Kathe Koja

The folly in the green, lovers on the tower …

Pleased and excited to be producing Michael Lluberes’ “Tower Project”, a one-time-only performance in Ann Arbor on this very singular stage. Last year, I produced and directed “Bottom’s Folly,” and between the masks, the Sprites, the music, and Bottom descending from the tree, fun was definitely had.

This time, Michael is working with the myth of the tower, the maiden, young love, and something tangible in the air … More details later. But fun has already arrived.

  Sometimes it’s the words on a page, paper or digital; sometimes it’s a story offered with gestures, laughter, silence, to an audience. Either way, always, it’s the story that matters. [Photo courtesy Rick Lieder.]

As I write this, the Under the Poppy Brothel has just completed its sold-out run in Detroit, an intense and immersive collaboration between our amazing cast, our adventurous patrons, and the story of Rupert, Istvan, and Decca.

And, of course, the floozies!

We’ve had much too much fun opening the brothel doors to close them just yet. So stay tuned for the next incarnation of the Poppy. Perhaps in a city where you live . . .

On the page, THE MERCURY WALTZ, the second book in the Under the Poppy trilogy, will come out this year from Roadswell Editions; the third, THE BASTARDS’ PARADISE, is just finished. And SKIN is just about to become an ebook, leading the way for BAD BRAINS and STRANGE ANGELS to follow.

Between the brothel and the books, this is a very busy time! Let’s meet somewhere, the page, the stage, and have some extraordinary fun.

[Photos courtesy Rick Lieder from the Under the Poppy Brothel production April 2013: Vanessa Ellen Hentschel and Joe Dimuzio; Diane Cheklich and Kathe Koja; Steve Xander Carson; Laura Heikkinen. SKIN book cover by Rick Lieder.]

This is the year of the Poppy: the intense, and intensely joyful, experience of bringing the process and power of the Under the Poppy story to full flower as an immersive Victorian brothel experience, in a historic house in Detroit.

Each earlier event took us step by step along the road, until these performances, these evenings, these moments of silk and whiskey scent and bodies so close to your own that you feel their heat as you pass….Our patrons were more than pleased (except for the few who chose to walk out, unnerved or offended by the passionate nature of our tale). Perhaps our highest compliment was this: “There were times where I forgot I was watching a show. Brava!!! It was one of the best evenings I’ve ever experienced.”

I could say so much more, but what matters most are the names of the creative ensemble whose work and play made the brothel what it is:

Steve Xander Carson
Jonathan West
Laura Bailey
Laura Heikkinen
Vanessa Ellen Hentschel
Joe Dimuzio
Marisa Dluge
Alan Madlane
Steve Deasy
Joe Stacey
Diane Cheklich
Rick Lieder
Aaron Mustamaa

See for yourself.

Under the Poppy Farewell performance from Under the Poppy on Vimeo.

Let the images tell the story . . . Under the Poppy’s immersive brothel will open in April, in a Victorian house in Brush Park, Detroit. Tickets may purchased here.

Under the Poppy: Farewell Performance from Under the Poppy on Vimeo.

I’m very pleased to be returning as a judge for this year’s Ferro-Grumley Awards. I can’t wait to judge other writers!

Really?  No, not really, if by “judge” we mean harshly parse, cut up, cut down. Am I going to love every single thing I read? That’s doubtful, but oh, wouldn’t it be exciting if it were so? Last year I fell head-over-heels for Paul Russell’s THE UNREAL LIFE OF SERGEY NABOKOV (it went on to win). What loves await, what flings, what energizing bylines I don’t know now but will wonder how I lived without?

If I didn’t hope this could happen, would I want to take part in the process? Not at all. Why would anyone want to grimly wade through a pile of work without pleasure? So you get to wear the little cardboard sparkle crown that says “JUDGE”? (PS, there is no crown.) The pleasure principle is at work and so am I. Let the mailers full of books commence, let the judging begin!