In 1840s Manhattan, a notorious female abortionist throws a housewarming party, which features drinking, dancing, and a pair of female pugilists dressed in corsets and velveteen knickers. Meanwhile, in medieval Japan, a distraught noblewoman seizes a lute and croons a Carolina blues lament. And on a frozen lake in the wilds of Michigan, a spinster, a blind man, and a duplicitous coed narrate an epistolary romance. The locales may seem exotic and the stories bizarre, but for Clubbed Thumb it's simply the roster for Summerworks 2005, the company's 10th annual new-play festival, which opens May 4 at the Ohio Theater with works by Ethan Lipton, Honour Kane, and... More >>>