We got a great review
“There’s hope here, really — even though it’s a rough and raw ride, this is not one to turn your head and heart away from.” Four Stars **** by Fish Griwkowsky, in the August 18 Edmonton Journal.
Almost 13 is a solo drama about 12 year old Sis, who is surviving a hot, furious summer in 1969 Brooklyn NY. She becomes a witness and victim of racial violence. All Sis wants to do is jump in the waves at Coney Island and see the fireworks. Emotionally broken from witnessing a murder, she finds herself dancing with a ghost. Can she survive being caught between a disintegrating family and racial violence? Joan Kane plays all ten unforgettable characters. We gave out promotional Bazooka bubble gum and the play has a scene in which you learn how the gum is used for “coin fishing.”
show program
Joan Kane (playwright & performer) is a playwright, dramaturg, actor, and educator and the founding Artistic Director of Ego Actus. Joan directed Sycorax, Cyber Queen of Qamara at HERE, Play Nice! at 59e59 theaters, I Know What Boys Want at Theatre Row, Six Characters in Search of an Author in Oslo, Norway and Kafka’s Belinda in Prague. Joan was awarded Best Director in the 2016 United Solo Festival and was named to the Indie Theatre Hall of Fame by nytheatre.com. She graduated from the High School of Performing Arts, studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse with Sanford Meisner and has an MFA in Directing from The New School and an MS in Museum Education from Bank Street College. She is a member of SDC, DG, NYWITF and LPTW. Please see JoanKane.us.
Bruce A! Kraemer (director & designer) has directed and designed this show everywhere it has been. He also directed Daniel’s Law by Joan Kane at LaMaMa ETC. He has done lighting design for Soho Rep, 59e59 Theaters, Ensemble Studio Theatre, the NYC Fringe, on Theatre Row, and many others. Bruce also does TV and event lighting, audio, technical direction, stage management, production intercom and RF coordination. He has done one or another of those for the Summer and Winter Olympics, the Paralympics, the World Cup, two Papal visits, three Superbowls, six Tony Awards, ten Christmas Tree Lightings at Rockefeller Center, on Broadway, off Broadway, off off Broadway, for dance, fashion shows, art installations and hundreds of corporate events. Please see EgoActus.com.
production history
Almost 13 was originally written by Joan Kane in the summer of 2015 at the LaMama Playwrights Symposium in Umbria, Italy with the encouragement and guidance of playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. The first version was for 15 actors. Joan directed a reading of that at LaMama ETC in February, 2016. Joan Kane later adapted the play into a solo piece and performed it, under the direction of Bruce A! Kraemer, for the United Solo Festival at Theatre Row opening in September 2019. Ego Actus remounted the show with additional material for four performances at the Episcopal Actors Guild in October 2021 and one show in the Estrogenius Festival in March 2022. We excerpted ten minutes of it for the Lower East Side festival in May 27, 2022. The full solo play was seen at 59e59 theaters in their East to Edinburgh festival in July 2022. Ego Actus then presented the play in the 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe for 18 performances at Greenside Venues getting rave reviews. Having added new scenes, we played it in July 2023 at the Plum in Boiceville, NY, then at TheaterLab in NYC, and the Capital Fringe in Washington, DC getting more rave reviews. We finished off the 2023 international tour in the Edmonton Fringe Festival in Alberta, Canada in August at Sea Change Backstage Theatre with another rave review.
In 2023 Almost 13 was on tour!
The Plum
Joan Kane performed her play Almost 13
at The Plum
7 Traver Hollow Road, Boiceville, NY 12412
Saturday, July 1 at 5:00 pm
Sunday, July 2 at 2:00 pm
Tickets will be by $20 cash donation at the door
audience response
“Thank you to Joan Kane for her heartfelt story Almost 13. Joan’s presentation of a traumatic time in her childhood sparked the memories of abuse no longer in my mind, yet left unprocessed in my body. I applaud Joan’s bravery and grit in speaking her truth as it has created a new pathway of light for me and I am sure many others to begin to heal from dark secrets of the past.” With gratitude, Kathleen O’Hanlon
Theaterlab
Joan Kane performed her play Almost 13
at Theaterlab
357 West 36th St, New York, NY 10001
Sunday, July 9 at 3:00 pm
Monday, July 10 at 7:00 pm
This is a link to $20 tickets to see Almost 13 at Theaterlab
Capital Fringe Festival
Joan Kane performed her play Almost 13 at Squirt
1050 Thomas Jefferson Street NW Washington, DC 20007
in the Capital Fringe
“Kane does an admirable job both in crafting a story with a fine and compelling arc and also in delivering the story with pathos and sincerity.” FOUR AND A HALF STARS Nicole Hertvik in DC Theatre Arts, July 17, 2023
“What shines most in “Almost 13” is the writing and the story itself.” Eric Colchamiro in MD Theatre Guide, July 22, 2023
Edmonton Fringe Festival
Joan Kane performed her play Almost 13
at the Sea Change Backstage Theatre
in the Edmonton Fringe Festival
Friday August 18, 4:00pm
Saturday August 19, 6:45pm
Tuesday August 22, 3:00pm
Wednesday August 23, 6:45pm
Thursday August 24, 9:00pm
Friday August 25, 4:45pm
Saturday August 26, 1:00pm
tickets sold at this link
I said: what about my eyes? He said: Keep them on the road.
I said: What about my passion? He said: Keep it burning.
I said: What about my heart? He said: Tell me what you hold inside it?
I said Pain and sorrow. He said: Stay with it. The wound is the place where the Light enters you.
Rumi