winning artist David Cale’s recent works as a solo performer include his musical memoir We’re Only Alive for A Short Amount of Time, for which he wrote the book, lyrics, co-composed the music with Matthew Dean Marsh, and The History of Kisses. His recent credits as a playwright include Sandra starring Marjan Neshat, with music by Marsh, and the hit solo play, Harry Clarke, starring Billy Crudup

FLYNN SPACE

$20

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 20, 2024 6:30 PM

*SNAP* STORIES

featuring Alex Cobb, Arshan Gailus, Molly Kirschner, Phoebe Dunn, and Ron Jenkins

About

As part of the first-ever *snap* First Person Arts Festival, the Flynn sent out an RFP for artists from New England and New York to submit original theater works told from a first-person perspective. Writers, poets, rappers, storytellers, and other solo performers were invited to apply and submit a proposal. From this open call, five solo performers have been selected to perform in Flynn Space, This evening celebration includes opportunities for audience feedback and conversation. We believe that everyone has stories to tell and sharing them teaches empathy as they allow us to recognize commonalities and learn about each other’s unique experiences.

WHAT ARE YOU DAD?

WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY ALEX COBB (THEY/THEM)

Alex is a dancer, improviser, conceptual performance artist, teaching artist, and community organizer. They have a unique path to performance that entwines a background in competitive athletics, studies of earth science, a passion for community organizing, and a fascination with alchemizing grief. They weave music, sound, text, physical theater, and dance composition. They dance because they love it, because when they think about how they want to live each day, they want to live dancing.

HAIR AND HUMMUS AND THINGS LIKE THAT

WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY ARSHAN GAILUS (THEY/THEM)

Arshan Gailus is a queer, non-binary artist of color who plays with storytelling, personal presence, sounds, music, spoken words, written texts, drawings, movement, and video. Their performance work was most recently seen at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival with the piece Ellie and Arshan Do a Show and Tell. They have also worked extensively in the theater as a composer and sound designer for a variety of companies. Arshan holds a B.S. in music from MIT and is a candidate for an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts with a concentration in Performance Creation at Goddard College.

DOUBLE DOSE OF MOLLY

WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY MOLLY KIRSCHNER (SHE/HER)

Molly Kirschner, poet, dramatist, and performer, is a resident playwright of Rising Sun Performance Company and currently resides in Colchester, Vermont. Her play L’appel du Vide was a finalist for ThinkTank Theatre’s 2021 TYA Playwrights Festival, which has a monologue from it included in Best Men’s Stage Monologues 2018. Her new full-length play Woman With A Parasol had a staged reading at Jersey City Theater Center in May of 2022. Two monologues from this play are forthcoming respectively in Best Women’s Stage Monologues 2023 and Best Men’s Stage Monologues 2023.

OUT OF THE WOODS

WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY PHOEBE DUNN (SHE/HER)

Phoebe Dunn is a NY based actor, producer, and writer, as well as a graduate of the Julliard School of Drama (Group 42). She has appeared on network television shows such at The Looming Tower (Hulu), Almost Family (Fox), FBI Most Wanted (CBS), New Amsterdam (NBC), and Dead Ringers (Amazon). Her short film RED. which she wrote, produced, and starred in, screened at thirteen film festivals including Cinequest and LAFemme.

THE BREAD OF ANGELS: READING DANTE’S INFERNO BEHIND BARS

WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY RON JENKINS (HE/HIM)

Ron Jenkins is a recipient of Guggenheim and Fulbright fellowships. His prison theater work in Indonesia, Italy, and the U.S. has been supported by the R.F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights, the Asian Cultural Council, and the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center. Jenkins has written books on theater and social justice as well as articles for the New York Times, the Jakarta Post, and the Yale ISM Review.

In The Bread of Angels: Decoding Dante Behind Bars, Ron Jenkins asks himself why he has spent so many years teaching Dante's Inferno in prison, and wonders if it might have something to do with his brief incarceration in a South African apartheid jail, the long-hidden secret of his family's criminal history, or the decapitated saints of his grandmother's village in Italy.

Flynn Space

FREE

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The Flynn Presents

STORYTELLING MASTERCLASS WORKSHOP

part of the *snap* First Person Arts Festival

January 20 & 21, 2-4 pm

About

Are you interested in advancing your storytelling skills? Join us for this weekend intensive and explore new ways to craft, edit, and perform your true, first-person narrative. The two-day workshop includes direct instruction, individualized story feedback, and the opportunity to perform in the Sunday evening *snap* StorySlam. All levels of students are welcome, including participants with prior experience in live non-fiction performance. Participants are encouraged to prepare a story idea prior to the workshop.

Susanne Schmidt is a comedic storyteller, producer, and national speaker. As a storyteller, Susanne’s work has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, HBO's Inspiration Room, NPR, and WGBH Stories from the Stage. She is a 2021 recipient of a Webby Award for her story House on Fire and was named the Best of Valley Voices Storyteller by New England Public Media (NEPM) in 2016 and 2022. Susanne is a producer and workshop facilitator for The Moth and a story consultant dedicated to helping mission-driven organizations use the power of stories for good. In addition to her storytelling work, Susanne is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor and a faculty member at the University of Vermont and Vermont State University’s graduate programs in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Susanne is the mother of two amazing young men who love that she often talks about them on stage. For more information visit: susanneschmidtstories.com

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*SNAP* STORY SLAM

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024 6:00 PM

Join us for a free open-mic storytelling event as part of the first-ever *snap* First Person Arts Festival. This event features stories told by the participants from the *snap* Storytelling Masterclass workshop led by Susanne Schmidt, held on January 20 and 21. Once the masterclass storytellers have performed, we'll open up the mic for to anyone with a five-minute story to share (note: available performance slots are limited and will be determined on the night of the event). Come tell your story, or just enjoy the show!

Flynn Space

FREE

GET TICKETS

Date: January 19-21, 2024

Location: Flynn Theater

153 Main St, Burlington, VT 05401

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