BECHDEL FEST 9: NEXT LEVEL

(top, l to r) Jennifer Blackmer*, Leah Roth Barsanti, Brittney Brown* and E.M. Davis*
(bottom, l to r) August Forman*, Ben F. Locke*, Karissa Murrell Myers and Brian James Polak.

Performances run August 28th - 31st
@ The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee

The award-winning annual festival returns! Now in its ninth iteration, BECHDEL FEST features an ensemble of female-identifying, nonbinary, and trans artists performing hilarious and heartfelt new short plays, all of which pass the Bechdel-Wallace Test, a rubric created by cartoonist Alison Bechdel that requires a piece of entertainment to features non-cismale characters talking about something other than men. Written, directed, and performed by some of the city's most outstanding storefront artists, this year's slate of stories center around characters finally on the edge of growing up, glowing up, and making big decisions that ultimately take them to - you guessed it - the next level.

This Year’s Lineup

"Between Floors"
by Leah Roth Barsanti
directed by Rose Hamill*

"Bitch! (or That Reunion Scene in
The Color Purple)"

by Ben F. Locke*
directed by Michael Mejia

"The Ergonomic Perfection of the Rotary Phone"
by Brian James Polak
directed by Elizabeth Lovelady

"Middle Ages"
by Jennifer Blackmer*
directed by Jen Poulin*

"I'm a Gamer"
by E.M. Davis*
directed by Ruben Carrazana

Escape Route
by Brittney Brown*
directed by Allison Petrillo

"Stress Awareness Month"
by Karissa Murrell Myers
directed by Christina Casano

"THEM"
by August Forman*
directed by Spencer Diedrick

* denotes Broken Nose Theatre company members