BRÜKA THEATRE PRESENTS - THE BIGGEST little THEATRE FESTIVAL 2024

The thirteenth annual BIGGEST little Theatre & New Works Festival at Brüka Theatre is a showcase for original theatre pieces featuring traditional and nontraditional performances created by local and regional performance artists.

THE FESTIVAL WORKSHOP/PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

THURSDAY - 1/18/24 - PHYSICAL THEATRE WORKSHOP
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM LED BY MARTIN A. DAVID

FRIDAY - 1/19/24 - THE BIG SCHMOOZE & BOHEMIA
6:45 PM - 7:30 PM FESTIVAL COCKTAILS & SCHMOOZE TIME
7:30 PM - 9:30 PM BOHEMIA - WORDSMITH

Doors open @ 7:15 for Bohemia. The show begins at 7:30 PM. $10 per person
7:30 PM - 9:30 PM BOHEMIA - WORDSMITH
HOSTED BY MICHAEL GRIMM AS CHARLIE THE MIME
~ Featuring ~
GREGORY HILLMAN’S - THE LIMERENCE & KELL KITTELL’S - QUE SERA, SERA
OPEN MIC - Sign Up With Your New Work Online. 5 Minute Slots Available.
Sign up for open mic spots at: https://forms.gle/4oYjxQYGvu5wh7om8

SATURDAY - BIGGEST/little FESTIVAL DAY 1/20/23
Doors Open @ 11:30 AM
NOON - TRANSFORMING TYRANTS
2:00 - THE HUNGRY GAMES
4:00 PM - THE REHEARSAL/THE PROBLEM
6:00 PM - THE BALLAD OF FRANKIE & MATILDE
7:30 PM FLAUNT YOUR FLAWS

PRICES:
THURSDAY - Physical Theatre Workshop: $25 Per Person
FRIDAY - Reception & Bohemia: $15 Bohemia Only: $10
SATURDAY - $12 Advance. $15 @ The Door * All day Pass - $35
All ENTRY Pass - $50
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT: www.bruka.org

RENO, NV - The thirteenth annual BIGGEST little Theatre & New Works Festival at Brüka Theatre is a showcase for original theatre pieces featuring traditional and nontraditional performances created by local and regional performance artists. In order to support local theatre artists, giving artists an accessible, affordable and supportive environment to produce and take a chance with original work while also giving audiences the experience of locally produced original work in a theatre festival style. Aligning with Brüka Theatre’s Mission: To create and share the experience of innovative theatre, this small festival features performances in our downtown Sub-Bruka space. Each performance is 60 minutes in length or under and followed by a talk back. Groups receive a portion of the ticket sales. Supported by Friends Of Bruka, The Nevada Arts Council & The NEA.

THURSDAY - 1/18/24 - PHYSICAL THEATRE WORKSHOP

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM LED BY MARTIN A. DAVID
The workshop is open to all—non-performers and performers alike. Martin A. David, a multi-disciplinary artist and performer, guides participants to new discoveries, and to new ways of approaching familiar territory. David’s workshops use theatre games and exercises to cover such topics as shapes, energy, abstraction, and spatial relationship. The tone usually varies between intense, serious concentration, and giddy fun.

FRIDAY - 1/19/24 - THE BIG SCHMOOZE & BOHEMIA

6:45 PM - 7:30 PM FESTIVAL COCKTAILS & SCHMOOZE TIME
Appetizers provided by The Wild River Grille
Hosted Champagne and No Host Bar

Doors open @ 7:15 for Bohemia. The show begins at 7:30 PM. $10 per person
7:30 PM - 9:30 PM BOHEMIA - WORDSMITH
~ Featuring ~
GREGORY HILLMAN’S - THE LIMERENCE & KELL KITTELL’S - QUE SERA, SERA
OPEN MIC - Sign Up With Your New Work Online. 5 Minute Slots Available.
Sign up for open mic spots at: https://forms.gle/4oYjxQYGvu5wh7om8

