FISH & BEAUREGARD BY VISCOSITY PLAYS IN MT & PHILLY

Viscosity Theatre will open and close the Zootown Fringe Festival at The Crystal Theatre with the world premiere of their new play, Fish & Beauregard on Wednesday, August 19 & Sunday, August 23 at 7 pm. The story was conceptualized by Rebecca Schaffer, who brought a working draft to the table as a platform from which to devise and develop with collaborators Mikey Winn, Daniel Scott Morris, and Kelly Bouma. Viscosity is known for their original, innovative work that explores audience/actor relationships. Fish & Beauregard is designed to encompass an audience of all ages.

Beauregard wins a fish named Jamie at a Carnival. He knows he must set Jamie free, so he embarks on a journey to find a lake. Along the way, he drops Jamie’s tank, which cracks and begins to leak. Beauregard runs towards The Cloud of Perpetual Rain, where he keeps Jamie alive by maintaing a constant water level in the tank with the rain. When Marzi enters his world, everything is upended as she tries to help him find a solution to escape the cloud and get Jamie to the lake.

After the play premieres at the Zootown Fringe Festival, Schaffer and Winn, who play Marzi and Beauregard, will tour the play to Whitefish on August 25 & 26 at Crush Lounge before flying the show out to the Philly Fringe Festival to play at South Street Magic, September 5-9. “This is the first production we’ve designed to tour,” says Schaffer, who is the Director of Viscosity. “We are excited to share our work with a larger audience. We hope to be able to expand our reach within the next year. Montana has an incredible arts community. We want to be a part of representing that across the country.”

The team created the play through a devisement process: all members of the team offer input on the story, design, concept, and throughline with leaders in each department. Design Director Scott Morris led the team in fabricating the set entirely out of found objects, with bedsheets being the primary material. His idea is to examine children at play, who turn their bedroom into a sheet fort to create their world. Kelly Bouma, who is the Acting Coach and Movement/Blocking Director says, “Kids are definitely not one dimensional characters. The acting exercises we are doing help the actors make discoveries and get them out of their comfort zones. It’s fun–they get to be 8 again, telling a story the way we did at that age.”

Fish & Beauregard: Click on the links below to GET TICKETS for each location:

Missoula: August 19 & 23, 7:00 pm @ Crystal Theatre: Missoula, MT $12/advance, $15/door

Whitefish: August 25 & 26, 7:00 pm @ Crush Lounge: Whitefish, MT $12/advance, $15/door

Philly: September 5-9, @ South Street Magic, Philadelphia, PA $15

9/5 @ 11:00 am