UMA Cultural Events Committee presents An Authentic Mess: Dispatches from the Beauty Battlefield

Event Summary

The Cultural Events Committee of the University of Maine at Augusta will present two free performances of An Authentic Mess: Dispatches from the Beauty Battlefield on Wednesday, February 19th at noon at the Michael Klahr Center on the Augusta Campus of the University of Maine at Augusta, 46 University Drive, and on Thursday, February 20th at noon in 124 Eastport Hall on the UMA Bangor Campus, University Drive in Bangor. This event is free and open to the public.

Written by and starring Orlando-based actress Lily E. Garnett, An Authentic Mess: Dispatches from the Beauty Battlefield is a 60-minute comic drama that combines autobiography with storytelling to explore self-image, social conditioning, beauty standards, and how society values people, particularly women. Produced by Bored At Midnight Productions (Orlando, FL), the production is directed by Rebekah Lane and has been staged in fringe festivals in Orlando, Kansas City, MO, and Portland, ME.

The Orlando Sentinel observed “While the audience is not always sure about what the enemy is that we’re trained to fight, it ultimately does not matter. The voices surrounding us, including the ones in our heads, are enemy enough, and Garnett, a skilled actor, makes those voices very real.” Mark Shaughnessy of the Portland Fringe Review Team raved “Lily E. Garnett’s storytelling is skillful, sharp, honest and funny….”

SPECIAL NOTE: Although there is no objectionable language, the production does include some mature themes and is not suitable for very young children. Discretion is advised.

For more information, contact David Greenham, lecturer in drama, at the University of Maine at Augusta, (207) 621-3531, or david.greenham@maine.edu.