Planting Shelly Anne
Jan.31–Feb. 14
Playwrights’ Center
2301 E. Franklin Ave.
Tickets $8–$15.
To order tickets, call 332-7481, ext. 20.
For more information, visit www.workhauscollective.org.

Two years ago, local playwright Jeannine Coulombe set out to write about the Dutch Tulip Bubble of 1637, the year the price of the then-rare flowers skyrocketed and then crashed.

Instead, she wound up penning Planting Shelly Anne, a play about a day in the life of a woman struggling to find balance amid everyday pressures.

As Coulombe pondered the tulip idea, “my own life came out,” she said. Like her character, Shelly Anne, “other things were bothering me,” she said. “I was navigating anxiety.” As such, the play is about “imperfection in the world.”

Planting Shelly Anne is the most recent offering from The Workhaus Collective, the theater-in-residence at the Playwrights Center, 2301 E. Franklin Ave. E. The show runs through Feb. 14.

Workhaus features original work from nationally emerging playwrights based in the Twin Cities. Local directors and actors bring those works to life on stage. Kristin Horton directs actors Carolyn Pool, John Riedlinger, Katherine Kupiecki and Renee Roden in Planting Shelly Anne.

Budding characters

The process of self-examination is apparent in Planting Shelly Anne, which shifts between reality and fantasy. Shelly Anne’s fears about global climate change, the economy and other worldwide crises come out in her daydreams. So do her wants, such as the desire for a tulip garden. The playwright didn’t abandon the tulip theme altogether; the flower recurs as a symbol of hope. Ultimately, the play asks, “What’s your tulip, and what plants you?” Coulombe said.

Director Horton commented on the play’s interplay of reality and fantasy. “You get to know Shelly Anne through the vibrant imagery,” she said. “You get to experience her in everyday life and in the richness of her imagination … The form here is the emotional landscape.” The result, she said, is “exciting and theatrical.”

Coulombe said “the mundane and epic crash into each other” in the play. One moment, Shelly Anne is standing on a polar ice cap. The next, she’s in her yard, planting tulips.

Similarly, in Shelly Anne’s imagination, those around her take on different identities that reference what’s on her mind. At one point, her husband becomes a travel writer while her best friend turns into a tulip expert.

In some ways, those projections allow Shelly Anne to escape from what’s happening in real life, especially as it concerns her relationships with her loved ones. Getting caught up in worldwide problems makes one wonder, “What are we supposed to be doing, and how?” said Coulombe.

The play also reveals how too many things are vying for Shelly Anne’s attention. She can’t focus on what’s around here. “How can you solve those global problems when you can’t even stay connected to the ones you love?” posed Coulombe.

Horton said the play touches on themes that are accessible to anyone. “This is about a modern woman who is trying to navigate a day like no other,” she said. “I’m a single woman and don’t have any kids, but I can relate to someone trying to juggle so many things. We live in a multi-tasking society. But when is it too much?” she asked.

During the play, which has both funny and serious moments, it seems as though Shelly Anne is living on borrowed time. A prepared statement about the show states that Shelly Anne and her family are “on the verge of disaster” — the details of which Horton left a mystery.

Horton referenced a line in the play: “Tulip sellers sell the bulb. Not the flower, but the promise that it will become something extraordinary.”

“I think that’s profound,” she said. “I love the analogy that shows that we’re all trying to find strength in ourselves.”

Writing in the Workhaus

The play is tailored specifically around the performance space at the Playwrights’ Center, and it includes a level of detail that makes Workhaus a success, pointed out collective playwright Deborah Stein. The group is always searching for innovative ways to stage plays at the center and enrich the audience’s experience, she said. For her play, God Save Gertrude, the auditorium was converted into a rock music venue. A real band called the Shortcuts played backup.

Also, the set of playwright Cory Hinkle’s SadGrrl13, a show about cyber-stalking, was crafted to resemble a computer screen. “People are always asking, ‘what will the stage look like?’” said Stein.

The playwrights are able to tap into that level of creativity is because collective members act as artistic directors for their plays. They take part in all aspects of production, including business matters, marketing and set design. “Everyone collaborates with each other,” said Stein. “Usually these roles are kept separate. It’s rare for playwrights to have that leadership role.”

“Doing this kind of work feeds creativity,” said Stein, who joined Workhaus in 2006. “It helps me be a better playwright.”

The collective’s 10 member playwrights work well as a team, she said. Many originally arrived in the Twin Cities from New York and Chicago via fellowships from the Jerome Foundation, administered through the Playwrights’ Center.

While the year-long fellowships drew the playwrights to Minneapolis, Workhaus grew out of their desire to stay put. “We like living here,” said Stein. “We chose to stay. We were always traveling and wanted to find a way to do plays close to home.

“That’s why the collective exists,” she said, “because we wanted to stay.”

last revised: January 30, 2009

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