Aloha Performing Arts Company

Fri. Aug 27 @7pm

Produced by Kimberly Dark & Aloha Performing Arts Co.
TICKETS

World Premier of Complicated Courtesies by storyteller Kimberly Dark

At the Aloha Theatre
For more information go to www.kimberlydark.com or call 808-322-9924 or jill@apachawaii.org

Complicated Courtesies – written and performed by Kimberly Dark

We all have them: aspects of our personalities, or interesting issues that we don’t bring out in every kind of company. Do you handle your various “selves” with panache and profundity? Or do you try to pretend you’re only what you show a certain audience? Come explore how to become a courteous chimera – the kind of multi-faceted, fantastical creature that has many fearsome and fantastic features and yet, remains friendly to all. Who knows, if we learn to embrace our inner diversity – maybe loving the diversity in others won’t be so hard…

Is it possible to bring together issues like gender and environmentalism and parenting and race and sex and politics – all in polite company? Sure it is! You do it all the time – so does Kimberly Dark. Come see how vibrant views and exciting experiences can be cleverly and kindly conveyed in Complicated Courtesies. Don’t be afraid – she’s a really really nice lady…

• Friday, August 27, 2010 @ 7:00pm

Reserved Seating (Earlier Purchase = Better Seats)
Tickets Available at the box office 1hr prior to showtime and online here.
$20 Adults

This show is about how we use our small, everyday lives to make the world a better place. No, seriously. I think that's possible - when we live both boldly and with kindness. And the more easily we embrace our internal diversity -- become all of our exciting selves -- the more we'll enjoy diversity in others too. I realize this seems like a tall order - and that's why we need storytelling, humor and a way to contemplate our own lives and be entertained at the same time. That's what Complicated Courtesies offers.

On one hand, it's good to live a simple, uncomplicated life -- you know, in a totally responsible Zen way. On the other hand, some people never delve into the complexities of social life because it's scary - or just easier to worry about what's for dinner, when there's a sale at Macys and whether you can afford a new car. A lot of folks never pause to ask: wow, why do we act as we do? How can things get better? How can I help? I'm not saying that we have to spend every moment focused on activism - that would be painful! This show is about how we improve the world just by enjoying our days, living great big exciting lives, and being kind to others when they don't yet understand how to play well and get along with others. (~wink)

The stories are funny, touching, engaging -- the audience will hear about my life, about my son, about my work. If you're a parent, this show is definitely for you! And if you've ever felt like you have to put on one face for work, another for friends, another for family - wow, this show is for you too. Through entertainment, I hope the audience comes to understand that we don't need to be the same in order to be allies - but we do have to know each other. Complicated Courtesies reminds us that the world needs all the aloha we have...

"Dark is an exquisite tour guide for this heartfelt journey into the construction of the self. Through performance poetry, this soul searching and sometimes comical journey leads the audience through the blurred distinctions of gender identity which are precariously balanced between clearly drawn cultural stereotypes." -Theatermania, Chicago

Kimberly Dark continues to work tirelessly on her abilities as a parent, poet, professor and raconteur who can unfold the world through performance, smooth out the crinkles from folding, read the legend and say "You Are Here." Someday she will even be able to refold the world and fit it back into the glove-box. Kimberly travels far and wide performing stories that make people laugh, think and feel. She wins theatre awards, smiles when seeing her stories in print, enjoys standing ovations and endures days when settling down to a more regular life seems more sensible. Such is the glamourous life of a pop-sociologist who wants to expand conversations about gender, race and class beyond the university so that we all take up the charge of creating a more just world. Kimberly has performed in dozens of fancy theatres and esteemed classrooms, but she also loves a stage where there's nothing swanky - just the body, the voice, the word and the audience. Just be sure to bring up the house-lights because this isn't a traditional theatre show - she really is talking to YOU.

Kimberly's writing and performances have delighted and incited audiences at theaters and universities across North America and Europe for more than a decade. She continues to teach sociology at Cal State San Marcos as much as her schedule allows. Her work blends humor, poetry, story-telling, and audience interaction to remind all of us that we are creating the world - even as it creates us!