StoneMarrow Theatre takes to the stage with stories that touch and teach

Read the full article here: https://edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/local-arts/stonemarrow-theatre-takes-to-the-stage-with-stories-that-touch-and-teach

Excerpt:

When Samantha Jeffery and Perry Gratton decided to form StoneMarrow Theatre, it was because they spoke the same theatre language.

After working together to produce and direct a 2017 Fringe show called A Beautiful View by Canadian playwright Daniel McIvor, they discovered a joint taste for risky, often heartbreaking material produced in a way that has meaning for both the artists and the audience.

“We worked so well together and enjoyed it so much, we wanted to make theatre together,” recalls Jeffrey, noting they solidified a shared aesthetic in their next production, a 2018 tour to Toronto with Stormshelter, a play about mental illness by Edmonton playwright and visual artist Bradley Necyk.

The co-artistic directors — both graduates of the University of Alberta’s Bachelor of Fine Arts degree — came up with the name StoneMarrow for their venture because it had an earthy, gritty quality that spoke of life and blood and endurance.

“And I think it sums up our work in a weird, poetic way,” says Jeffery.

Their third and latest project is Crave, by the late British playwright Sarah Kane. Written near the end of her life, the play has a cast of four who are never named. The one-act, which runs less than an hour, is part of the Fringe Theatre Spotlight series and features a live, 45-minute, pre-show performance by a different Edmonton band.