Tag Archives: Know Theatre of Cincinnati

Face off against a legend in:

MONGREL
by Adam Tran

August 26 – September 14, 2021

The Great Khan requests an audience. 

The world is more vast than we imagine. Know Theatre invites you on a journey back through time with Mongrel, by Adam Tran, a site-specific immersive world premiere experience. Step directly into the inner circle of the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, where we draw back the curtain on one of the greatest figures of military history … if you’ve got the courage to face him.

In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Mongols swept across the world, led by a charismatic and powerful leader, crushing all resistance in their path, folding the conquered peoples into their empire. Now you, the audience, with your town under siege, have the opportunity to plead your case before the Khan himself.  But first you’ll need some advice from the Khan’s most trusted adviser.

After the success of All’s Faire, the touring musical that opened our MainStage season, we’re once again returning to the great outdoors. Mongrel will take place around a campfire at a park location in the Cincinnati area. Stay tuned for more information on that: we aren’t quite ready to announce our venue yet, but we will be very soon!

Mongrel is written and performed by Indianapolis-based actor/playwright Adam Tran. Adam is a familiar face to regular Know-goers after appearing in the 2018 ghost story musical Whisper House as the Japanese-American lighthouse worker Yasuhiro, and the 2019 mixed-martial-arts drama Girl in the Red Corner as Warren, a man struggling to keep his family together. 

Mongrel will be directed by Rebecca Wear; we’re delighted to welcome her to her Know directing debut with this production. Rebecca has previously directed at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Public, and Arena Stage; and she is a resident director at Hero Theatre in Los Angeles. Mongrel will also feature new original music by Alex Williamson and two-time Grammy winner Christopher Tin.

Mongrel is the second show in our twenty-fourth MainStage season, themed as “Myth-Breakers and Story-Makers.” Producing Artistic Director Andrew J. Hungerford had this to say about the show: “The road of a new play from conception to production can be a marathon, particularly when a pandemic interrupts! After two years of working with Adam to develop this show, I am thrilled that we get to bring Mongrel to audiences with such a brilliant creative team, in a uniquely theatrical environment.”

If you know there’s more to history than what you were taught, or if you’re longing for a close encounter with a legend, join us this month for Mongrel. See what happens when a little boy refuses to be bound by the destiny of his birth – and instead builds himself an empire. Are you brave enough to face the Khan?

Tickets are available on our website, knowtheatre.com, or by calling our box office at 513-300-5669.

CAST

• Adam Tran as Temujin

PRODUCTION TEAM

• Director: Rebecca Wear
• Scenic & Lighting Designer: Andrew J. Hungerford
• Resident Costume Designer: Noelle Wedig-Johnston
• Costume Designer: Alix Frisch
• Sound Designer: Douglas J. Borntrager
• Props Designer: Kayla Williams
• Original Music: Christopher Tin and Alex Williamson
• Stage Manager: Emi Suarez
• Technical Director: Henry Bateman

AT A GLANCE

Production: MONGREL, by Adam Tran

Dates: August 26 – September 14, 2021; all shows begin at 8 PM.

Where: TBD

Tickets: The standard ticket price is $25. Audiences may opt to support the Know’s initiative to pay all artists and employees a living wage by selecting the $35 Living Wage Ticket. Low-cost admission available for $15. On Wednesdays, as part of our Welcome Experiment, tickets are $5 in advance or FREE beginning one hour prior to the show. The Welcome Experiment is bright to you this season by Judge Mark P. Painter (Ret).

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Know Theatre is Cincinnati’s Theatrical Playground. The Know showcases unexpected voices, new works, and plays that embrace the inherent theatricality of the live experience. Know Theatre seeks to be a place where artists and audiences feel welcome to take artistic risks, creating work that is cutting edge and accessible. 

Know Theatre’s work is made possible, in part, by the generosity of community contributions to the ArtsWave Campaign. 

The Ohio Arts Council helps fund Know Theatre with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

Know Theatre is also supported by The Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation, helping to change our communities for the better through collaboration and innovation, and the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, which provides a simple, powerful, and highly personal approach to giving. 

 Know Theatre is a member of Theatre Communications Group and an Associate Member of the National New Play Network.

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By Alexx Rouse and Zach Robinson
July 23 – August 8, 2021

The Ren Faire: a world full of magic, merriment, romance … and CRIME

The Know Theatre returns to live in-person performance with its outdoor touring performance of All’s Faire, a brand-new musical comic caper set at a Renaissance Festival. This zany romp is packed with original music, absurdist gags, puppets, pirates, magical creatures, and a dynamic private-eye duo (she’s cynical and hard-nosed; he’s wide-eyed and naïve). Join us on an adventure where, if you lighten up and have a little fun, real magic can happen.

When a crime wave rocks a Renaissance Faire, the bigwigs are ready to close the place down for good unless the culprit can be nabbed. Crime-fighting duo Johnson and Josh are on the case! They’re here to catch a thief, adventure with pirates, find a little magic, and maybe fall in love with a beautiful elf maiden along the way.

