Shells
Los Angeles, California | Theatre
Comedy, Satire
In the aftermath of an unexpected encounter with a violent person, Evvy is just trying to get back to work. But now she has a wound, and the world around her may never be normal again…or maybe it never was.
Shells
Los Angeles, California | Theatre
Comedy, Satire
1 Campaigns | California, United States
25 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
$2,855
Goal: $12,000 for production
In the aftermath of an unexpected encounter with a violent person, Evvy is just trying to get back to work. But now she has a wound, and the world around her may never be normal again…or maybe it never was.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
In the aftermath of an unexpected encounter with a violent person, Evvy is just trying to get back to work. But now she has a wound, and the world around her may never be normal again…or maybe it never was. Inspired by a true story, Shells is an absurdist dark comedy utilizing puppetry and physical humor about coping with the farce and devastation of gun violence in an increasingly chaotic reality.
Developed and produced by Rogue Artists Ensemble, Shells is a new theatrical work inspired by playwright Amy Judd Lieberman’s personal experience with a person who pulled a loaded gun and shot her, unprompted — and the lasting impact of that violation on her life and how gun violence affects the world around her. We are telling this story through an absurdist lens—the play is funny, playful, and surreal while being true and of this moment.
Founded in 2004, Rogue Artists Ensemble creates HYPER-THEATER, a design-forward theatrical aesthetic that collides ancient storytelling traditions with modern technologies. Rogue works to create lines of communication between story and spectacle. We prioritize paying artists a living wage and providing access for all communities to our performances. And we are dedicated to bringing impossible theater to the stage.
Rogue has never shied away from the darkness inherent in our world—but we always aim to deliver work that, while challenging, offers some form of catharsis and hope. We look at the dark parts of society through a lens of playfulness; we believe in looking at things askance—it is how many of us were drawn to using puppets and masks in the first place to tell stories on stage. We see the objects in this reality and imagine them as something else on a different plane of existence. And, yes, sometimes those objects are guns.
Shells was born out of the Rogue Lab New Play Incubator, and will be the first project created within the Lab that is moving forward to a full production; through the incubator we support the development of daring, impossible plays that are pushing the boundaries of form, content, and theatrical magic. Bringing Shells to the stage kicks off a new era of play development for the company, through which we are mentoring emerging and established artists in the hyper-theatrical aesthetics and storytelling approach Rogue Artists has cultivated for 20 years.
Above: Rogue Artists Ensemble at the first rehearsal of Shells!
The unique voice and perspective of Shells builds on playwright Amy Judd Lieberman’s decade-long experience in writing sketch comedy for the Pack Theater’s House Sketch Teams FEVER and Bouncehouse, as well as writing her own variety acts. Amy has been working with Rogue Artists for about 15 years as an actor and sideshow performer, and this is her playwriting debut.
Ensemble member Stephanie O’Neill serves as the project’s Director and brings her experience in clowning and physical theater to the production; Stephanie has worked with the company for over 10 years as an actor, director, and production manager and this will be her directorial debut for a full production with the company.
Gun violence and gun culture is deeply ingrained in the American ecosystem — through media, economics, politics, and even through the way our children play.
Every day, nearly 130 people in the US are killed with guns and more than 200 are shot and wounded. The effects of gun violence in America extend far beyond these casualties—gun violence shapes the lives of millions who witness it, know someone who was shot, or live in fear of the next shooting. (everytownsupportfund.org)
Even as we write this paragraph, there have been shootings in Seattle, Washington and Twin Falls, Idaho and in Yonkers, New York, and on and on. The headlines for one story disappear and are quickly replaced on a fresh one.
Talking about the seriousness of this issue doesn’t seem to be getting through. So why not use comedy?
Rogue Artists Ensemble is teaming up with the Greenway Arts Alliance to premiere the show in September 2026. Rehearsals begin August 7 and we’ve assembled a kick-ass team of designers and actors to realize this production.
We are in the process of scheduling talkbacks and discussions with community leaders and experts around gun violence and mental health to create a dialogue after performances and provide the community with access to resources to get involved or find support.
Above: a moment at our first rehearsal of Shells with designers, cast & production team ready to dive in.
Most of our budgets go toward the people making the art happen! 73.2% of the Shells our budget goes toward cast, designers, and administrative teams. We have support from the Venturous Theater Fund and the California Arts Council but are seeking the additional funds needed to finish our design elements, such as our set, costumes, puppets, props, lighting and sound.
