By Page H. Gifford
Correspondent
On April 26, at 7 p.m., Carysbrook Performing Arts Center will present Dirty Barbie, a one-woman show written and performed by Denise Stewart. It is a raw, spicy, hilarious expose of her personal journey through life. As Stewart uncovers her vulnerability with humor and finesse, the audience begins to see part of themselves in her performance.
Stewart’s background as a theater artist, speaker, and executive coach helps her to be fearless on stage and easily express herself.
“It’s all intertwined. My training and experience in theater informs my coaching and teaching, and daily life informs my comedy” she said. This past March, along with her comic partner, Mendy St. Ours, they co-produced No Country for Funny Women at Live Arts.
She has a BA in theater from Catawba College and an MFA in play writing from UVA. She has been a lecturer at UVA for 11 years, in the drama department for eight years, and currently at the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy where she teaches graduate and undergraduate classes in public speaking.
“I’ve been a TEDx speaker and a coach for TEDx speakers, which I love—it lets me mix my theater roots with my coaching work in a meaningful way,” she said. Stewart has spoken to various groups and organizations and is a professional stage actor. Her TV pilot Adjuncts, was a finalist for the 2017 Virginia Film Award.
She wrote and started performing Dirty Barbie and Other Girlhood Tales in 2010. She has many side hustles, most of them artistic and it was in 2009 at the Lee Street Theater in Salisbury, N.C that Dirty Barbie began to sprout.
“They reached out to ask me if I had any new work that I’d like to propose for their season. I didn’t at the time, but I jumped at the chance to create something they were interested in staging,” she said. “It felt like a good time to convert blog posts and stories I’d previously written about my childhood into a one-woman show. One of the stories was entitled Dirty Barbie and so that ended up being part of the title of the whole show. I had a successful opening run of the show.” This show is a series of true stories and scenes from her life growing up in North Carolina.
The show is intended for mature audiences, combining storytelling, stand-up, and physical comedy in a 70-minute format.
“Growing up in a wild family and a small southern town certainly has defined the extremes of my comedy. I have been working on my oral history for years. For this, I wanted to shape my stories into a one-hour wild ride.”
For tickets, visit carysbrook.org.
