It’s like Tom Stoppard and Douglas Adams wrote a Musical…

That’s how I’ve been talking about Strawdog’s upcoming show, Improbable Frequency. 

Strawdog Ensemble Member Sarah Goeden
noired out as Philomena O'Shea
Photo courtesy of Sarah-Ji Photography

Smart. Funny. Fast-Paced. Scientific. Filled with a mix of Historical and Fictional Characters. Code Breaking. Word play. Puzzles. Romance. Singing. Dancing. World War II. Irish Neutrality. And a plot that hinges on the most unlikely of…. Well I won’t talk about that.  As the play traces the journey of Tristram Faraday, our reluctant hero, from London cruciverbalist to British undercover agent, you’ll find that there's a lot to love about this play, including the fact that it’s a challenge in the most rewarding ways.

‘Challenge’ is one of our core values at Strawdog; and to be honest, it is a tricky value to hold dear. Valuing ‘Challenge’ makes it difficult to say ‘No’ to the demanding, complex, or complicated. But it also draws us towards work that challenges us as artists and storytellers, and allows us to challenge the perceptions of well-known works, and sometimes we ask the audience to be challenged along with us.

One of the challenges of Improbable Frequency is the massive amount of word play, puns and double entendre (I'm considering making that the show's signature drink).  We’ll talk about wordplay in greater detail in a future post, but even the title sets up the duality and duplicity of words with ‘Improbable Frequency’ referring to both the re-occurrence of letter patterns in code breaking, and also the mysterious radio broadcasts originating in Ireland that our hero is asked to investigate, and perhaps even more.

‘Improbable Frequency’ takes on some challenging topics as well.  Like many, I never fully understood the complexity of Irish Neutrality in World War Two (It’s in here).  Or the fundamentals of Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger’s results in the field of quantum theory (I just thought he was an Austrian that hated cats). And of course Love. That one is always a challenge.  

Over the next few weeks we'll make certain that you're properly invited to this challenge. We’ll be sharing dramaturgical information, historical background, supporting research, and puzzles… because folks love a good puzzle.

We’ll be sharing this information in context of our Values: Challenge, Community, Genuine Connection, and Ensemble.

We’re excited to have you along on this production, and we look forward to having you back in our home soon for Improbable Frequency. 

Hank Boland
Ensemble Member
Interim Artistic Director
Strawdog Theatre Company