BIO

Amy Schwabauer is a Cleveland based actor and playwright. Currently, Amy has taken a deep interest in writing about myth and retelling myth stories from the perspectives of women. She recently created and performed an interactive installation piece based on Ariadne from the Minotaur myth. She focuses on creating work that champions women and tells the unheard stories of those on the margins. Other recent work includes touring, "The Events of the Warren County Fair as Observed by a Young Astronaut", a table top, toy theater adventure co-written and co-performed with Mike Geither (2015-2018). This past summer “The Events of the Warren County Fair…” toured to Prince Edward Island Canada, perhaps the most beautiful place in North America, at least Amy thinks so.  She regularly writes 10-minute plays and monologues for Cleveland’s Manhattan Project staged reading series. In 2017, she was named Cleveland’s Best Actress by ‘Cleveland Scene Magazine’ for her performance in her one-woman show, “This is Not About my Dead Dog” produced by Playwrights Local and directed by Dale Heinen. She performed the leading role of ‘Kilbride’ in the regional premiere of “Snake Oil” written by Arwen Mitchell and directed by Sarah Greywitt (2016). She was met with rave reviews for her comedic performance in Theater Ninja’s original production, "Tingle Tangle" conceived by Ray Caspio, directed by Jeremy Paul (2014/2015). In 2016, she studied Sketch Comedy Writing at The Second City Theater in Chicago. She is a graduate of Cleveland State University’s Theatre Arts Program with a specialization in performance. She works part time at a local Cleveland bookstore, Macs Backs Paperbacks on Coventry, and she is a bit of a connoisseur of self-help books for artists. Her favorites include: “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield, “Coaching the Artist Within” by Eric Maisel, and of course “The Artists Way” by Julia Cameron. www.AmySchwabauer.com   

INSPIRED BY

Octavia Butler / Joseph Campbell / Mythology / nature adventures and hiding in plain sight (aka people watching)

“The Minotaur Eats Muffins” is a dark comedy I’m writing based on the Minotaur myth, however in my variation of the story, the Minotaur is a woman and the labyrinth itself is the monster. Minnie the Minotaur spends much of her time in the labyrinth with the ghost of her dead brother Androgeus and has an occasional visit from her sister Ariadne, with the story leading up to the arrival of Thesus to Crete. The script is an examination of the family dynamics between these siblings. The piece also delves into the  power of the systems we all live in; how we individually interact with these systems—whether we fight them, become complacent within them or both.