Physical Comedy Reigns at the Redfern
KEENE, N.H., 2/11/08 - Claire Porter, one of the funniest comic monologue/dance artists entertaining audiences today, will perform her latest one woman show - Namely, Muscles - at Keene State College’s Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond, Thursday, February 28, 2008, at 7:30 p.m. As in all her performances, Namely, Muscles is imbued with a marvelous dry wit, a keen sense of satire, and the perfect timing of a natural comedienne.
In Namely, Muscles Claire Porter portrays Dr. Nickie Nom, Forensic Orthopedic Autopsy Muscular Anatomical Surgical Specialist, for the county, as she gives a reading from her new book of poems, Namely, Muscles.
Her 30-plus poems enact 68 major muscles of the body and then some. Poems include “Psoas - The Tender Bender,” “Gluteus to My Ears,” “Long in the Head,” “Just the Meat,” “The Rotator Gang,” “Names on Your Nerves,” “Tongues,” “And Now a Word from Our Tendons,” and more. Mining the extravagant, arcane, and mundane names of muscles and their origins, meanings, and associations produces a witty, smart, and delightful evening of theatre.
The New York Times has described Porter’s more than 20 original works as “deft physical comedy of a high order.” She has been produced by Dance Theater Workshop; PS-122; Joyce Soho; The Bottom Line; The Knitting Factory; Danspace at St. Marks; Jacob’s Pillow; Wooley Mammoth Theater in Washington, D.C.; the American Dance Festival; Lucille Ball Festival of Comedy; Holland Festival in the Netherlands; Tour of Comedy in Germany; and the Korea International Festival in Seoul.
She was the hostess-comedienne-scene changer for the Minnesota Composers Forum’s New Music Concert and has appeared on staircases, boats, and soapboxes; in backyards, gyms, classrooms, and airports; and at humor festivals and museums. Porter has received several National Endowment for the Arts and New Jersey Choreography fellowships, commissions from Dance Theatre Workshop’s First Light Project, Art Matters, University Dance Companies, and Domino’s Pizza Company.
Tickets are available through the Brickyard Pond box office at 603-358-2168 or on the web at www.keene.edu/racbp. Prices are $18 for the general public, $16 for seniors and KSC faculty and staff, $9 for youth ages 17 and younger, and $5 for KSC students with an ID. Tickets for all of the Redfern’s Presenting Series events and performances by the departments of Music and Theatre and Dance are also available. Patrons can still purchase 20/20 memberships that enable them to receive a 20% discount for all Presenting Series performances.
