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A FRESH LOOK
Look to FRESH PRODUCE for new works, new looks at old works, and, most importantly, an ever-widening range of voices that speak to the Midwestern experience. "Concert Reading?" What's That?
Using lecterns, a stage-directions narrator, and no technical elements, these readings focus entirely on the story and the actors--literally, the play's voices. |
ALWAYS FREE!
These concert readings, developed by artists from around the Midwest, are just as professional and compelling, but slightly more economical than our major productions. Therefore, in the interest of making live theatre more accessible, these concerts will have NO admission charges. DON'T MISS THESE! THIS SEASON... Trapped in your hometown, trapped in your own lies, or trapped in love, these productions have something exciting and desperate to say about our complicated existence. |
ALWAYS FREE!
SAT. Dec. 4 | 7:30pm
SUN. Dec. 5 | 2:00pm* *Talk back with cast & company to follow *Join us an hour before each performance for a free happy hour hosted by Art Terrarium.* In-Person at Art Terrarium 106 11th St. Des Moines, IA 50309 https://artterrarium.com/ -or- Stream Online |
Synopsis
Karen and Lee have nothing in common except for one thing: they’re both employees at the local Dairy Queen, where they’re stuck working the 4th of July. Karen wants to run away from their small town while Lee is focused on climbing Dairy Queen’s corporate ladder. Things take a turn when they discover their manager has abandoned them. Reigning over a large quantity of ice cream and some hidden vodka, two teenagers grapple with the realities of life versus their imagined futures. Will they find their American Dream under the fluorescent lights of a Midwest Dairy Queen?
Click the image to read Diary Queen Memories from our cast and crew.
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Claire Boston (Karen, Diary Queen) and Erin Tracy (TheatreMidwest Communications Director) talk to John Busbee of The Culture Buzz podcast about Dairy Queen.
The Company
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CAST
Karen --- Claire Boston Lee --- Giovanni J. Bahena Sheila --- Krista Berry Narrator --- Jordan Leckband PRODUCTION CREW Director --- Deidra Mohr Stage Manager --- Meghan Leckband Dramaturg --- Jordan Stangeland |
THEATRE TheatreMidwest: The Friendly Hour. Director - Hitler's Tasters. Kata Klysmic Productions: The Rocky Horror Show, Vagina Monologues; California Theatres: Young Frankenstein, Burning Opera LA, Ragtime in Concert, Company, Not Your Mama's Broadway, The Nitch, Stepping Out, Marat/Sade, Mousetrap, Laramie Project; FILM/TV My Friend Max, That Night, Lost Soulmates, Antique America.
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Claire Boston - Karen
ACTING - TheatreMidwest: Atlas of Mud, When the Messenger is Hot. Giving Tree Theater: Silent Sky, Pride and Prejudice, Puffs, The Tin Woman. Theatre Cedar Rapids: Dracula, Underground Play Festival. Dreamwell Theatre: Visages. London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art: Twelfth Night, ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore. REPRESENTATIVE ROLES - Mirrorbox Theatre: Rolling. Dreamwell Theatre: The Humiliation Play. 50/50-An Arts Production Co.: Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, Dracula, All the Natalie Portmans. DIRECTING- Theatre Cedar Rapids: A Walking Shadow. EDUCATION - Buena Vista University: BA Theatre. London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art: Classical Acting Diploma. 
Jordan Leckband - Narrator
ACTING: Newton Community Theatre: Les Miserables, The Sound of Music. Cedar Falls Community Theatre: Oklahoma! University of Northern Iowa: Die Zauberflote. DIRECTING: Nodaway Valley High School: Cinderella, Little Shop of Horrors. Guthrie Center High School: Annie. CREW: TheatreMidwest: Atlas of Mud (sound). Newton Community Theatre: The Odd Couple (sound). BUSINESS: Music Teacher, Des Moines Public Schools. EDUCATION: University of South Dakota: MM Music Education. University of Northern Iowa: BM Music Education |
Giovanni Jesus Bahena - Lee
ACTING: Des Moines Playhouse: Cabaret. Carthage College: Twelfth Night, A Doll's House: Part II, God of Carnage, Ajax, How to Succeed..., Mother Courage and Her Children, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, The Regina Taylor Project; A Seat at the Table. Lakeside Players: The Rocky Horror Picture Show. ADMIN: The Science Center of Iowa, Barrington Stage Company, StageWest. 
Meghan Leckband - Stage Manager
STAGE MANAGEMENT Stage West The Norwegians; LIGHTING DESIGN TheatreMidwest: Brilliant Traces; Simpson College: The Marriage of Figaro, Betrayal; Des Moines Social Club: Fat Pig. ACTING Winterset Stage: The Quiet Man of Kerry; Simpson College: The Glass Menagerie; Spencer Community Theatre: Little Shop of Horrors. BUSINESS Cadence Academy Preschool. AWARDS 2020 Terri Lynn Lokoff National Childcare Teacher Award Winner. EDUCATION Simpson College: BA Theatre and Communications; Upper Iowa University: BA Early Childhood Education and Special Ed |
Krista Berry - Sheila
ACTING: Graceland University: The Importance of Being Earnest, Macbeth, Clown in 39 Steps, Heathers. EDUCATION: Graceland University 
Jordan Stangeland - Dramaturgy
ACTING: Southwest Minnesota State University: The Awesome 80’s Prom, Young Frankenstein, Trenchcoat in Common, Miss Electricity, Sense and Sensibility. COSTUME DESIGN: Southwest Minnesota State University Drama Club: You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown. COSTUME SHOP ASSISTANT: Southwest Minnesota State University: Young Frankenstein, Sense and Sensibility, Hi Ho Robin Hood. PROP DESIGN: Southwest Minnesota State University: Sense and Sensibility. |
The Playwright
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Sarah Loucks is a playwright and theatre maker living in Austin, Texas. She aspires to write plays as if they were songs, as if they were science experiments, as if they were myths, where words burn and people fly. She writes about Iowa, where she grew up, and Texas, where she lives now. Sarah produces her plays under the name MouthRadio and is a core member of the Austin physical theatre ensemble, Gale Theatre Company.
In 2015, Sarah produced her play, The Prostitute and the Cow, as MouthRadio’s inaugural production (The VORTEX). With Gale Theatre Co, Sarah wrote Wail, (The VORTEX) which was awarded Best Non-Traditional Theatre by the Central Texas Excellence in Theatre Awards in 2015. She also worked as a dramaturge and creator for Gale’s W.K. (NOLA Fringe, The VORTEX, Houston Fringe). W.K. was nominated for Best Original Script by Broadway World Austin Awards and Best Drama by the B. Iden Payne Awards in 2014. Sarah has studied Viewpoints and Suzuki with Gale Theatre Company, Grotowski technique with Double Edge Theatre, and Commedia dell’arte with the Rhodopi International Theatre Lab in Smolyn, Bulgaria. Sarah graduated from Bard College with a B.A. in Theatre. She was awarded the Carter Tobin Prize for overall contribution to the theatre program at Bard College in 2013. |