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Jeannie-Marie Brown believes that theater is an important part of social change. She created the new Denver-based Stay Awake! theater company, named for a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr., on the premise that change is a consequence of thinking. “At the core of it all, theater is a unionizing...

By Amanda Moutinho

October 23, 2014

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Jeannie-Marie Brown believes that theater is an important part of social change. She created the new Denver-based Stay Awake! theater company, named for a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr., on the premise that change is a consequence of thinking. “At the core of it all, theater is a unionizing force,” Brown says. “It challenges stereotypes to build community.”

The company’s first production, the Prism Festival, features nine original ten-minute plays that concern slavery, national tragedies, death, friendship and gender roles. Brown selected works that tie into the theater’s mission to pose philosophical questions, challenge the status quo and motivate change. “Things aren’t always easy for us to see; we can’t always pinpoint what’s going around us,” she says. “We see things through different prisms, and we’re trying to find out what is true. But truth depends on the person.”

The Prism Festival kicks off tonight at 7:30 p.m. and runs through November 1 at work | space, located in the Laundry on Lawrence, 2701 Lawrence Street. For tickets, $15, visit stayawake.brownpapertickets.com or call 720-464-6620.
Thu., Oct. 23, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., Oct. 24, 7:30 p.m.; Sat., Oct. 25, 7:30 p.m.; Thu., Oct. 30, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., Oct. 31, 7:30 p.m.; Sat., Nov. 1, 7:30 p.m., 2014

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