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LIPSTICK TRACES
a second history of the 20th century

conceived and directed by Shawn Sides
adapted by Kirk Lynn
created by Rude Mechs


1534: John of Leyden proclaims himself the Favorite of Heaven, runs naked through the streets of Munster, Germany, and forms a society free of laws or private property. 1976: John Lydon proclaims himself an "antichrist," helps launch a movement to 'destroy passersby,' and permanently changes popular culture. Coincidence?

curst & Shrewd's "Dr. Narrator" (Rude Mech Lana Lesley, reprising her award-winning performance) joins Sex Pistols' manager and self-proclaimed mastermind, Malcolm McLaren, to recount an alternative history of the 20th century via the Sex Pistols, the Cabaret Voltaire, the May '68 riots, and a handful of medieval heretics. Lipstick Traces is a physically ecstatic and intellectually nervy theatrical vision of "movements in culture that raised no monuments...movements that barely left a trace."

Work is a sin. Work is for suckers. No boring leisure! Celebrate the millennium by getting the hell out of the 20th century. NEVER WORK!! This is not nihilism. It's a call to...something else.

PRODUCTION HISTORY

August 1999 - The Ice Factory Festival, Ohio Theatre - New York City
Workshop Production

Sept 9 - Oct 2, 1999 - The Off Center - Austin, TX
World Premiere

Aug 31 - Sept 17, 2000 - The Off Center - Austin, TX

May 2 - June 10, 2001 - The Ohio Theatre, NYC
Produced by The Foundry Theatre
Off Broadway Premiere

January/February 2002
The Wexner Center (Columbus, OH), The Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN), Legion Arts/CSPS (Cedar Rapids, IA) and DiverseWorks (Houston, TX)

September/October 2002
On The Boards (Seattle, WA), UCLA Performing Arts (Los Angeles, CA)

July 2003
Szene Salzburg (Salzburg, Austria)

CRITICAL ACCLAIM:

Visit www.lipsticktraces.org to read reviews from the Off Broadway production of Lipstick Traces presented by The Foundry Theatre.

"LIPSTICK TRACES gets us to hear the ragged, raging voice of punk in the nonsense phrases of turn-of-the-century Swiss artists and the "work-is-sin" rantings of a German monk of the 1500's. And it does it through a production that, remarkably enough, sings in that same voice. The scenes in this play are short, intense, irreverent, highly charged - qualities belonging to any good punk song. Director Shawn Sides kicks the show off with a fierce sonic explosion and never lets up. Zach Murphy's crisp, searing lights and Gordon Gunn's booming sound seize our senses while every cast member...grips us with a tightly focused, forceful performance."

-- Robert Faires, The Austin Chronicle

"[Lipstick Traces] was the show that I told people who never go to theatre to see....It was the artistic chutzpah and pop culture savvy of the Rude Mechanicals operating on all eight cylinders.”

-- Sarah Hepola, The Austin Chronicle

"Sure, art feeds the critics. The Rude Mechanicals, Austin's wittiest theater company, has reversed the flow of artistic nutrition by transforming a work of cultural criticsim into a lively comedy."

-- Michael Barnes, The Austin American Statesman

from The Austin Critics' Table Awards

Winner "Outstanding Comedy"
Winner "Outstanding Adaptation" - for Kirk Lynn
Winner "Outstanding Director of a Comedy" - for Shawn Sides
Winner "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy" - for Lana Lesley
Nominated "Outstanding Lighting Design" - for Zach Murphy
Nominated "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy" - for Jason Liebrecht

from The B. Iden Payne Awards

Winner "Outstanding Director of a Comedy" - Shawn Sides

from The Austin Chronicle’s “Top of the Year” • January 7, 2000

Top 10 Theatrical Productions of 1999 by Sarah Hepola
#1. Lipstick Traces (Rude Mechanicals)

10 Shows From 1999 Theatre Transported Me by Robert Faires
#1. Lipstick Traces (Rude Mechanicals)

from The Austin American-Statesman’s Arts Favorites/Best of 1999

#6. Lipstick Traces (Rude Mechanicals)

Featured in the November 1999 issue of American Theatre Magazine

Nominated for The New Play Award from the American Theatre Critics Association which honors important and new voices in the American Theatre.

Lipstick Traces by Greil Marcus. Copyright © 1989 by Greil Marcus. Permission granted by The Wendy Weil Agency.

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE ORIGINAL CAST

Ehren Conner Christian
Lana Lesley
Jason Liebrecht
Michael T. Mergen
Gavin Mundy
Robert Pierson

Photos by Kimberlee Hewitt
and Bret Brookshire


For tickets or information please call 512-476-RUDE or visit our tickets page.
For questions email info@rudemechs.com.

Copyright © 2005 Rude Mechanicals. All rights reserved.
Updated 07/01/2005
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