We are raising funds to bring an original, devised piece of theatre called Purgatorio to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.Purgatorio follows an ensemble of troubled spirits dancing to salvation in Club Purgatorio, a surrealist techno dreamscape. Inspired by Dante Alighieri’s Divina Commedia and developed at the Accademia Dell’Arte in Tuscany, this devised physical theatre piece explores desire, dependency, and divinity through ecstatic movement. It invites the audience to press where it hurts, live their darkest fantasies—and then to dance it off after.
Purgatorio will premiere at the Space at Triplex on Monday, August 14th, 2023 and close on Saturday, August 26th, 2023. Prior to the international debut in Edinburgh, we will produce a free preview of Purgatorio with Shakespeare & Co. on Friday, August 11th, 2023, in Lenox Massachusetts.
Clownz With Apple is a theater company formed in 2022 by Frances Rippy, Naomi Friedman, and Fiona Bruckman as part of the Boyz With Apple Artist Collective. We are a non-binary and women led artist collective specializing in immersive, site-specific, physical theatre—and, of course, clowning around. Internationally-based, Clownz With Apple’s process is highly collaborative, non-hierarchical, and emergent. We are interested in building community through participatory and immersive audience experiences. We seek to dismantle the hierarchies reified by heteropatriarchal, colonial, and white supremacist organization of power and resources—both in the rehearsal room, and in the performance space. Additionally, we are dedicated to a zero-waste model of production and creation throughout our project. In this way, we rely on found-object art as the foundation for our design and scenography efforts in bringing Purgatorio—and all future productions—to life.
Frances is a director, producer, dramaturg, performer and cooperative theatre-maker originally from Louisville, KY. Frances is currently studying physical theatre at the Accademia dell’Arte in Arezzo, Italy and previously graduated Cum Laude from Vassar College with a Bachelors of Arts. Frances has also studied with the Youth Performing Arts School in Kentucky, the summer conservatory of the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival, and the Walden Theatre Conservatory of the Commonwealth Theatre Center. At Vassar, they worked as President, director, and a performer with the Vassar College Shakespeare Troupe, as well as for the Vassar College Drama Department as the Ticket Fund Coordinator. Additional prior work experience includes working in Development at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, and Production Management and Artistic Administration at Kentucky Shakespeare. Frances is a Co-founder, Partner, and currently serving as Artistic Director, Business Manager, and Producer for Clownz With Apple.
Naomi is a New York based collage artist, working through the mediums of analog and digital collage. Naomi graduated Cum Laude from Vassar College with departmental honors. Following graduation they have participated in two international artist residencies—with the Arquetopia Foundation for International Artist Residencies in Naples, Italy, and with the Kolaj Institute Residency in Sanquhar, Scotland. Naomi’s prior work experience includes the creation of a variety of graphic design campaigns and art installation pieces for non-profit and arts organizations such as the Youth Justice Network, the Newburgh LGBTQ+ Center, the Williamstown Theatre Festival and Palaver Strings. Additionally, Naomi has created and shipped unique pieces of analog collage art globally, through the Boyz with Apple artist collective. Naomi is a Co-Founder and Partner, currently serving as Scenographer, Manager, and Producer for Clownz with Apple.
Fiona is a dancer, photographer and craftsperson—specializing in unique knitwear—from Philadelphia. Fiona graduated from Vassar College with a Bachelors of Arts and danced with the Vassar Repertory Dance Company throughout their tenure. Fiona draws crafting inspiration from the Repair Café movement. Their previous work experience includes being a contributing writer with the Mumbai based architecture and planning firm, urbz, serving as the New York State Fellow and Field Representative for Our Climate, a Fundraising Team Leader Coach at For the Many, and being the Programs and Services Intern at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Fiona was recently accepted to present research with urbz at the upcoming ICBE conference. Fiona is a Co-Founder and Partner, currently serving as Head Choreographer for Clownz with Apple.
Budget Breakdown:
Below you will find an itemized budget breakdown for Purgatorio.
Budget Breakdown Note: the discrepancy between our listed fundraising goal and the total budget listed above is accounted for by funds raised prior to setting up this campaign.
Finally... If you have any questions or would like to talk further about the project, please don’t hesitate to contact me or Boyz With Apple directly at boyzwithapple@gmail.com, or through our website https://www.boyzwithapple.com/. It means the world to us—and to all the clownz—to be premiering an intimate, ecstatic and original piece of devised theatre. Thank you so much for your consideration and support!
