A short summary of your project
La Cucina: a performance full of laughter, audience participation, song, tear jerky story, and one raunchy drag queen.
This devised cabaret production will feature drag performers and support the message of gender identity positivity and LGBTQ+ equality causes. All proceeds from the production will be donated to Mermaids, an incredibly impactful charity who tirelessly work to support transgender, non-binary and gender-diverse children, young people, and their families.
I am raising £2200 in order to develop and produce this exciting show as part of my final practical project of my MFA in Theatre Directing at East 15 Acting School.
Who aM I?
Hello! My name is Seamus (they/them) and I am a director, educator, and writer alongside the title of Director of Education for Pittsburgh Festival Opera. From 2007 to 2014, I worked as a preschool teacher for Pittsburgh Public Schools before having my directing debut in 2014 with Neighborhood Opera Company directing Don Giovanni. Since then, I have been working as a director of theatre and opera in the United States. Based in Pittsburgh, PA, I also appear as my alter ego Deep Violet, as an avid facilitator for charity events in the Pittsburgh community.
I am working closely with Isobel Jacob (she/her) as my Producer, who is a theatre director and facilitator who is passionate about creating theatre with young people and their communities.
So What's It ABOUT?
La Cucina (The Kitchen) features Deep Violet whipping up her most mouth-watering recipes as she unfolds the many highs and lows of her decadent life. Joined by lots of different ingredients, Deep Violet is a blurred figure in the sense that you're never quite sure it's all based on my life or fabrication/fiction. Deep Violet is preparing a dinner for two and is expecting a surprise guest. During the pandemic, Deep Violet had to resort to other means of income and one was being a personal chef. Join her as she attempts to win back the one that got away...
All proceeds from the sale of tickets for the production will be donated to Mermaids, an incredibly impactful charity who tirelessly work to support transgender, non-binary and gender-diverse children, young people, and their families, from offering a safe-space to help combat loneliness in gender-diverse young people, to providing tools and support to access education and healthcare, to helping parents support their children with mental health and the often isolating experiences they are going through.
I am partly taking inspiration from Pittsburgh actress Jilline Ringle, who sadly passed away in 2005, after a two-year battle with cancer. I am paying tribute to her and her incredible work, as a woman who was very close to her heart.
Where will the money go?
I am fundraising for the costs of staging the show. Please find below a breakdown of where and what your money will go towards:
Fee for lighting and sound designer/technician: £350
Fee for British Sign Language Interpreter: £350
Performance venue fee: £1000
Props (consumables): £50
Costume and make-up expenses: £150
Total cost: £1900.
If I reach my stretch goal of £2,200, I will be hiring a drag consultant for the show (£100), and investing in additional marketing and promotion (£200). Any funds I raise over my target will go towards the next stage of development for La Cucina.
Rewards
We have some fab rewards to thank everyone who donates, whatever the amount you might give. Check them out.
FOLLOW US!
Please check out our instagram page, where we'll be sharing all the news and gossip in the run up to the show. We'd love it if you could share it with friends, too!
@lacucinacabaret
Help us succeed!
Please share this page with everyone you know, to give us as much chance as possible of reaching our goal! We hope to see you at the show in August... we can't wait!