All’s Faire began life back in 2018 as a contender in Serials!, our annual episodic competitive theatre party. Audiences loved the scrappy little musical/crime caper, and voted it through all five episodes. Northern-Kentucky based playwrights Alexx Rouse and Zach Robinson, along with local songwriter James Allen, knew they’d hit on something special, so they adapted their fan-favorite Serials! concept into a full-length play, which we’re delighted to present in its world premiere!

As we ease back into in-person production, we decided we want to meet our audience where you are – out in your communities. All’s Faire was created to be an outdoor experience that can travel to locations around Greater Cincinnati – just like an old fashioned “trunk show.” You’ll find a list of dates and venues at the end of this release, and we’ll be announcing more tour stops as we confirm them. 

Why kick off season 24 with this show? Here’s what Producing Artistic Director Andrew Hungerford has to say, “It seems a perfect fit to kick off this season of new storymaking with a show by local artists that grew out of our Serials! Monday night

theatre party. In its creation and content, All’s Faire is a celebration of the storymaking power of community: Cincinnati’s deep community of theatrical artists as well as the community of Renaissance Faire folk across the country. It’s an opportunity to remind ourselves what it’s like to come together and collectively imagine another world.” 

Making his MainStage directing debut with the Know is All’s Faire co-author (and the Know’s Artist and Community Relations Manager) Zach Robinson. And while Music Director James Allen has regularly created music for Know productions ever since 2014’s Moby Dick, this is their MainStage debut as lyricist! 

All’s Faire also features some of Cincinnati’s favorite onstage talent. Jordan Trovillion (previously at the Know in Puffs, The Absentee, and Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere) stars as Johnson, with Andrew Ian Adams (previous Know credits include Puffs, Mercury, Hearts Like Fists) as Josh, Brianna Bernard (Puffs) as Glethien, and James Creque (Mercury, The Fisherman’s Wife, All Childish Things) as the Bard.

And while we’re thrilled to return to in-person performances, we know there are still lots of folks who won’t be able to join us for outdoor shows here in Cincinnati. So, we’ll be putting what we learned over a year of digital programming to work and offering a video-on-demand version of All’s Faire, which will be available July 30 – August 31.

It’s been a tough year. Let’s have some fun. All’s Faire is for anyone who could use a little whimsy, a lot of heart, and a hearty helping of absurdity. Come find us in a neighborhood near you starting July 23!

For an up-to-date schedule of tour stops, and to purchase tickets, visit our website at knowtheatre.com.

Current dates and locations include:

• Friday, July 23, 7:30 PM: The Carnegie, Covington
• Saturday, July 24, 7:30 PM: The Carnegie, Covington
• Sunday, July 25, 3 PM: Wyoming Fine Arts Center, Wyoming
• Thursday, July 29, 7:30 PM: Humble Monk Brewing Co, Northside
• Friday, July 30, 7:30 PM: The Fitton Center, Hamilton
• Saturday, July 31, 7:30 PM: The Carnegie, Covington
• Sunday, August 1, 3 PM: Artsville, Madisonville
• Thursday, August 5, 7:30 PM: Humble Monk Brewing Co, Northside
• Friday, August 6, 7:30 PM: BonBonerie Parking Lot, O’Bryonville
• Saturday, August 7, 7:30 PM: The Carnegie, Covington
• Sunday, August 8, 3 PM: Kennedy Heights Arts Center, Kennedy Hts 

CAST

• Andrew Ian Adams as Josh
• Brianna Bernard as Glethien
• James Creque as the Bard
• Jordan Trovillion as Johnson

PRODUCTION TEAM

• Director: Zach Robinson
• Scenic & Props Designer: Kayla Williams
• Costume Designer: Noelle Wedig-Johnston
• Lighting Designer: Andrew J. Hungerford
• Sound Designer: Douglas J. Borntrager
• Original Music: James Allen
• Stage Manager: Cole Sweasy
• Technical Director: Henry Bateman
• Puppets by Madcap Puppets 

AT A GLANCE

Production: All’s Faire, by Zach Robinson and Alexx Rouse

Dates: July 23 – August 8, 2021

Where: Parking lots around Cincinnati

Tickets: The standard ticket price is $25. Audiences may opt to support the Know’s initiative to pay all artists and employees a living wage by selecting the $35 Living Wage Ticket. Low-cost admission available for $15. On Wednesdays, as part of our Welcome Experiment, tickets are $5 in advance or FREE beginning one hour prior to the show. 

Know Theatre is Cincinnati’s Theatrical Playground. The Know showcases unexpected voices, new works, and plays that embrace the inherent theatricality of the live experience. Know Theatre seeks to be a place where artists and audiences feel welcome to take artistic risks, creating work that is cutting edge and accessible. 

Know Theatre’s work is made possible, in part, by the generosity of community contributions to the ArtsWave Campaign. 

The Ohio Arts Council helps fund Know Theatre with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. 

Know Theatre is also supported by The Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation, helping to change our communities for the better through collaboration and innovation, and the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, which provides a simple, powerful, and highly personal approach to giving. 

Know Theatre is a member of Theatre Communications Group and an Associate Member of the National New Play Network.

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