DENMARK and HARRISON, ME Issued April 15, 2022. Harrison resident Gail Phaneuf, playwright, educator, composer, actor, and director, and Artistic and Executive Director for Maine’s Deertrees Theatre, debuts her one-woman play “Kippy, Pray for the Dead and Fight Like Hell for the Living!” on Saturday, April 30, 7:00 pm and Sunday, May 1, 3 pm at Denmark Arts Center, 50 W. Main St., Denmark. Admission is $10, available online or at the door. A talk back immediately follows the performance, featuring the playwright and members of the Lakes Region Recovery Center staff on topics explored in the performance.
Phaneuf’s inventive “Kippy” story is expressed as a one-woman imagining of a conversation with the late Kip Tiernan, social justice hero. Kippy was an extraordinary character and force of nature who changed the face of social justice in Boston, Massachusetts. Passionate and salty-tongued, she engendered outrage and empathy for the plight of poor and homeless women. As the founder of Rosie’s Place in 1974, she launched the first-ever homeless sanctuary for women in the United States. Kippy later went on to establish the Greater Boston Food Bank. The first production of the play was postponed in Boston in 2020 due to the pandemic. During that period, Phaneuf created and edited a film version of “Kippy”, which won awards from both the Doctors Without Borders and LGBTQ Unbordered International Film Festivals. These performances are funded by a grant from the National Endowment the Humanities (NEH) initiative Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan (SHARP) as part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan of 2021.
Gail Phaneuf has devoted her entire career to theatre. As a playwright and composer, Phaneuf has penned three full musicals and sixteen plays, performed at venues around the world. Her award-winning “Monsters! A Midlife Musical Meltdown,” premiered in Boston, and subsequently produced at Deertrees Theatre, among others. Her play “Breakfast with Mary” premiered at Deertrees in 2011. Her teen musical “The Love Note” was produced Off-Broadway in 2014 and continues to be performed around the globe. Other works include “Memorize You”, a song-cycle, and several one act plays. Phaneuf founded G.P. Technologies/Productions in Boston, MA, and served as former president of Boston’s Playwrights’ Platform. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild and earned a master’s degree in Theatre Education from Emerson College. She also holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering. As an educator, she served for more than a decade as the Playwright in Residence, Senior Lecturer, sound designer and theatre director at Curry College. To learn more, visit gailphaneuf.com.
For more information about the “Kippy” performance, visit denmarkarts.org, email info@denmarkarts.org, call 207-452-2412 or follow Denmark Arts Center on Facebook.
About Denmark Arts Center
The Odd Fellows Hall was built in the Italianate Victorian Style in the lower village of Denmark, Maine, under the hill, in 1884. It became an important social center for the citizens of Denmark and surrounding towns for over one hundred years. The old building, now the Denmark Arts Center, has again served as a community focal point, providing cultural activities for the people of Denmark and surrounding towns. The Denmark Arts Center is a unifying force, a magical place for all ages, thriving in the historic 1883 Odd Fellows Hall located in the foothills of western Maine. The Denmark Arts Center inspires joy, growth, creativity, and community through the arts. For more information visit denmarkarts.org/events, email info@denmarkarts.org, call 207-452-2412 or follow Denmark Arts Center on Facebook.
