A promotional poster for the play "Pageant" with hanging Scrabble letter blocks spelling "WHEATLAND" over a background with abstract science-themed designs. It includes show dates February 28th and March 9th, 2019, directed by Hart DeRose, and features a TV-shaped graphic with the text "a play by Lisa Wagner Erickson."

THE MRS. WHEATLAND PAGEANT

Synopsis

June Cleveland thinks creating sitcom scenes from different decades with her husband Jim is a fun way to pass the time in the small town of Wheatland, Colorado. But when Millie, the very fertile school secretary, proclaims that women in Wheatland are only fertile in their twenties, June becomes desperate to become pregnant before her impending thirtieth birthday. Meanwhile, Jim grows wary of June’s new obsession with a 1950’s TV reality and the increasingly bizarre fertility treatments prescribed by Millie’s herbalist. To regain Jim’s affections and prove her ability to be an ideal wife and mother, June decides to win a local beauty pageant. But problems arise when the friends June has enlisted for help, Barb and Vivian, each have their own agenda for the pageant. Vivian is on a quest to regain her preacher husband’s affections by looking hot for Jesus, and Barb wants to use the pageant as a feminist protest. Then June discovers that Jim likes to bake wearing heels. 1950’s sitcom fantasies, small town reality and gender norms collide in an absurd comedy about one woman’s quest for certainty in an ever-changing world.

Productions

  • No Strings Theatre Company, Las Cruces, NM. 2019

  • Lulubird Project at Theater 29, Denver, CO. 2019

Awards

  • Semi-Finalist, New American Voices, Landing Theatre, 2015

  • Semi-Finalist, PlayPenn, 2013

Development

  • On Your Feet Reading Series, Edge Theater, 2015 - 2016

Press

  • And the winner is - 'The Mrs. Wheatland Pageant'! - By MIKE COOK, Las Cruces Bulletin: What do you do if you're about to turn 30, you are desperate to have a baby and your husband is suddenly wearing an apron and pumps? You host A beauty pageant, of course!

  • Westword: The 21 Best Events in Denver: While The Mrs. Wheatland Pageant may not have all the pomp and circumstance of the Miss America Pageant, this new play by Lisa Wagner Erickson, opening Thursday February 28, at Theater 29, Promises to run away with the Miss Congeniality award. Presented by the Lulubird Project and Directed by Hart DeRose, the world premiere will mix sitcom nostalgia, small-town reality and gender norms.

GALLERY

Photos by Brian Miller from the 2019 production at Theater 29, directed by Hart DeRose and featuring Emily Michelle Ebertz, Dakota Chase Hill, Margaret Norwood, and Veronica Straight-Lingo

A woman with red hair smiling, standing indoors, wearing a floral dress and a graduation sash with the words "Class of" on it.
A person with short hair and a surprised or fearful expression holding a severed doll arm, posing next to a mannequin head on a stand in front of a purple backdrop.
Two people sitting cross-legged on the floor in a room with blue curtains and hanging T-shirts with feminist slogans, one mannequin torso, and various objects including glasses and a backpack.
A woman with reddish-brown hair tied back stands against a blue background, holding a red basket with cosmetics and toiletries, looking to the side.
Woman with short hair wearing a red strapless dress, holding a large red high-heeled shoe to her ear, resembling a phone, with a surprised expression against a black background.
A man with a tattoo on his forearm stands in a room with purple lighting, holding a red object with both hands. He is wearing a red and white checkered shirt and dark pants, with his legs apart. There is a white chair with a peach-colored pillow tied
A woman in a floral dress standing beside a dining table, talking to a man sitting and reading a newspaper, with blue wall panels and chairs.
A woman with red hair and a floral top looks surprised or upset while standing next to a man with dark hair and a beard, who is sitting and reading a newspaper at a dining table. The scene has colorful lighting, with blue walls in the background.
A woman is holding a chair over a man who is lying on the floor, with a purple and blue lighting setting.
Three women standing behind a dining table with a bottle of wine, two glasses, and a cell phone on it. The woman on the right wears a pink top, the woman in the middle wears a floral apron, and the woman on the left wears a black shirt.
A woman with blonde hair in loose curls looking at the camera while holding a mirror or smartphone in her right hand, with a purple and blue lighting ambiance.
A woman with shoulder-length hair wearing a patterned dress and a statement necklace, pouring a drink from a wine bottle into a blue glass, sitting at a wooden table with a notebook in front, against a plain blue wall with purple lighting.
A man crouching underneath a wooden dining table, looking up with a serious expression. The table is round with colorful cupcakes on a plate on top. Four wooden chairs surround the table, with a purple-hued lighting in the room.
Man standing in a room with purple lighting, dressed in a sweater vest and dress pants, wearing red high heels.
Theater stage scene with three actors: a woman in a colorful dress standing with arms crossed, a man in green military attire gesturing passionately, and a woman in pink sitting at a table drinking from a glass. The set includes white walls, a small
Two women having a conversation in a dark room with blue lighting. The woman in the foreground has short, styled hair and is wearing a patterned top, a statement necklace, and holding some papers. The woman in the background has long hair tied back a
Two actors on stage in a theatrical performance, with props and fabric backdrops behind them. The woman is wearing a pink satin robe, and the man is in a white t-shirt and beige pants. They are engaged in a conversation or argument.
A woman and a man sit on the floor engaged in a discussion, with a mannequin torso on her left. They are in front of a backdrop with hanging clothes and signs reading 'Hot for Feminism' and 'Warrior Woman'. The setting appears to be a stage or studio