NWaC 將首映《沙發王酷兒》，這是自新冠疫情爆發以來首部完整製作

NWaC 是一家成立於 2008 年的非營利劇院公司，其使命是「透過在回收環境中的沉浸式和特定地點劇院講述歷史上邊緣化聲音的故事」。

Nothing Without a Company (NWaC) will premiere Sofa King Queer, its first full production since the emergence of the COVID pandemic, Oct. 26-31 (preview performances) and Nov. 1-Dec. 2 (full run performances) at NWaC’s partnership park in Edgewater’s Berger Park Cultural Center, 6205 N. Sheridan Rd.

Nothing Without a Company (NWaC) 將於 10 月 26 日至 31 日（預覽）和 11 月 1 日至 12 月首演 Sofa King Queer，這是自新冠病毒大流行出現以來的首個完整製作。 2（全程演出）地點：NWaC 合作夥伴公園，地址：Edgewater's Berger Park Cultural Center, 6205 N. Sheridan Rd.

NWaC is a nonprofit theater company incorporated in 2008 whose mission is “telling the stories of historically marginalized voices through immersive and site-specific theater in reclaimed environments.” Their focus is to support LGBTQ+, women, trans, gender non-binary/GNC and BIPOC people so they have a safe and creative space to explore their voices and talents.

NWaC 是一家成立於 2008 年的非營利劇院公司，其使命是「透過在回收環境中的沉浸式和特定地點劇院講述歷史上邊緣化聲音的故事」。他們的重點是支持 LGBTQ+、女性、跨性別、非二元性別/GNC 和 BIPOC 人群，以便他們有一個安全且富有創意的空間來探索自己的聲音和才能。

Sofa King Queer tells the story of six characters related to Chicago’s pop punk/indie rock scene just before President Barack Obama was elected in 2008. It follows a young queer man as he confronts a choice between community and solitude fueled by pressures from his family and partners a day before a breakaway concert.

《Sofa King Queer》講述了2008 年巴拉克·奧巴馬(Barack Obama) 當選總統之前與芝加哥流行朋克/獨立搖滾樂壇相關的六個角色的故事。家庭的壓力下面臨社區和孤獨之間的選擇。

NWaC’s literary manager Kevin Sparrow, who officially joined the company in 2016 after their stint as the researcher for NWaC’s immersive fairy tale show, Down the Moonlit Path, chose to focus on queer lives in 2008 for this musical “due to similarities both in proposed laws that have direct consequences on LGBTQIA lives and the growth in anti-LGBTQIA sentiment I was noticing in 2018 and that era, which have continued to be significant into the 2020s.”

NWaC 的文學經理凱文·斯帕羅(Kevin Sparrow) 於2016 年正式加入該公司，此前他曾擔任NWaC 的沉浸式童話劇《月光下的小路》(Down the Moonlit Path) 的研究員，並在2008年選擇將這部音樂劇的重點放在酷兒生活上，「因為擬議的法律有相似之處」這對LGBTQIA 的生活以及我在2018 年和那個時代註意到的反LGBTQIA 情緒的增長產生了直接影響，這種情緒在2020 年代仍然很重要。

They said, “Sometimes, holding up a mirror from an earlier time can be an effective strategy in showing that history is repeating itself and putting more urgency to make change in the present.”

他們說：“有時，舉起過去的鏡子可能是一種有效的策略，可以表明歷史正在重演，並讓現在更加緊迫地做出改變。”

Sparrow, who wrote the book, music (with Ron Attreau) and lyrics for Sofa King Queer, noted statistics citing increases in hate crimes during election years, adding that “the presidential election cycles seem to reflect a fairly cynical acknowledgment of queer lives in the United States. Granting equal rights to LGBTQIA people is used as a political tactic that forces greater visibility and as well as greater potential harm on LGBTQIA people.”

斯帕羅是《沙發之王酷兒》的書、音樂（與羅恩·阿特羅）和歌詞的作者，他指出統計數據顯示選舉年仇恨犯罪有所增加，並補充說「總統選舉週期似乎反映出人們對酷兒生活的相當憤世嫉俗的承認」。美國。給予 LGBTQIA 人群平等權利被用作一種政治策略，迫使 LGBTQIA 人群獲得更大的知名度，同時也造成更大的潛在傷害。

Sparrow approached pop-punk music as “both as a fan of the genre and from a critical lens of the often masculine, and straight, perception of the genre in the 2000s. For the story, my goal was to recover the queer experience within that music subculture as a way to represent the broader experiences of erasure and marginalization LGBTQIA people face. At the same time, I did not want the characters to come across as simply reacting to outside circumstances; queer people also contribute to systems of oppression, and that reality.”

