Find out in Sarah Elisabeth Brown’s send-up of S&M mores, Sassafras & The Captain, revived for the 2022 Fresh Fruit “Return to Live” Theatre Festival.  
Thursday May 5 @ 6:00 p.m.  
Friday, May 6 @ 8:45 p.m. 
Sunday, May 8 @ 1:00 p.m. 
at The WILD PROJECT, 195 East 3rd Street, NYC 
For further info: freshfruitfestival.com  

When Sassafras, a role-playing submissive femme dyke, decides she wants to become a top, she upends her steady relationship with teddy-bear butch Captain Lou, and brings an old flame, the roguishly handsome boundary-pushing masochist Micky Penny, into the mix for an experiment in non-monogamy. Chaos ensues as Sassafras practices new skills of dominance, faces competition from the unassuming southern belle 50’s housewife next door, and gets schooled by the supreme Goddess of been-there-done-that, Mistress Chelsea. Can this young couple grow their love big enough to include these new elements? Or will they be shipwrecked on the sea of dyke drama? It remains – to be seen! 

Sarah Brown’s uproarious play has been reworked for this new production. Sassafras was made into the award-winning 2004 film, Mango Kiss 

Meet the company:  

Sarah Elisabeth Brown (she/her) is an award-winning playwright/screenwriter/memoirist working out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. As a member of Workshop Theater in New York City, her full-length plays, Pizza Slut, Why Not Us?, Bloom Where You’re Planted, and Process-Oriented Hippies were presented there. Her short play, Sally Mars’ Repair Shop,produced by Squeaky Bicycle Productions, can be found in the “Best Short Plays of 2020” published by Applause. She is a founding member of Theater Oobleck in Chicago, worked as Playwright-in-Residence for Theaterwork in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and performed her original monologues in San Francisco at Luna Sea, 848, BUILD, and Josie’s Cabaret and Juice Joint. The first version of her play “Sassafras and the Captain; A Queer Romp through 90s Kink Culture,” was performed at Theater Rhinoceros in San Francisco, and was later made into the film, “Mango Kiss” distributed by Wolfe Video. She holds a degree in Playwrighting from Hampshire College, is a graduate from Interlochen Arts Academy, and studies her craft ongoingly with Jacob Krueger of the JK Studio in NYC.    

Kathryn McConnell (she/her) is a director, producer, and dramaturg devoted to telling the stories of those who too often go unseen. All-time favorite directing credits: Dead Man’s Dinner, Lovebird Jamboree, Cary’s Chainstore Massacre, Récit, For Better or Worse, Supernova, The God Particle, The Last Five Years, and Sarah Elisabeth Brown’s Lovebird Jamboree at the 2019 Fresh Fruit Festival. She is the Co-Founder and Executive Producer of Squeaky Bicycle Productions. 

Fionn Pulsifer (they/them), is a ProDomme, sex educator, queercrip activist, and a student in Queens, New York. They are currently working on their Honors Bachelor Thesis with Arizona State University, regarding neuroqueer theory and challenging medicalization and binary thinking within neuroscience. This is their first foray into professional theatre, and they have endeavored to bring their experience as a trans Dyke and BDSM educator to this production.  

Shelby R. Seeley (she/her) is a director, educator and actor working in “Downriver” Michigan. Under her direction, the production “Pizza Slut” won the BoxFest Detroit Mentorship Award, and “Body and Sold” won the Michigan Liberator Award. She has worked with Flint Repertory Theatre, Pennyseats Theatre Company, Theatre Nova, Eastern Michigan University, University of Michigan’s CRLT Players, Michigan Shakespeare Festival Interstate Touring Company, and more. Shelby has been the Director of Theatre for Patrick Henry Middle School since 2017, and has a certificate in directing from Yale University Summer Session. https://shelbyrseeley.wixsite.com/shelbyrseeley  

Alice Hakvaag (they/she) is a butch theatre artist based in Philadelphia, PA. They have worked internationally as an actor and director, with regional credits from The Twenty Sided Tavern, Indecorous Productions, Theatre Exile, The Arden Theatre, Elephant Room Productions, and more. As a playwright, their work has been nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn award, was a Princess Grace Fellowship semi-finalist, and their play But Not Uncle Vanya recently had a world premiere through the Aporia Artists Collective. Learn more and read some of their work at alicehakvaag.com