Thin Mints by Playwriting alumna Ellen Steves ’17 will play in Sideshow Theatre Company’s House Party series. The House Party series is inspired by the concept of attending a play and then going to the after party. Each party will have a reading of a new play, a theme, and a customized party experience. Thin Mints kicks off the first of 5 House Party reading events.
Thin Mints was first workshopped and presented at Columbia’s Schapiro Theatre. Steves says Thin Mints scores 100/100 on the Bechdel test. The Bechdel Test is a measure of the representation of women in fiction, asking whether a work features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. “There is not a single mention of a man; no brothers, fathers, lovers, etc.” Steves elaborates. Thin Mints asks who are women when they aren't in love?
Thin Mints follows a troop of Bonfire Girls during a five-day woodland jamboree as they prepare for an important election. At the end of the retreat, one scout will be chosen to take over the Troop. The girls use torture, terror, and trauma to claw their way to the top... but who is really pulling the strings? The play offers a warped perspective on the consequences of a community governed by abuse and manipulation.
Ellen Steves is a writer and producer based in Los Angeles California. Her plays include Talk Locker, Hatefuck, and A Sad Sink. Steves is a founding member of the Barelight Bears, a weekly writers group and a cofounder of chap.three, a theatre company focused on creating entertainment that puts women in the spotlight.
The Thin Mints reading presented virtually on March 19.
