Introduction
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Introduction |
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Full Plate Collection, a comedy with music by Irene Ziegler, pays homage to five cultural female icons—Betsy Crockpot, Rosie Riveter, Boopsie Bleep, Auntie JJ, and Babs the Grown-up Doll. Each comments, over a game of poker, on their experiences as influential women who never existed.
The play has been a collaborative effort created specifically for the Minds Wide Open: Virginia Celebrates Women initiative, a statewide celebration of women in the arts. The project also offered young women the opportunity to learn more about the performing arts by having them work in tandem with leading female professional artists.
Improvisation plays a large role in the project, and director Keri Wormald chose actresses who were willing to “play,” that is explore the ideas in the play without scripted material. With 80% of the script created, Wormald encouraged the cast to bring their own ideas to the play-in-progress. The women talked about iconic women not mentioned in the play, such as Eve (as in Adam and), the bad girl or fallen woman, the witch or crone, the damsel in distress, and the warrior/goddess, to name a few. Wormald recorded the proceedings and noted dialog, interactions, or dramatic “business” that added to the world of the characters, or the play at large. Later, the playwright incorporated the best of those discoveries into the final script.
Paul Deese created the music for the three songs featured in the play, as well as the important incidental music. The creative team included Terrie Powers in set design, Heather Hogg in costume design, Lynne Hartman in lighting design, and Wendy Vandergrift in sound design, technical direction, and stage management.
Full Plate Collection ran March 11-27, 2010 at The Little Theatre inside Theatre IV in Richmond, Virginia. 