Not able to contribute financially? There are other ways to support!
- Hit the follow button on this campaign
- Share this campaign and info about the show with your network
- Connect with us and follow on Instagram: @rogue_artists
- Buy a ticket or request a community ticket to the show September 24-October 11, 2026 in Los Angeles
- Do you have a community network or advocacy group that might want to work with us or share information about the show? Let us know!
SPREAD THE WORD!
The only way we will reach our crowdfunding goal is if we reach beyond our networks. So if you are excited to support weird, absurdist theater with puppets -- and you know your friends will be excited too -- help us spread the word! Please share our campaign via your social media, email, word-of-mouth, or post some info on your break room bulletin board!
Here are some examples. Feel free to copy and paste!
Help LA theater-makers @rogue_artists make weird & wonderful comedic art about dark times! Join them on @seedandspark: https://bit.ly/shellsfund
Have you fed your wound today? If not, feed the @rogue_artists fundraiser today! And if you don't know what I mean by a wound, then even better reason to donate to their next show right now @seedandspark: https://bit.ly/shellsfund
It's really chic to donate to an absurdist dark comedy play about coping with gun violence. Be chic: @seedandspark: https://bit.ly/shellsfund
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Sponsor a Cast Member(s)!
Costs $8,200
We believe in paying fair wages and this rate covers just two performers of our cast of seven for us as a company including payroll taxes!
Archival Recording
Costs $800
This archival recording will allow us to help future funders visualize what hypertheatre is and how Rogue continues to Be Impossible!
Help Sponsor our Designer fees
Costs $3,000
Rogue is design heavy & we value the hard work every of our Designers, help us support their fees! This is 1/6 of our total designer fees!
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Rogue Artists Ensemble is an award-winning Los Angeles-based theater company who has been making world premiere original work for the stage and beyond since 2004. Currently, we create all our work in-house, shepherding new plays from ideation to production, with development timelines from two to ten years. Rogue has created over 25 original productions that have been seen by over 200K audience members throughout Los Angeles and our work has toured to Orange County, San Diego, Ashland, Seattle, Atlanta and Portland. Rogue has received accolades from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle and LA Stage Alliance Awards, and a UNIMA Citation of Excellence, the highest honor within the puppetry community. Rogue all-ages shows have toured throughout California to small community events and schools, in addition to larger venues including The Geffen Playhouse, The Pasadena Playhouse, Segerstrom Performing Arts Center, Rio Hondo College, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the National Puppetry Festival in Minneapolis.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
In the aftermath of an unexpected encounter with a violent person, Evvy is just trying to get back to work. But now she has a wound, and the world around her may never be normal again…or maybe it never was. Inspired by a true story, Shells is an absurdist dark comedy utilizing puppetry and physical humor about coping with the farce and devastation of gun violence in an increasingly chaotic reality.
Developed and produced by Rogue Artists Ensemble, Shells is a new theatrical work inspired by playwright Amy Judd Lieberman’s personal experience with a person who pulled a loaded gun and shot her, unprompted — and the lasting impact of that violation on her life and how gun violence affects the world around her. We are telling this story through an absurdist lens—the play is funny, playful, and surreal while being true and of this moment.
Founded in 2004, Rogue Artists Ensemble creates HYPER-THEATER, a design-forward theatrical aesthetic that collides ancient storytelling traditions with modern technologies. Rogue works to create lines of communication between story and spectacle. We prioritize paying artists a living wage and providing access for all communities to our performances. And we are dedicated to bringing impossible theater to the stage.
Rogue has never shied away from the darkness inherent in our world—but we always aim to deliver work that, while challenging, offers some form of catharsis and hope. We look at the dark parts of society through a lens of playfulness; we believe in looking at things askance—it is how many of us were drawn to using puppets and masks in the first place to tell stories on stage. We see the objects in this reality and imagine them as something else on a different plane of existence. And, yes, sometimes those objects are guns.
Shells was born out of the Rogue Lab New Play Incubator, and will be the first project created within the Lab that is moving forward to a full production; through the incubator we support the development of daring, impossible plays that are pushing the boundaries of form, content, and theatrical magic. Bringing Shells to the stage kicks off a new era of play development for the company, through which we are mentoring emerging and established artists in the hyper-theatrical aesthetics and storytelling approach Rogue Artists has cultivated for 20 years.
Above: Rogue Artists Ensemble at the first rehearsal of Shells!
