FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Amanda Caraway
619-850-3955
amanda.caraway@att.net
New #MeToo Play Premiere’s at Great Salt Lake Fringe Featuring True Stories from Utah Women
July 12, 2022—Salt Lake City, Utah—A new play inspired by the #MeToo movement and based on the true stories of Utah women will premiere at The Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival. Monologues from a Movement written by local playwright Amanda Caraway and directed by Cami Rozanas will open in The Box at The Gateway on Friday, July 28th and run through Sunday, August 7th. Produced by Wasatch Theatre Company, you can find tickets and showtimes at greatsaltlakefringe.org.

“So many women broke their years of silence after the election of Donald Trump,” said Caraway. “That was a huge slap in the face to survivors. I started sharing my own #MeToo stories, and I was amazed when so many of my friends started doing the same. Sharing their stories is such an important part of the survivor journey to help us heal and let go of the shame that has silenced us for so long.”

The play features an all-female cast and includes monologues based on stories from women of all ages and various backgrounds. Topics range from date rape to workplace harassment and everything in between. Some other stories are shocking, others are hilarious, and many are heartbreaking.

“A few of these stories will entertain you and even make you laugh, some will sound all too familiar, and some will be hard to hear,” said Rozanas. “I wish I could say these stories are rare. But if you know a woman, you know somebody with a heartbreaking MeToo moment she could tell you about if you ask her. Chances are, she has more than one.”

Ultimately, we are here to tell and honor the stories of women. And to act as their voices for the space of this play.

Caraway said the play is not written to be a “man-hating” play. And she says it can be enjoyed by people of all genders and with a variety of life experiences.

“We held a private staged reading in early June, and there were as many men as women in the audience,” said Caraway. “I was surprised by how the stories were embraced by all genders. Both audience and cast members were laughing, crying, and raging together. Change is possible if we stand together and demand it.”
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Rozanas says the cast will perform these stories to honor the woman and act as their voices. But both she and the cast members have #MeToo stories of their own.

“As I’ve been working with these women, I have been disheartened to learn how many of these stories they find relatable to moments in their own lives,” said Rozanas. “But I have also been inspired by their strength, resilience, and willingness to be vulnerable in this project.”

Monologues from a Movement

Written by Amanda Caraway

Directed by Cami Rozanas

Produced by Wasatch Theatre Company

The Box at The Gateway

124–130 South 400 West, Salt Lake City

https://www.theboxgateway.org/

Tickets: greatsaltlakefringe.org/events

Performance Schedule:

Friday, July 29 at 7:30 PM

Saturday, July 30 at 3:00 PM

Sunday, July 31 at 4:30 PM

Friday, August 5 at 10:30 PM

Saturday, August 6 at 7:30 PM

Sunday, August 7 at 4:30 PM

Cast:

Mandi Titcomb

Sydney Lorraine Vance

Lisa Nicole Thurman

Carly Welch

Elizabeth Hanley

Jenn Niedfeldt

Meighan Page Smith

Valerie Ahanonu-Plautz