Original One-Woman Show Bother Line to Debut at United Solo Theater Festival

NEW YORK - Sept. 21, 2018 - PRLog -- September 26, Bother Line, an original Nettles Artists Collective (NAC)-produced one-woman performance created by actress Gio Mielle, will re-emerge at the United Solo Theater Festival, the world's largest solo theater festival. The solo performance continues to draw awareness to the microaggressions that weaken and destroy women and culture.

In 2017, Mielle, along with director Debora Balardini, premiered Bother Line at PUNTO, an event and performance raw space created with social good in mind. The piece explores gender-based identity distortions and gives voice to Helen Palmer, the pen name of renowned Brazilian author Clarice Lispector, who challenged gender bias and marginalization of women.

The non-traditional solo performance received two 2018 Brazilian International Press Award nominations for Best Local Production in Theater and Best Female Theater Actor. Bother Line persists in examining subjective, impossible, and often cruel societal projections of what defines womanhood and femininity and, in turn, how they are internalized. Balardini and Mielle join Lispector in continuing to challenge the way women are trivialized.

Mielle, who identifies as an independent artist, a Brazilian, and a Latina, speculates on the future of Bother Line after its run at United Solo: "…we'd like Bother Line to have a global reach in different countries to new audiences. One of the show's biggest discussions is our personal relationship with beauty and how the world around us influences our choices of how to take care of one's own body. This is a universal discussion, especially for women. It's a subject debated in conversation circles in almost every part of the world as we live in a digital world constantly bombarded by ads and information determining how we should look."

Balardini's interests for the piece and pride in being included as a Latina artist echo a similar sentiment: "We definitely want to do more festivals, domestic and international ones. And within each phase, I hope we are able to make it better and better. This is a politically and socially relevant solo that deserves to be seen by many people, especially women who are trapped in what our society has been dictating for the past many decades. The message in this show is about finding out our real identity as individuals as women and men, as a community and a global society."

The Bother Line invitation can be viewed here: https://botherlineatunitedsolofestival.splashthat.com/.  To learn more about United Solo, visit http://unitedsolo.org/us/.

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About Debora Balardini (www.deborabalardini.com):

Debora Balardini is the co-founder of PUNTO Space, Nettles Artists Collective, and Group.BR. With 30 years of unwavering commitment to the arts, expression, and movement, Debora Balardini (La Frontera – The Border) has traveled beyond craft to her calling as a global performer, educator, director, and producer. She is also one of the newest board members of the League of Professional Theater Women and is currently a Brazilian International Press Award 2017 Best Actress nominee for the production she co-created, co-produced, and performed, Inside the Wild Heart, as seen in IR tv, Industry Rules, The Miami Herald, The Story Exchange, Cheapism, Trendy Trippin', Mushaka's Motivational Monday/Huffington Post blog, On Deck with Lucy, and Business News Daily.

About Gio Mielle (https://www.giomielle.com/):

Gio Mielle is a Brazilian actress, theater producer, and journalist. Mielle has a degree in theater from Brasilia University, a place where she also acted and worked as a producer for Cometa Cenas Festival. In 2003 Giovanna won an award for best actress for The Cannibal, which led to many other roles in various productions around Brazil. She worked as an actress for big projects at Galpão Cine Horto, such as Arriscamundo, Sonho de uma Noite de São João, and Ensaio de Mentiras. Since moving to New York, Gio has worked as an assistant producer for groups such as Sister Sylvester, Elevator Repair Service, and La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. She was part of the cast for Sorry Robot, Mike Iveson's project for Elevator Repair Service. She performed at the latest Nettles Artists' show, The Dark Side of the Woods, and at Sister Sylvester's The Maids, the Maids. She was also a swing actress at the critic choice immersive theater, Doomocracy, which gave her a nomination to the International Brazilian Press Award 2017.

Nettles Artists Collective, Producer (http://nettlesartists.com/):

Nettles Artists Collective (NAC), which was founded by Debora Balardini and Sandie Luna, is a New York-based group of artists, performers, and producers with a mission to imbue the American performing arts scene with authentic global voices and universal vision. For ten years the award-winning organization has worked to create an approach to theater that is transparent, permeable, and constantly changing. Instead of fighting against prejudice, they celebrate differences. NAC is currently a resident at PUNTO Space.