These Streets is an unconventional theatrical play and history project, inspired by women rock musicians in Seattle during the infamous “grunge” years. Spearheaded by rock guitarist, Gretta Harley (faculty member at Cornish College of the Arts, and guitarist who played in several bands during the era) and Sarah Rudinoff (Actress, Writer and The Stranger Genius Award Winner), These Streets is inspired by over 35 interviews conducted with and about the many women rockers who were integral to the Seattle music scene but have been overshadowed by the familiar bands and retrospectives.
This original piece of theatre is not a documentary, but a gritty, funny and powerful fictional story with characters that represent an amalgam of the real women rockers upon which it is based. The show is filled with music from that era, as well as a few new original songs (by Harley and Rudinoff’s We Are Golden), all played and sung by the characters and a live band.
The story centers on five musicians who share a house in Seattle from 1989-1994. The audience meets these characters when they are young and full of excitement and optimism. We see the challenges they face as their tight-knit community unexpectedly explodes and their city becomes an international rock Mecca. We also meet the characters in the present; their stories evolving as much as the city around them. These Streets will have its world premiere on February 21, 2013 at ACT Theatre in downtown Seattle for 12 public performances.
While the performance is the core of the project, These Streets also aims to illuminate the stories and music of the real life women rockers who were involved in the scene that changed a generation by creating an addendum to history with: an oral history project that will be archived at the Library of the University of Washington; a gallery exhibit at The Project Room (a non-profit interdisciplinary art space in Seattle) of collected memorabilia; and online resources such as Wikipedia and YouTube pages, musician biographies, recordings and discographies.
For more information, please contact Amy Poisson at amypoissonrocks@gmail.com.