斯帕羅認為流行龐克音樂「既是作為該流派的粉絲，也是從 2000 年代對流行龐克流派的批判性視角來看。對於這個故事，我的目標是恢復音樂次文化中的酷兒體驗，以此來代表 LGBTQIA 人群面臨的更廣泛的抹除和邊緣化經歷。同時，我不希望角色給人留下只是對外部環境做出反應的印象。酷兒群體也為壓迫制度和現實做出了貢獻。

Ron Attreau, Sofa King Queer’s musical director, arranger and co-composer, added, “In making musical decisions for this show, I have strived to be true to the pop punk/emo/grunge rock aesthetic from which it is derived and portrays, while also working within the realm of musical theater.”

《Sofa King Queer》的音樂總監、編曲家和聯合作曲家羅恩·阿特羅(Ron Attreau) 補充道：「在為這部劇做出音樂決定時，我努力忠於它所衍生和描繪的流行龐克/情緒/垃圾搖滾美學，同時也在音樂劇領域工作。

“Kevin captured the aesthetic essence of NWaC while encouraging collaboration on all levels,” said NWaC’s artistic director Hannah Ii-Epstein. “There are a lot of firsts for NWaC in this show: first full-length musical, first production since 2019, first full live band on stage, first full understudy cast, first time using mics and much more.”

「Kevin 捕捉了 NWaC 的美學精髓，同時鼓勵各個層面的合作，」NWaC 的藝術總監 Hannah Ii-Epstein 說。 「NWaC 在這場演出中創造了很多第一：第一部完整長度的音樂劇、自2019 年以來的首次製作、舞台上第一支完整的現場樂隊、第一支完整的替補演員陣容、第一次使用麥克風等等。

“I’ve been doing theatre for almost 30 years so I have this drive to challenge myself to try new things,” said NWaC’s producing director Anna Rose Ii-Epstein. “So when Kevin came to us in 2018 and said they were developing a show, they weren’t exactly sure what it looked like yet but that it was going to be a musical I was so stoked.”

「我從事戲劇工作已近 30 年，所以我有動力挑戰自己、嘗試新事物，」NWaC 的製作總監 Anna Rose Ii-Epstein 說。 “因此，當凱文在 2018 年找到我們並說他們正在製作一部節目時，他們還不確定它會是什麼樣子，但這將是一部音樂劇，我感到非常興奮。”

Sofa King Queer’s album mixer Angel Torres said she has been friends with both Anna and Hannah for over a decade, and has worked with NWaC intermittently since 2010. She said when Anna and Hannah (who have also been married to each other since 2011 and were also chosen as for this publication’s 30 Under 30 Awards in 2014, the first couple to be bestowed with this honor) first approached her to get involved she said yes immediately.

Sofa King Queer 的專輯混音師 Angel Torres 表示，她與 Anna 和 Hannah 已經是十多年的朋友了，並且自 2010 年起就斷斷續續地與 NWaC 合作。 30 人獎，第一對獲此殊榮的夫婦）首先聯繫她參與其中，她立即答應了。

“The title alone caught my interest,” said Torres. “After seeing the first table reading, I knew there was something special here. I haven’t had the opportunity to see the rehearsals yet, but judging from the recordings that I’m mixing, the show is going to be a cathartic trip back to the mid- to late-aughts with songs reminiscent of Green Day and Weezer, and ballads about being proudly queer. I think that the show is going to be a memorable experience for everyone.”

「光是這個標題就引起了我的興趣，」托雷斯說。 「看到第一個表讀數後，我知道這裡有一些特別的東西。我還沒有機會看到排練，但從我正在混音的錄音來看，這場演出將是一次回到中後期的宣洩之旅，其中的歌曲讓人想起 Green Day 和 Weezer ，以及關於驕傲的酷兒的民謠。我認為這場演出對每個人來說都會是一次難忘的經歷。

Sofa King Queer

沙發國王酷兒