TODAY · All day
Meet Lisa Loudermilk - Austin Artist of the Month
Unchained.Art Contemporary Gallery · East
TODAY · 8:00pm
In Spite of All the Roses
Thursday, October 29 at Klerje Coffee, Austin
About this event
IN SPITE OF ALL THE ROSES is an intimate, immersive dance theater experience set in a 1950s parlour, where audiences of no more than 20 follow seven women through the hidden corners of their lives to places such as a housewife's kitchen, a daughter's desk, and a happening bar. As an audience member, you are not a passive observer but rather a part of the world in which each character lives. Beneath the gleam of a post-war, seemingly prosperous era lies a world of conformity, longing, and quiet resistance. Each woman's cage is the same, just with different locks. "In Spite of All the Roses" is funny, haunting, and deeply human. Performed at Klerje Coffee on Austin's East 6th Street, the show runs monthly from October 2026 through May 2027, with tickets available in General, Premium, and Parlour tiers, each including cocktails and small bites. Seating is strictly limited to 20 guests per performance.
Who's playing
Wild She Dances created the piece, led by artistic director Bethany Logan. The cast is made up of local dancers and performers, including Cellise Brown, Andie Duong, Katie Jones, Morgan Phillips and Alexzandria Turley. The show draws on 1950s pop and jazz, plus writing by Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton and Simone de Beauvoir.
What to expect
You move through the space with the performers instead of watching from a row of seats. Scenes include a housewife's kitchen, a daughter's desk and a lively bar. Guests may see them in different orders, and some may end up alone with a scene. The show runs about 75 minutes, with cocktails and small bites around it. The tone is funny, haunting and human, with conformity and quiet resistance under the polished post-war surface.
Why go
With a cap of 20 guests, you stand close enough to the dancers to feel part of each scene. Long-form dance residencies are rare in East Austin. Klerje is a coffee shop known for careful drinks, on a busy stretch of East 6th that still feels removed from the noise. It makes an unusual setting for an evening of theater.
Where
Klerje Coffee · Austin TXDirections
