June 3, 2011, 9:30pm
Dixon Place Theater 161 Chrystie Street (Manhattan)

A special night of stories researched and performed by Missouri-based actor and writer Milbre Burch, who interweaves gender-bending folktales from cultures spanning the globe with musings on the construction of gender and identity. Changing Skins explores the persistence of gender-bending tales in the oral tradition and the way these tales mirror identity issues coming to the fore today. In this performance, artist/scholar Milbre Burch will interlace folktales of female-to-male and male-to-female transformation; a boy who gives birth; a husband and wife who change roles with lasting consequences; interspecies families yearning toward a fuller humanity, and a Djinn and a Princess who trade anatomical parts, with musings on current theories of gender construction to widen the range of possibilities for "happily ever after." Compelling storytelling for grownups. 

ABOUT THE ARTIST

A Grammy-nominated performing artist, Milbre Burch has been called "one of the most important voices in the American storytelling revival." She is also an emerging scholar in performance studies in the Department of Theatre at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and performance reviews editor for the academic journal Storytelling, Self, Society.