About Stephen
Follow No Strangers To All The Fun Places
Follow No Strangers To All The Fun Places is loosely inspired by the structure of Italo Calvino’s 1979 postmodern novel, If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler. But not really. Actually, the piece deconstruct the audience’s experience of watching theatre. The play lovingly followed two characters’ repeated—and constantly interrupted—attempts at making a piece of theatre.
Short vignettes of various styles of theatre and performance were presented: A short play in the style of Samuel Beckett; a Phillip Glass-style composition presented in a manner vaguely reminiscent of Einstein on the Beach; and a German-language puppet show were among the pieces presented. Meanwhile, audience members were at various times instructed to listen--via individual headsets--to a narration that deconstructed the experience of watching the piece.
Through constant breaks, disruptions and disconnections, the show broke down theatrical narrative; explored the relation of fiction to real life; and ultimately tried to answer the question of why anyone would want to make art in the first place.
"Best Play - 2018" ~ Baltimore Magazine
"[Follow No Strangers] is next-level stuff. And it’s brilliant."
~ Cassandra Miller, DCMetroTheaterArts
“...if there’s one thing Acme doesn’t do is odd and weird for its own sake. There’s an intentionality behind every element of the presentation… if you allow it, this Acme production encourages you to start thinking about everything else you consume in different ways. Take the red pill.”
~ Bret McCabe, Bmore Art
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Follow No Strangers To All The Fun Places"Follow No Strangers To All The Fun Places" (co-director and composer, The Acme Corporation, 2018)
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follow no strangers.mp3"And now it is and there's nothing left to say," from "Follow No Strangers To All The Fun Places." Music composed and performed by Stephen Nunns. Live performance recording from May 2018. Vocals: Molly Cohen, Deirdre McAllister, Kristina Szilagyi and Caelyn Somerville.
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Follow No Strangers To All The Fun PlacesFollow No Strangers To All The Fun Places (co-director), The Acme Corporation, 2017
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Follow No Strangers To All The Fun Places"Follow No Strangers To All The Fun Places"
Stranger Kindness
Williams' play was distilled down to a four-character hour-and-a-quarter performance. The dialogue from the play was substituted with other texts: Blanche DuBois' lines came from various Samuel Beckett plays and prose, Stella's lines were pulled from Thornton Wilder's "Our Town, and the character Mitch spoke lines from a variety of feminist theory texts. Stanley Kowalski's language was actually pulled from the soundtrack of the classic 1951 film, so Marlon Brando's disembodied voice was the only trace left--language-wise--of Williams' text. Portions of the performance were presented via live video to twenty small monitors that were situated in front of the audience members.
"Best Play - 2017" ~ Baltimore City Paper
"Acme offers up probably the most radical and punk rock art thing happening in the city right now. And yet, it's faithful to the Williams play in the ways that matter—namely, mood, message, and atmosphere."
~ The Baltimore City Paper
"The whole experience is uncanny, difficult, and exhilarating."
~ Abraham Burickson, Odyssey Works
Fucking A
REVIEWS
“Fucking A is fucking brilliant…this is a terrific production, and we can only be grateful to Iron Crow for bringing it to us.” – John B. Gohn, Broadway World Baltimore
“Baltimore’s queer theater, Iron Crow, proves the perfect push-the-envelope match for Parks’ distinctive theatrics. They are more than up to the linguistic, musical, political and sexual demands of the play and their production crackles with danger and unsettling power.” – Jayne Blanchard, DC Theatre Scene
“…an extremely unusual, gripping, and powerful play, which is now being given a splendid new production by Baltimore’s Iron Crow Theatre.” – Michael Poandl, DC Metro Theatre Arts
“Evocative, intensely performed and strongly directed, Fucking A stays with you, especially in a time like this. Incredibly well done. See it.” – Pandora Locks, The Bad Oracle
“Iron Crow Theatre has found its niche with these edgy, queer and dark productions. Fucking A is the latest entry in the catalogue of well-performed and directed plays and is highly recommended.” – Steve Charring, OUTspoken