Filigree Theatre to Present TIDE Beginning in April

Austin-based independent theatre company, The Filigree Theatre, have announced the dates for their upcoming production, the World Premiere of "Tide." The "site-specific" show will open Thursday, April 20, starting at 8 p.m. at the Moontower Cider Company (1916 Tillery St Austin TX 78723). The production will then run Thursday - Sunday evenings at 8 p.m., until closing night on Sunday, April 30. "Tide" takes place 10 years after Milo, a 12-year-old boy, drowned in the sea. Lauren, also 12 at the time, was the only one who went into the water to try to rescue him. Milo was ultimately brought back to life "by the power of prayer" of those who remained on the beach. His miraculous recovery generated a best-selling book which conveniently left Lauren out of the story. Now a documentary about Milo's drowning is in the works and the film's director wants Lauren back in the picture at any cost.

Additionally this spring, join Filigree at their Gold & Silver Gala on May 11 at the Tudor Cottage in Pease Park from 7 - 10 p.m. to celebrate the conclusion of the fantastic Fourth Season and to look ahead to Filigree's upcoming Fifth Anniversary Season. The dress code will be black tie and the event will include hors d'oeuvres and desserts, champagne, raffle prizes, a silent austin and live musical performances. Tickets for "Tide'' are now available directly via Eventbrite. Tickets for the Gold & Silver Gala and the show can also be found on The Filigree Theatre website.

"Tide" was written by Molly Wagner in 2019, and will be having its world premiere at Moontower Cider Company's Tap Room.

"Our Fourth Season ends on a hopeful note with our spring ('future') production of "Tide", as it touches upon the themes of 'new beginnings' and of embracing the hard, but necessary, process of confronting, and coming to terms with the past in order to heal and move forward," said Elizabeth V. Newman, Filigree's Producing Artistic Director. "As a part of this journey of growth, each of the characters in "Tide" wrestles with the notion of faith, be it in themselves, in each other or in a higher power."

"I am so excited to have 'Tide' receive its World Premiere as part of Filigree's fourth season!" said Molly Wagner. "I absolutely love how Filigree structures their seasons with a specific theme and how each show represents either the past, present, or future. In addition to "Tide" being such a new work I think it's a great representation of the future of theatre, because it showcases characters who are relatively young and really grappling with the ways that acknowledging their past will help them to move forward into their future. Plus, I love that through these characters we get to showcase the depth and talent of a younger generation of actors that will be not only shaping the future of theatre, but the future in general!"

Following the Saturday, April 22 performance, "Tide" director, Elizabeth V. Newman, will hold an audience Q&A with playwright Molly Wagner to talk about "Tide" and the other productions included in Filigree's "By The Sea" Season. All are welcome to attend.

ABOUT FILIGREE'S FOURTH SEASON:

"Connecting to the past; planting the seeds of the future."

The Filigree Theatre's annual season is structured to connect the Past, Present and Future of theatre over the course of a three-show season. Each season is tied together with a common theme that runs throughout the three shows. This season, the sea looms large, waiting in the wings just off-stage. Season Four has taken audiences from the fjords of Norway in "The Lady From the Sea," to hurricane-battered Coney Island, New York of 10 years ago in "Fire in Dreamland." We are now transported to a contemporary Pacific Northwest coastal town in the season's final production: "Tide."

ABOUT THE "TIDE" DIRECTOR, CAST & CREW:

Elizabeth V. Newman (Director, Filigree Producing Artistic Director) is a native New Yorker who has directed and produced critically-acclaimed theatre and film projects in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto and Austin. Newman graduated from Yale University with dual B.A. degrees in History of Art and Theater Studies. She earned her M.F.A. degree in Film Production at Boston University. Her stage directing credits include: "LIFTED" by Charlie Thurston (World Premiere, Austin); "100 Planes" by Lila Rose Kaplan (World Premiere, Austin, West Coast Premiere, Los Angeles); "Fire in Dreamland" by Rinne Groff; "The Lady From The Sea" by Henrik Ibsen; "The Turn Of The Screw" by Jeffrey Hatcher (Austin); "Fefu And Her Friends" by Maria Irene Fornes (Austin); "Miss Julie" by August Strindberg (Austin); "A Delicate Ship" by Anna Ziegler (Austin Premiere), "Trio" by Sheila Cowley (World Premiere, Austin); "Any Night" by Daniel Arnold and Medina Hahn (Los Angeles Premiere and Austin Premiere - nominated for four B. Iden Payne Awards, including Outstanding Direction of a Drama); "Body of Work" by Christine Hoang, (World Premiere, Austin); "Halfway to Death" (World Premiere, Austin) "Mocha" by Eleanor Burgess (World Premiere, Austin); "The Sniper's Nest"by Lisa Soland (Austin Premiere). Her theatrical producing credits include: The Austin Premiere of "When We Were Young And Unafraid" by Sarah Treem; the World Premiere of "Mocha" by Eleanor Burgess (Austin); the World Premiere of "Nights of Noir!" by Casey Wilson (Los Angeles); the West Coast Premiere of "Orange Lemon Egg Canary" by Rinne Groff (Los Angeles); the American Premiere of "Clocks and Whistles" by Samuel Adamson (New York). Newman's film directing credits include the feature film "Child of Light" as well as numerous short films. She has written several award-winning screenplays. She is a member of DIRECTOR'S LAB: NORTH and served as the Founding Co-President of Women in Film and Television: Austin. She has twice served as a panelist at The Austin Film Festival. To learn more, visit elizabethVnewman.com

CAST OF "TIDE":

Minerva Villa (LAUREN) graduated with her B.F.A in Acting from Texas Tech University in 2009 and has been performing professionally in Austin ever since. Some of her more memorable productions include performances in "Casta" "Real Women Have Curves", "American (Tele)Visions" and "For Colored Women Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf". After performing in several productions around Austin, she had her directorial debut with Teatro Vivo as a part of their New Latino Play Festival staged reading of "What's Up With Marjorie?" by Christin Eve Cato. She is so excited to be part of this amazing community and to continue breathing life into so many beautiful characters.

G. Benjamin Bazán (CAL) is a 6th generation Lipán Apache born in McAllen and raised in La Casita. He graduated from the University of Texas-Austin and is a faculty member of the ColdTowne Conservatory. His work has been recognized by the Austin Critics Table, and he was awarded the 2022 B. Iden Payne Award for Outstanding Featured Performance in a Drama for his portrayal of "Juan Julian'' in the Anna in the Tropics. As a comedian, Ben has performed at the Moontower Comedy Festival, Out of Bounds Comedy Festival, SXSWEdu, Del Close Marathon (NYC & LA), and the Miami Improv Festival. He was last seen in Austin Playhouse's production of The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong.

James Caleb Lindsley (MILO) returns for his sixth production with The Filigree Theatre. Previously, he originated the role of SHAWN in Filigree's World Premiere of LIFTED, by Charlie Thurston, played LYNGSTRAND in THE LADY FROM THE SEA, starred as the MALE LEAD in THE TURN OF THE SCREW by Jeffrey Hatcher, and served as ASM/Understudy (Jean) for MISS JULIE, and ASM for FIRE IN DREAMLAND. Other acting credits include: "I Hate Hamlet", "The Lion In Winter", "Proof" (Wimberely Players); "A Streetcar Named Desire" (Sam Bass Community Theatre); "Quills" (Aria Creative Productions and the Overtime Theatre); "Cyrano De Bergerac" (The Archive Theater) and "Midsummer Night's Dream (Cardboard Cinema). Lindley has also worked as a Stage Manager for "Assassins" (Soubrette Theatre Company), "Blood Brothers" (Trinity Street Players), "Twelfth Night" (City Theatre) and "Grease" (City Theatre). Lindsley was born and raised in Austin, TX.