6:45 PM - 7:30 PM FESTIVAL COCKTAILS & SCHMOOZE TIME - Enjoy champagne from Brüka & appetizers from The Wild River Grille as we celebrate THIRTY WONDERFUL years of Brüka Theatre and connect with the community and the Festival Artists. No host bar. $5

BOHEMIA - WORDSMITH - Open Mic & Featured Performers.
Hosted: Michael Grimm as Charlie The Mime.
Brüka Theatre has been presenting “Bohemia Nights” for close to 25 years, featuring and creating a performance platform for actors, musicians, poets, dancers and other performance based artforms to share their talent with our community. Sign up for open mic spots at: https://forms.gle/4oYjxQYGvu5wh7om8

SATURDAY - BIGGEST/little FESTIVAL DAY 1/20/23 - NEW WORKS
Doors Open @ 11:30 AM

NOON - TRANSFORMING TYRANTS
Writer/Director - Michael Wilder Frazel
Synopsis: Four reality TV stars join forces to extreme makeover a dictator and his struggling country. While they claim they are there for the right reasons, secrets will be revealed, alliances will be betrayed, and there might even be a musical number. This darkly comedic romp through your favorite reality TV shows like Love Is Blind, Ghost Hunters, The Great British Baking Show, and The X Factor examines modern monetary theory, heartbreak, and whether people can ever really change. PLAY WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A TALK BACK WITH THE AUDIENCE & PLAYERS.

Bio: Michael Wilder Frazel recently moved to Reno and could not be more ecstatic to be a part of this new works festival! Originally from Chicago, IL, he received his MFA in Writing for the Screen And Stage from Northwestern University, and his plays and scripts have been read and performed at Chicago Dramatists, The Once and Future Festival, and Broken Bell Reads. His short fiction podcast The Phone Booth and interview podcast The Chef’s Monologue are available wherever you get your podcasts. As an actor, you might have recently seen him as part of the Die Difficult cast at Goodluck Macbeth (yippie-ki-yay!), and you can see him performing this March in Witch at Restless Artists Theater in Sparks. All the love to Heron and Shanti and endless thanks to Brüka, Mary, and his cast!
PLAY WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A TALK BACK WITH THE AUDIENCE & PLAYERS.

2:00 PM - THE HUNGRY GAMES
Bob Gabrielli, Writer/Director
Synopsis: It’s a typical day for food bank volunteers at a drive-thru distribution.
PLAY WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A TALK BACK WITH THE AUDIENCE & PLAYERS.

BIO: Reno native Bob Gabrielli has written/acted/directed in local theater for more than 40 years. While much of that activity was at Reno Little Theater, Bob has been grateful to Bruka for the opportunity to test out new material before wonderful, smart, astute, nice-smelling beautiful people who typically make up a Bruka audience. This year’s entry, The Hungry Games, follows in the footsteps of previously produced short plays at Bruka: Life Loafers, Love-40 and Blood Lust. Thanks always to Cathy.

4:00 PM - THE PROBLEM & THE REHEARSAL
Written & Directed By Martin A. David
Synopsis: Martin A. David presents two of his original plays: in The Problem two actors rush in through the audience. They are measuring and working but nothing seems to go right. Finally they agree that Mercury must be in retrograde. The second piece - The Rehearsal asks the question : Is it real life or just a rehearsal? This adventure in Theatre of the Absurd features two actresses who argue and kill each other.....again and again and again. The Rehearsal has been presented at the San Francisco Theatre Festival and The Gathering Festival in Kinsale, Ireland. PLAY WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A TALK BACK

6:00 PM THE BALLAD OF FRANKEE & MATILDE - Clown/Physical Theatre
Lyndsey Langsdale (Co-Writer/Co-Director/Co-Stage manager/Performer - Frankee)
Carrie Lynn (Co-Writer/Co-Director/Co-Stage manager/Performer - Matilde)

