Dixon Place
Presents
A Livestream
of

MINE

Written & Performed by SHAYNA STRYPE

April 21-24, 2021 7:30 p.m.
Video on Demand (VOD) streaming available April 26-May 3, 2021

dixonplace.org/productions-2021/

MINE is a creative delight. Yes, there is puppetry, but not as you fancy it. That’s part of its brilliance. Talking toe-socks, Claymation, wearable sculpture, stop-motion animation, and a whole lot of other stuff. Which is ironic, because the whole production is about “stuff”. How we acquire it, destroy nature to get it, clutter the house with it, and just plain hold onto it with an iron grip.

Officially described as an “ecofeminist tragicomedy”, it takes us on a journey to meet a mountain, a groundhog, and a home. The mountain touchingly recounts her thousands of years, how she has been named and renamed, used and abused, until she is now just a pile of rubble. The people, the animals, the trees, cannot return, for there is nothing to return to.

The darling little groundhog is overwhelmed with his collection of items, discarded by the family who lives nearby. He’s the one who hoards all your lost socks! He is running out of room in his tunnel, but can’t bear to part with anything. Yet he yearns to touch the soil again.

The home must deal with all the junk you keep around. That dress you might wear again someday, a broken doll with “sentimental value”, expired Metro cards, pieces of string, one million paperclips. Even the kitchen appliances complain. Is this about things, or about lost pieces of your soul? Tough question.

SHAYNA STRYPE and her body parts (sorry) play all the roles, taking us through portals to seek truth. Her imagination and creativity are enormous. The costumes are delightfully clever and intricate. The show is full of surprises. Skillful use of all media, intertwined and intercut, make this a delight. The writing is engaging and entertaining. A total must-see. She is a genius!

-Karen D’Onofrio-