Since its inception in 1992, The Theater Offensive's "Out On The Edge" Festival of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Theater has become one of the premiere GLBT theater festivals in the world and the only one in New England.  

The 13th Annual "Out On The Edge" Festival, running September 30 -October 24, 2004, at the Boston Center for the Arts, will feature hip-hop artist/playwright Hanifah Walidah (September 30 - October 3), award-winning musical comedy act The Oops Guys (October 6 - 9), TTO's inspirational Queer Youth Troupe True Colors in "Turned Up Volume" (October 9 -10) and the return of internationally acclaimed solo artist Tim Miller (October 13 -17).  

The Theater Offensive's "Plays At Work" (October 22 - 24) will present a work-in-progress by The Five Lesbian Brothers titled "Oedipus at Palm Spring" and staged readings of Melissa Li's "Surviving The Nian," "Murder At Gallaudet" by Ayisha Knight and Letta Neely's new work "Shackles and Sugar."

In addition to performances, The Theater Offensive will host special events, panels, receptions, surprise performances, workshops and community outreach nights all month long. (See calendar below). Visit www.thetheateroffensive.org for updates.

MAINSTAGE PERFORMANCES
This year's "Out On The Edge" festival opens Thursday, September 30, with "Black Folks' Guide to Black Folks: Your Neighborhood Inside Out," created and performed by Hanifah Walidah.  Heralded by the San Francisco Chronicle as a "comic tour de force," Walidah's one-woman stage play brings audiences together by all theatrical means necessary, as she plays an entire neighborhood of characters linked together in a polyrhythmic mesh of loves and lives.

"Black Folks' Guide to Black Folks: Your Neighborhood Inside Out," approaches the topic of homophobia in the black community, and Walidah remains true to the familiar as she blurs the lines and giggles in the faces of sexuality, health, love, fear and faith. Performances are Thursday, September 30, through Saturday, October 3, at 8 P.M.; Sunday, October 4, at 3 P.M. at the Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Theater, 539 Tremont Street, South End, Boston.  For reserved tickets call 617.933.8600 or visit www.bostontheatrescene.com.

Running Wednesday, October 6, through Saturday, October 9, is "LOUNGE-ZILLA: Asian Sings the Blues," created and performed by The Oops Guys. In this award-winning musical comedy act, The Oops Guys eviscerate the world's most mysterious beast "cabaret entertainment" with an atomic blast of offensive parody, savage songs and outrageous stunts.

Who are the criminally-comic masterminds behind The Oops Guys?  Fiely A. Matias has toured nationally with IMAGO Theatre Mask Ensemble, Disney and was in the Broadway bomb, "Annie 2." Dennis T. Giacino (he writes the songs that make the whole world cringe) has earned awards for his comic writing and does a frightening Bea Arthur impression. Performances are Wednesday, October 6, through Saturday, October 9, at 8 P.M. at the Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Theater, 539 Tremont Street, Boston. For reserved tickets call 617.933.8600  or visit www.bostontheatrescene.com.

October 13 through October 17, internationally acclaimed solo artist Tim Miller will take audiences on an uproarious journey in "US" - from show-tune childhood to superstar expatriation. When anti-gay immigration laws send Miller and his lover marching into exile, Miller shoots a penetrating look not at "them" but at US Americans. Armed with Broadway Musical lessons, Miller flexes his naked passion for liberty and reveals an Oliver Twist take on love.  

Performances are Wednesday, October 13, through Saturday, October 16, at 8 P.M. and Sunday, October 17 at 3 P.M. at the Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Theater, 539 Tremont Street, Boston. For reserved tickets call 617.933.8600  or visit www.bostontheatrescene.com.

YOUTH PERFORMANCE
The Theater Offensive's queer youth theater troupe, True Colors joins forces for a two week residency with the nation's premier touring out youth video/theater project directed by Barbara Bickart.  TTO's inspirational young artists will raise the roof with a powerful mixed-media show titled "Turned Up Volume." Performances are Saturday, October 9, at 5 P.M., and Sunday, October 10, at 3 P.M. at the Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Theater, 539 Tremont Street, Boston. For tickets call 617.933.8600  or visit www.bostontheatrescene.com.

