BOISE BENCH, Idaho — A female-led theatre group is partnering with a local nonprofit to ensure their upcoming play handles heavy themes of trauma and sexual assault with care.
The female founded group, The Luminary, is preparing to take the stage at The Comedy Lounge with "Funnie: The Most Lamentable Comedie of Jane the Foole" from May 20-29. The play follows a female comedian in the 1500s but also touches on difficult themes.
"In the play, there is an unfortunate sexual harassment, sexual assault situation," Artistic Director Dayna Smith said.
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Due to the subject matter, the group wanted to approach the story carefully. They turned to Faces of Hope, a local nonprofit that supports people impacted by abuse, to host a training session for the cast.
"It was just to kind of help them understand a little bit about the topic that they are representing in this play, but then also being able to be there if somebody does experience it and how they can support," Faces of Hope Executive Director Paige Dinger said.
The training helped actors navigate the emotional weight of their roles, especially for those playing difficult characters.
"Prepping them to tackle the themes of, ‘I'm playing this character who is a villain. I'm playing a character who's going to assault a woman,’ and that's a heavy thing when that is not you as a person, but these stories happen every day," The Luminary Director JZ Marrero said.
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The preparation is not just about what happens on stage, but also about being ready for conversations with the audience after the performance.
"Actors I know walked away feeling very safe and vulnerable and OK to be vulnerable, which is what we hope, that at the end, if we have audience members who might wanna talk, that they feel safe enough," Marrero said.
For the cast, telling this story is about more than the performance itself.
"It's really about education for us,” Smith said. “Hopefully give people some community, give people some strength and make the world a little bit better of a place.”
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Dinger said conversations like the ones sparked by the play make a real impact in the community.
"We appreciate when people talk about sexual assault or any type of abuse because first off, it kind of takes away that stigma,” Dinger said. “It also helps people feel safe and like there's somebody that they can trust who's willing to help and support them.”
The show opens May 20 at The Comedy Lounge.
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