THEATRE | July 18–21 | Free/pay what you wish
FUSION Theatre Company presents To Rosa, Love Anna written and directed by Laurie Thomas, in concert with The Albuquerque Museum’s exhibition, Making American Artists: Stories from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1776–1976 with Klumpke’s artwork on view.
To Rosa, Love Anna is a two-character play that brings the painters Anna Klumpke and Rosa Bonheur to life. As Anna (Wendy Scott) grapples with her responsibility as executor of Rosa’s (Dodie Montgomery) estate and artwork (a role disputed by Rosa’s family and acquaintances as beyond her ability and inappropriate for a woman), she flashes back to the sessions, years earlier, in which she painted Rosa’s portrait. With each brushstroke and line drawn, Anna finds herself falling in love with Rosa. Soon the feelings are mutual and blossom into a deeply personal and creative partnership. As the story unfolds, light is shed on such topics as gender formation, institutional changes in the art world, and the perceived transgressive nature of female intimate companionship in a repressive society. Also revealed, is Anna’s unique sensibility as an artist who fused her European training with an undeniable American sensibility—a sensibility perceived and celebrated by her partner Rosa.
CAST
Wendy Scott plays Anna, and Dodie Montgomery plays Rosa.
Thanks to The City of Albuquerque, tickets are FREE or Pay What You Wish, and all are welcome to come and experience this inspiring love story!
FUSION PERFORMANCE
Friday, July 19, 7:00 PM
FUSION | 708
708 1st St. NW
Albuquerque, NM 87102
Free parking is available in and around our lot!
ALBUQUERQUE MUSEUM PERFORMANCES
Thursday, July 18, 7:00 PM
Sunday, July 21, 2:00 PM
Albuquerque Museum
2000 Mountain Rd NW
Albuquerque, NM 87104
LAURIE’S INSPIRATION
”A few months ago, I perused the catalog for Making American Artists: Stories from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts looking for inspiration for a piece. I came across Anna Elizabeth Klumpke’s painting In the Wash House. I was immediately taken by the artist’s skill and the strong, statuesque forms she gave to her subjects—women working in a domestic scenario. Digging a bit deeper, I discovered Anna’s incredibly successful career as a genre painter and portraitist. Anna had a rich life beginning with a progressive mother who believed in education and careers for all five of her daughters to Anna finding love in her fifties while painting the portrait of the famous French painter Rosa Bonheur. With a nearly thirty-year age difference, Anna and Rosa found true soul mates in each other, which ignited an intimate relationship in love and intellectual curiosity. It is this relationship that my piece, To Rosa, Love Anna, shines a light upon. “
ABOUT LAURIE THOMAS
Laurie Thomas is co-founder and co-artistic chair of FUSION. She is a director, actor, and writer. Her professional credits for acting and directing include work at Berkeley Shakespeare Festival, Theater Rhinoceros, Alice B. Theatre, Book-It Repertory Theatre, Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival, Northwest Asian American Theatre, On the Boards, A Contemporary Theatre, Southwest Repertory Theatre, The Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival, Berkeley Stage Company, The Empty Space, and Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Her most recent work has been directing the staged reading SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER at the ABQ Museum as well as the mainstage production of SPAIN by Jen Silverman, THE TWO-CHARACTER PLAY by Tennessee Williams, and MS. HOLMES & MS. WATSON - APT. #2B by Kate Hamill.