Rose: You Are Who You Eat
A true story of gender cannibalism, set to music
PERFORMANCES
Friday, May 16, 2025 @ 7PM
Saturday, May 17, 2025 @ 7PM
TICKETS
$25 General Admission / $20 Student/Senior
Conceived, Written, and Performed by John Jarboe
Directed by MK Tuomanen
Music Direction and accompaniment by Emily Bate
Once upon a vine, John Jarboe’s aunt revealed that John not only had a twin sister in the womb, but that John consumed her: “You ate her. That’s why you are the way you are.” This was a lot for John to swallow! In this musical shrine to the consumed twin, named Rose, John welcomes you into a feast of gender through song, storytelling, and a full plate of wordplay.
Featuring all original music written in collaboration with Emily Bate, John Jarboe, and Pax Ressler.
Content Transparency: This performance includes themes of fetal mortality and growing up queer in Michigan in the 90s, some graphic eating imagery and cannibal humor.
Presented by BAC with support from Arts Westchester.
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Rose was commissioned by Works & Process and developed in collaboration with The Bearded Ladies Cabaret. The work was created during the pandemic in Works & Process bubble residencies at Mount Tremper Arts and Bethany Arts Community, with the support of the Mellon Foundation and Doris Duke Foundation. Early iterations of Rose were presented by Works & Process in the Guggenheim Rotunda (2021) Guggenheim Theater (2022), and CulturalDC (2022.) Rolling World Premiere at FringeArts (2023), La MaMa ETC (2024), and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (2024).
ABOUT JOHN JARBOE
John Jarboe (she/her) is a director, producer, writer, performer, and art activist, and the founding artistic director of The Bearded Ladies Cabaret. After receiving a BA and a BFA in English and Theater from the University of Michigan, Jarboe moved to Philadelphia, where in the past 14 years she has created and performed work for organizations including The Wilma Theater, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia Horticultural Society, FringeArts, and Opera Philadelphia. She and her company The Bearded Ladies gained notoriety for their annual Bastille Day show at Eastern State Penitentiary, which grew under her writing and directing from a street festival to an hour long performance attended by over 10,000 people by 2018. Jarboe has received a 2013 Independence Fellowship, was named best drag performer in Philadelphia (2018) by Philadelphia Magazine and is a 2022 Transformation Grant awardee (The Leeway Foundation ). Outside of Philadelphia she has toured original work to Miami, Seattle (Seattle Symphony) France, Poland, New Zealand (Performance Arcade), and Australia (Malthouse Theater). She has also written, performed, and directed original work for La Mama ETC, Joe’s Pub, Lincoln Center’s American Songbook Series, and The Guggenheim’s Works & Process series. She has written for and directed original cabarets for famed opera star Anthony Roth Costanzo and is the drag doula of Stephanie Blythe. Jarboe’s original performance piece Rose: You Are Who You Eat, commissioned by Works and Process, is in the midst of a rolling world premiere at FringeArts in fall 2023, La MaMa January 2024, and Woolly Mammoth in June 2024. She is also a resident artist at The Fabric Workshop in Museum and debuted her first installation of films and objects called The Rose Garden in May of 2024. See her upcoming work at www.beardedladiescabaret.com and @johnjarbeaux on instagram.
ABOUT EMILY BATE
Emily Bate is a singer, composer and performer, working fluidly across disciplines including music performance, theater and choral music. She runs a queer & trans community chorus called Trust Your Moves, an experiment in collective singing designed around liberation and co-creation. She has collaborated with artists such as Erin Markey, Ragnar Kjartansson, filmmaker Chet Pancake, MJ Kaufman, and Pig Iron. In 2023 she premiered Wig Wag, a music-theater piece performed by a cast of 4 and the entire audience, as part of the Curated Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Emily is a 2022 Art Works Fellow and a 2021 Pew Fellow. @_emilybate_
CAST/CREW
In Collaboration With The Bearded Ladies Cabaret and Fringe Arts
Director: MK Tuomanen
Producer: Jecca Barry
Music Director: Emily Bate
Score Supervisor: Pax Ressler
Compositions by Emily Bate, John Jarboe, Pax Ressler
Arrangements by Heath Allen, Emily Bate, Daniel de Jesús, and Pax Ressler
Scenic, Lighting, and Video Designer: Christopher Ash
Costume Designer: Rebecca Kanach
Sound Designer: Taylor Jedlinski
Production Manager: Brian Freeland
Additional Dramaturgical Support: Sally Ollove
Musicians
Guitar: Emily Bate
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