Charlotte theater company presents joy as force for good

MIXED METAPHORS PRODUCTIONS

Mixed Metaphors Productions presents “Dauntless: An Ode to 2916” Aug. 20-30 at QC Family Tree’s Marian Wright Edelman House, 2916 Parkway Ave.

There’s joy in community.

Mixed Metaphors Productions’ “Dauntless: An Ode to 2916” explores joy as a force for good through a mix of theater, immersive art installations, and music. Tickets to the show, which will take place Aug. 20-30 at QC Family Tree’s Marian Wright Edelman House, 2916 Parkway Ave. are on a sliding scale starting at $28 each at Humanitix.  

“For our fifth season, we wanted to create a show that felt like a celebration,” Mixed Metaphors Productions founder Kat Martin said in a statement.  “This show imagines a new, just future for Martha’s Daughter. We wanted to know what she could have grown into if she had been allowed to stay.”

Martha’s Daughter debuted in Mixed Metaphors’ 2024 show “Kudzu,” when the character was preparing for eviction from her home. The 55-minute show will take a walk through an Enderly Park home with nine audience members. 

“Dauntless” taps into rituals of joy that float through the history of 2916 Parkway Ave. from 1933-2026. The production follows the life of Martha’s Daughter and unexpected moments of joy that turned her house into a home and neighbors into family. The moments are small but powerful: birthday parties, dancing in the kitchen at midnight; blowing dandelion seeds in the spring. 

The cast includes actors Sunnee Goodwin, Cecilia McNeill, Teresa Long, Andy Bentley, Courtney Rohan, and Zulynette. Music director Ryan Persaud created original music and supervises sound design. The production, Martin said, offers joy as a taste of what “life could feel like without the systems that control us. That’s why we are using the dandelion as a jumping off point. This sunshiny flower flourishes through cracks and crevices. Our joy, like the dandelion, keeps coming back. It cannot be erased.”

Show dates and times:

Aug. 20, 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

Aug. 21, 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

Aug. 22, 2 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

Aug. 23, 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Aug. 27, 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

Aug. 28, 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

Aug. 29, 2 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

Aug. 30 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.

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