Dance, verse, and talk-backs will also help elevate the vital themes of Turtles. Six dancers, under the direction and choreography of Gervais, will start off the show with a movement and spoken word piece, and will later perform another dance embedded in the play. Afterward, performances of Turtles will be followed by a "World Café" style discussion. Other scheduled RLRT events in the area include “Sex Ed for Parents” nights, a Brown Bag Lecture with Packaging Girlhood author Lyn Mikel Brown, and a workshop for parents called “Getting a Handle on Teen Music.”
Currently being piloted in just three other US locations (Tucson, New Haven, and Rockland County, New York), the RLRT campaign has found important and energetic grassroots here in Portland. Director Plourde’s nimble and sensitive cast performs a script that is thoughtful, genuine, and full of great lines. Gayle recalls a misunderstanding from her own girlhood, when she walked up to the druggist and announced, “I’d like one package of abstinence, please.” There is a lot of confusion about teen sex out there, among kids and parents both, and Turtles aims to get everybody started talking it out.
When Turtles Make Love | by Cathy Plourde + Chiara Liberatore | Directed by Cathy Plourde | choreography by Louis Gervais | Produced by Add Verb Productions + Real Life. Real Talk. | 7 pm March 1 at the Portland Museum of Art; 2 & 7 pm March 3 & 4 at the USM Abromson Center, in Portland
On the Web
Real Life. Real Talk.: www.realliferealtalk.org
Email the author
Megan Grumbling: mgrumbling@hotmail.com