Synopsis - The Ballad Of Frankee & Matilde, created by and featuring Carrie Lynn & Lyndsey Langsdale. Inspired by music from the 1966 French film “A Man and a Woman,” The Ballad of Frankee & Matilde may appear at first glance to be a simple love story, two lost and awkward souls finding each other and being carried away by new and sudden infatuation. But at its core, the tale of these two lovers is about the battle between novelty and nuance and the invisible mechanism that both pushes us away from and pulls us nearer to those we love the most in this world. The Ballad of Frankee & Matilde is a wordless theater clown performance set to music.
PLAY WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A TALK BACK WITH THE AUDIENCE & PLAYERS.

7:30 PM FLAUNT YOUR FLAWS - Hybrid Musical/Improv - All Audiences
Writer/Producer: Stephanie Gittleman Director: Tim Mahoney
Vocal Director: Cindy Sabatini

Synopsis - A Musical Improv of a mock dating reality show in which the first half will feature live solos by characters who have relationship baggage (and personality faults!) confessing what exactly is wrong with them via an original song. During a brief break the audience will vote for who they’d like to see matched together and then they will proceed to improv a first date, moving in together, a wedding and a marriage therapy session.
PLAY WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A TALK BACK WITH THE AUDIENCE & PLAYERS.

BIO - The creator, Stephanie Debra Gittleman, is a playwright, novelist, columnist, humorist, and blogger who has a passion for bringing relationship novelty and nuance to life onstage. “TWISTED” an evening of ten-minute plays, premiered in Reno in 2022 and went into production in NYC early 2023 at the Chain Theatre. The surprise twist endings shocked and delighted audiences. “OOPS, YOU’RE ON MUTE” is a two-act musical dramedy about a contentious couple on the brink of divorce who must quarantine together during the pandemic. “FLAUNT YOUR FLAWS” was also conceptualized during covid, when looking in the mirror and wincing became a new stay-at-home pastime for Stephanie. However, today she’s extremely grateful to have Tim Mahoney directing this talented cast and everyone involved anxiously awaits tallying up your votes to see what whimsy and mayhem ensues.

RESERVATIONS: In person or by phone through the Brüka Box Office (775) 323-3221. Online at www.bruka.org or at the Melting Pot World Emporium @ their location: 1049 S. Virginia Street, Reno. Our box office is open Thursdays through Saturdays. From 3-6 PM and Wednesdays by appointment.

PARKING: Court Street parking lot across from The Pioneer Theater. FREE after 5:00 PM weekdays and NO CHARGE on weekends. We validate 5 hour parking at the Parking Gallery on First and Sierra Street. Fee is $1 for the first 5 hours and $3 for every additional hour.

ABOUT BRÜKA THEATRE: Brüka Theatre is entering its 31st season of live theatre in downtown Reno. Brüka’s theme for the 2023/2024 season is: “Thirty Wonderful - The Show Must Go On.” A full season of live theatre with season tickets and season auditions. As an artistic leader in the region, Brüka is recognized for innovative productions, exceptionally talented artists and acclaimed Theatre for Children touring series since its founding in 1992. Central to Brüka is the commitment to the re-investigation of contemporary and classic plays and developing new plays within Brüka’s Artistic Collective, a group that includes winners of the Nevada Arts Council and Sierra Arts Foundation artist grants and nine local best actor honors. Brüka was named “Best Theatre Company” by Reno News and Review for twenty-one years. Brüka is a constituent company of TCG (Theatre Communications Group). Brüka Theatre has produced over 200 shows in our downtown Reno location. Sign up for our newsletter by going to our website at www.bruka.org.

Bruka Theatre Festival Web Page: https://www.bruka.org/202324-show-information-bruka-31

Bruka Theatre Facebook Page Event: https://fb.me/e/1dupCaoJj

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT: https://www.simpletix.com/e/biggest-little-theatre-new-works-festival-tickets-153926