Martinique Duchene-Phillips (DEBBIE) is thrilled to be working with Filigree Theatre and Elizabeth Newman again. She has been part of the Austin Theatre Community since the late 1990's and has played with many different theater companies in town. Much of her work has been as a bilingual actor. She was most recently seen in Más Cara at The Vortex just before the pandemic hit, Last Act Theatre Company's production of Seven: A Documentary Play, Salvage Vanguard's production of Tryouts and Austin Playhouse's production of The Smartest Girl in the World . She earned a B. Iden Payne nomination for her role in Pollyanna Theatre's production of Whether the Weather. She used her time during the pandemic to rekindle her love of voice acting and film. Her favorite role is Mom to her 3 funny, whip-smart and gorgeous children and their silly husky who is always Ready to Play or critique her work. Thank you to my husband Weldon Phillips for keeping me laughing and grounded. Love each other. Take Care of each other. Protect each other.

Luke Wallens (Understudy) is an actor, improviser and writer and is proud to work with the Filigree Theatre. He has improvised in Hideout Theatre's Austin Secrets and Big Gay Musical, devised and played in various shows in the B. Iden Payne Award winning improv troupe Golden, acted in and written for the sketch comedy troupe, Martini Ranch at Coldtowne Theater and tapped puppet drums for the sad, sad emo puppet band Fragile Rock. He has performed in various plays at Frontera Fest at Hyde Park Theatre including: They Serve Brisket In Paradise by Sandy Maranto and Enlightened by Tristan Mercado (Best of the Fest 2020). He most recently played Jaxton in The Thanksgiving Play by Larissa FastHorse at the Vortex Theater.

DESIGNERS:

Alison Lewis (Lighting & Set Designer) is a freelance lighting and scenic designer based in Austin. She graduated from Baylor University with a BFA in Theatre Design and Technology. Previous work includes "The Children", for which she received a B. Iden Payne nomination, and "Admissions" and "The Niceties" with Jarrott Productions, "The Butcher of Baraboo" with Street Corner Arts, "This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing" at ZACH Theatre and "All's Well That Ends Well" for Past is Prologue Productions. She has previously worked with Filigree as the lighting designer/set designer for "The Turn of the Screw", "Lifted" and "Fire in Dreamland".

Kit Brooks (Stage Manager) (they/them) is an educator who brings theatre and creative arts to youth with a focus on inclusive programming. Kit has served as a youth improv teacher with The Hideout Theatre and Excused Absence, and they currently work as the Community Director for ColdTowne Theater. Kit is excited to work with Filigree again, as they thoroughly enjoyed stage managing The Turn of the Screw, Lifted and Fire in Dreamland.

Maddy Lamb (Costume Designer) is a freelance costume designer, stage manager, electrician, and wardrobe supervisor in Austin, Texas. She recently graduated from Southwestern University with a BA in Technical Theatre with a focus in Costume Design and Stage Management. Recent shows: Sense and Sensibility (Austin Shakespeare), Lady from the Sea (Filigree Theatre), Fire In Dreamland (Filigree Theatre), Love's Labor's Lost (Austin Shakespeare), The Glass Menagerie (ACC Highland, SM), She Kills Monsters (Southwestern University, SM), American La Ronde (Southwestern University), and Much Ado About Nothing. Maddylamb.com

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT:

Molly Wagner (Playwright) is an NYC based playwright from "Chicago" (St. Charles, IL) who focuses on serio-comic character driven stories with a female protagonist. Her work has been developed with Loft Ensemble, Clamour! Theatre Company, Rover Readings, Amherst College, The Dark Room, Dandelion Theatre Company, Wayward Sister's Theatre Ensemble, West of 10th, The Cuckoo's Theatre Project, Middletown Arts Center, The Bechdel Group, Naked Angels, The Little Red Theatre Company, Wellesley College Upstage, Studio 1, Flush Ink Productions and Theatre is the Cure. Molly earned her BFA from Ball State University.

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