PLAYS AT WORK/WORK IN PROGRESS
On Friday, October 22, and Saturday, October 23, at 8 P.M., The Theater Offensive will present a co-commissioned work created and performed by The Five Lesbian Brothers titled "Oedipus at Palm Springs." Lesbian couples at a Palm Springs resort test the boundaries with drunken orgies! But in this classic story retold, will one of them actually sleep with (gasp) her own mother? Returning to Boston after eight years, The Brothers are the recipients of Obie, Bessie and New York Press awards. Performances will be held at the Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Theater, 539 Tremont Street, Boston.  For reserved tickets call 617.933.8600  or visit www.bostontheatrescene.com.

PLAYS AT WORK/STAGED READINGS
"Shackles & Sugar" by Letta Neely depicts two Black women, both field hands on a plantation, as they live their lives branded as slaves.  Letta Neely is a New England area activist and award winning poet and playwright. The performance is Saturday, October 23, at 12 P.M. at the Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Theater, 539 Tremont Street, Boston. General admission: $8 suggested donation.  No advance reservations available.

Melissa Li's musical "Surviving the Nian" returns to TTO's Plays At Work on Saturday, October 23, and Sunday, October 24, at 4 P.M.. Kaylin Woo dashes family expectations when she returns home to Hong Kong for Chinese New Year with her Black lover in tow and reveals she is NOT a business professional, but a jazz performer -- and a lesbian, to boot! Melissa Li is a Boston-based professional folk musician, film artist and emerging playwright. Performances will be held at Rehearsal Hall A in the Theatre Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston. General admission: $8 suggested donation. No advance reservations available.

Ayisha Knight's "Murder at Gallaudet" is set at Gallaudet University, where a murder threatens to unravel her closely knit communities when Deaf, Black and queer folks are pressured to take sides. Who can Kayana trust? Playwright Ayisha Knight is a storyteller, poet, photographer and Deaf consultant in Boston. Presented in ASL & English. Performances are Saturday, October 23,  and Sunday, October 24, at 2 P.M. at Rehearsal Hall A in the Theatre Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston. General admission: $8 suggested donation.  No advance reservations available.

Festival PassOUT!
The $99 pass includes: one VIP ticket to every mainstage show; one VIP seat for every staged reading; one VIP seat to True Colors youth performance; one guest pass to the Party with the Playwrights on Saturday, October 23; priority enrollment in the Artist Workshop Series; ticket exchange privileges; two-for-one discount card to area theaters. Call 617-933-8600 or www.bostontheatrescene.com to purchase a Festival PassOUT.

SPECIAL EVENT CALENDAR
Sept 30:    Sistah Insiders' Opening Night Event with People to People
Oct 3:       Visiting Artist Workshop with Hanifah Walidah
Oct 6:       Reception and Presentation with MAP for Health
Oct 10:     Visiting Artist Workshop with the Oops Guys
Oct 13:     Reception and Presentation with Freedom to Marry Coalition
Oct 17:     Visiting Artist Workshop with Tim Miller
Oct 23:     Festival PassOUT holder's Party with the Playwrights

This year's "Out On The Edge" festival is made possible by The Theater Offensive's community of supporters including: Boston Cultural Council, Boston Foundation, Cloud Foundation, Common Stream Foundation, Funding Exchange, Massachusetts Cultural Council (a state agency which also receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts); Haymarket People's Fund; LEF Foundation; Open Meadows' Patsy Lu Fund, and Out Fund of The Funding Exchange.

The Theater Offensive is a member of the National Performance Network comprised of arts organizations located throughout the United States. The National Performance Network and this presentation of "Turned Up Volume" and Tim Miller's "Us" have been made possible with major funding from The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency) and individual donors.

The Theater Offensive is a resident company of the Boston Center for the Arts.

-- OnStage Boston

8/13/04