Horseshoes & Hand Grenades Theatre to Present THIS STAYS IN THE ROOM, 3/20-30

Horseshoes & Hand Grenades Theatre presents the world premiere of This Stays In The Room, a collective creation based on true stories of shame and forgiveness. This Stays in the Room is courageous, revealing, humorous, and based entirely on the lived experiences of the creative team. Through text, song, photography, video and choreographed movement, This Stays in the Room invites the audience on a very personal journey, to share a uniquely human state that is common to us all. Weaving together seven heart-rending stories, This Stays In The Room brings together several of Vancouver's finest theatre artists in what promises to be the most intimate and revealing piece to date from Horseshoes & Hand Grenades. The production runs March 19 to 30, 2014 at Gallery Gachet in the Downtown East Side.

From the company that produced Except in the Unlikely Event of War, Re:Union and Palace of the End, This Stays in the Room represents bold moves for Horseshoes & Hand Grenades Theatre. Aside from it being their first collective creation, and their choice to dramatize the real-life stories of the creative team, This Stays in the Room will be the company's first site-specific production. In choosing Gallery Gachet as the venue, the audience is invited into a non-theatre space, removing the barrier between audience and performer. And to explore the intersection between performance and visual art, the production set will remain accessible as an ongoing gallery installation during the run of the play.

Written by the entire creative team, This Stays in the Room is directed by Mindy Parfitt, and features a cast of Alexa Devine, Allan Morgan, Manami Hara and Robert Salvador. Set & lighting design by Andreas Kahre. Video projection design by Cande Andrade. Sound design by Noah Drew. Choreography by Amber Funk Barton.

"The experience of shame is familiar and universal. It's a visceral sensation in which the rejection of self allows us to disengage and separate from others. It grows in silence. Forgiveness, however, is a relational journey. The experience of and need for forgiveness is very individual and varies from person to person." says Mindy Parfitt, co-artistic director of Horseshoes & Hand Grenades, who along with fellow co-artistic director Alexa Devine has developed This Stays in the Room over the past three years, in partnership with Playwrights Theatre Centre, and in association with Radix Theatre.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades Theatre is committed to the pillars of story, risk, investigation, and collaboration. Never afraid to shine light into darkness, the company creates theatre that reveals the vulnerable heart and champions the brave idea. Horseshoes & Hand Grenades is a provocative and political group who are not content with holding a mirror up to society - they would rather conduct an autopsy on it.

"Our aim is to reveal the repetitive cycles of shaming and being shamed, forgiving and being forgiven, and to show just how universal it is. To do so, we're inviting the audience into a vulnerable environment where the stories they will hear will be shocking, lovingly rendered, painfully human, and probably quite familiar." says Alexa Devine.

This Stays in the Room, presented by Horseshoes & Hand Grenades, directed by Mindy Parfitt | Venue: Gallery Gachet, 88 East Cordova Street, Vancouver | Map: http://goo.gl/maps/t5fpS| Box Office: http://www.eventbrite.ca Run: March 19-30, 2014 Tues - Sun | Times: March 19 - 21, 23, 25 - 27, 30 @ 8pm, March 22, 28 - 29 @ 7pm & 10pm | Preview: March 19 @ 8pm, Opening: March 20 @ 8pm | More: www.horseshoesandhandgrenades.ca Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1402922926632390