WHEN: Thursday, March 6, 2008 - Saturday, March 22, 2008, 8:00 PM

WHERE: The Manual Archives, 3320 West Sunset Blvd., Silverlake, California 90026

WHAT: Concrete Folk Variations, Chapter One: Death of a Sugar Daddy

COST: $15, $12 Students & Seniors

CONTACT: http://www.manualarchives.org or call (323) 667-0156

Set in the lesbian bars, cop shops and street-cars of McCarthy-era Los Angeles, "Concrete Folk Variations" is a serialized puppet drama written, directed and designed by Susan Simpson that will be presented in installments throughout 2008. The first episode, titled "Death of a Sugar Daddy," opened March 6 at The Manual Archives in Silver Lake for a three-week run through March 22.

An emotionally gripping noir, "Concrete Folk Variations" is told through Simpson's intricately crafted small-scale puppets, projections and a minimalist mid-century Los Angles cityscape. This cultural excavation of the moment just before the rise of the modern gay movement unearths secret codes, clandestine homosexual societies, flamboyant transgressions and soul crushing silence, all under the looming storm of police crack-downs and public shaming. "Concrete Folk Variations" is an hypnotic tale of the formidable times that sparked the first calls for liberation, mapping a rich and labyrinthine culture stretching from the docks of Long Beach to the communist song circles of Silver Lake.