Audio Plays

Creekside With Winona

In an effort to make our work more accessible, and with the unique opportunity provided by the COVID-19 pandemic to try something new, the Curious Theatre Collective is delighted to present Creekside with Winona, our first audio play for young audiences. Inspiration for this piece was taken from our live production Creekside: The Journey of a Young Environmentalist. The story focuses on Mia, a young girl who notices that something is wrong with the creek in her backyard. She is visited in her imagination by Winona LaDuke, Native American environmentalist and activist. Together they think about our environment and how we can work to protect it. Creekside With Winona has something for everyone, we suggest this audio play for grades 2-5.

Creekside with Winona features Marleigh Purgar McDonald and Rachel Leighson. It was created and written by Curious Theatre Collective thanks to grant support from the Orange County Arts Commission.

Cast
Rachel Leighson

Rachel Leighson (Winona) is an actor/writer based in NYC. Off Broadway credits include The Christians (Playwrights Horizons), Lili Marlene (St Luke’s Theatre), and Girl Gone: Or Before a League (Actors’ Temple Theatre). She has also toured nationally with ArtsPower National Touring Theatre and Two Beans Productions in TYA musicals such as Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great and Miss Nelson is Missing. She is honored to lend her voice to Winona La Duke as a fellow Jewish/Indigenous woman and hopes you enjoy the journey! www.RachelLeighson.com

Marleigh Purgar McDonald

Marleigh Purgar McDonald (Mia) is an actress and a senior at Eno River Academy and will be attending UNC-Chapel Hill in the fall. She has been a part of the triangle acting community for over 10 years, and has recently worked with Artist Soapbox, Seed Art Share, Justice Theater Project, and Sonorous Road. She loves educating others through theater, and spending time with her family and cat.

 

 

Resources

Donate

If you would like to support this project, please consider donating to Curious Theatre Collective. You can donate via our Venmo, @curioustheatrecollective. We will be donating half of the funds from this project to Honor The Earth.

Chinese Girl Wants Vote: Trailblazer Mabel Lee

Curious Theatre Collective is excited to share the next installment of audio plays for young audiences: Chinese Girl Wants Vote. Written by Jinna Kim, Chinese Girl Wants Vote presents the life and work of Dr. Mabel Ping-Hua Lee. Dr. Lee’s work for women’s rights and the Chinese American community are gifts we are thrilled to share with our audience. We suggest Chinese Girl Wants Vote: Trailblazer Mabel Lee for grades 4-7.

Chinese Girl Wants Vote: Trailblazer Mabel Lee features Rachel Kanakanui and Pimpila Violette. This audio play was funded thanks to grant support from the Orange County Arts Commission.

Playwright
Jinna Kim

Initially trained in classical music, Jinna Kim is a Korean American multidisciplinary artist and writer based in North Carolina.  In addition to being a SAG-AFTRA eligible actress, Jinna continues to write, produce short films, exhibit digital media, and create award winning interdisciplinary projects. In 2021, she was an artist-in-residence at Kuenstlerstadt Kalbe in Germany and her first short film “Chinese Girl Wants Vote” became part of the DIgital Public Library of America which is also available as an audio play through Curious Theatre Collective.  In 2022, Jinna is excited to be part of the Queen City New Play Initiative (QCNPI) Inaugural Microplay Commission playwright cohort and separately attending the World Expo in Dubai thanks to Arts & Science Council (ASC) individual artist support grant.

Cast
Rachel Kanakanui

Rachel Kanakanui is a senior at UNC Greensboro, pursuing a BFA in acting. She has worked professionally at Theater West Virginia and appeared in local productions at Raleigh Little Theatre and Burning Coal. Some of her favorite roles have been 00 in The Wolves, Wendy in Peter Pan, and Chava in Fiddler on the Roof. Rachel has appeared in both regional and national commercials for RedHat, Cisco, and Chevron. She is the queen of anime lore, enjoys singing, drawing, and dabbling on the guitar.

Pimpila Violette

Pimpila Violette is a Durham based actor with a degree in Theater from UNC-Chapel Hill. She is currently a Virtual Technical Director with the National Women’s Theater Festival. Some of her favorite acting credits include: 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche (Dale Prist), Two Gentlemen of Verona (Panthino/Outlaw), and The Wolves (#13). Pimpila spends her days working as a Standardized Patient or live-streaming on Twitch. Find her on all social media or catch her live @PimpilaV!

Resources

Donate

If you would like to support this project, please consider donating to Curious Theatre Collective. You can donate via our Venmo, @curioustheatrecollective.