The unique voice and perspective of Shells builds on playwright Amy Judd Lieberman’s decade-long experience in writing sketch comedy for the Pack Theater’s House Sketch Teams FEVER and Bouncehouse, as well as writing her own variety acts. Amy has been working with Rogue Artists for about 15 years as an actor and sideshow performer, and this is her playwriting debut.
Ensemble member Stephanie O’Neill serves as the project’s Director and brings her experience in clowning and physical theater to the production; Stephanie has worked with the company for over 10 years as an actor, director, and production manager and this will be her directorial debut for a full production with the company.
Gun violence and gun culture is deeply ingrained in the American ecosystem — through media, economics, politics, and even through the way our children play.
Every day, nearly 130 people in the US are killed with guns and more than 200 are shot and wounded. The effects of gun violence in America extend far beyond these casualties—gun violence shapes the lives of millions who witness it, know someone who was shot, or live in fear of the next shooting. (everytownsupportfund.org)
Even as we write this paragraph, there have been shootings in Seattle, Washington and Twin Falls, Idaho and in Yonkers, New York, and on and on. The headlines for one story disappear and are quickly replaced on a fresh one.
Talking about the seriousness of this issue doesn’t seem to be getting through. So why not use comedy?
Rogue Artists Ensemble is teaming up with the Greenway Arts Alliance to premiere the show in September 2026. Rehearsals begin August 7 and we’ve assembled a kick-ass team of designers and actors to realize this production.
We are in the process of scheduling talkbacks and discussions with community leaders and experts around gun violence and mental health to create a dialogue after performances and provide the community with access to resources to get involved or find support.
Above: a moment at our first rehearsal of Shells with designers, cast & production team ready to dive in.
Most of our budgets go toward the people making the art happen! 73.2% of the Shells our budget goes toward cast, designers, and administrative teams. We have support from the Venturous Theater Fund and the California Arts Council but are seeking the additional funds needed to finish our design elements, such as our set, costumes, puppets, props, lighting and sound.
Not able to contribute financially? There are other ways to support!
- Hit the follow button on this campaign
- Share this campaign and info about the show with your network
- Connect with us and follow on Instagram: @rogue_artists
- Buy a ticket or request a community ticket to the show September 24-October 11, 2026 in Los Angeles
- Do you have a community network or advocacy group that might want to work with us or share information about the show? Let us know!
SPREAD THE WORD!
The only way we will reach our crowdfunding goal is if we reach beyond our networks. So if you are excited to support weird, absurdist theater with puppets -- and you know your friends will be excited too -- help us spread the word! Please share our campaign via your social media, email, word-of-mouth, or post some info on your break room bulletin board!
Here are some examples. Feel free to copy and paste!
Help LA theater-makers @rogue_artists make weird & wonderful comedic art about dark times! Join them on @seedandspark: https://bit.ly/shellsfund
Have you fed your wound today? If not, feed the @rogue_artists fundraiser today! And if you don't know what I mean by a wound, then even better reason to donate to their next show right now @seedandspark: https://bit.ly/shellsfund
It's really chic to donate to an absurdist dark comedy play about coping with gun violence. Be chic: @seedandspark: https://bit.ly/shellsfund
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Sponsor a Cast Member(s)!
Costs $8,200
We believe in paying fair wages and this rate covers just two performers of our cast of seven for us as a company including payroll taxes!
Archival Recording
Costs $800
This archival recording will allow us to help future funders visualize what hypertheatre is and how Rogue continues to Be Impossible!
Help Sponsor our Designer fees
Costs $3,000
Rogue is design heavy & we value the hard work every of our Designers, help us support their fees! This is 1/6 of our total designer fees!
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Rogue Artists Ensemble is an award-winning Los Angeles-based theater company who has been making world premiere original work for the stage and beyond since 2004. Currently, we create all our work in-house, shepherding new plays from ideation to production, with development timelines from two to ten years. Rogue has created over 25 original productions that have been seen by over 200K audience members throughout Los Angeles and our work has toured to Orange County, San Diego, Ashland, Seattle, Atlanta and Portland. Rogue has received accolades from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle and LA Stage Alliance Awards, and a UNIMA Citation of Excellence, the highest honor within the puppetry community. Rogue all-ages shows have toured throughout California to small community events and schools, in addition to larger venues including The Geffen Playhouse, The Pasadena Playhouse, Segerstrom Performing Arts Center, Rio Hondo College, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the National Puppetry Festival in Minneapolis.