CENTER FOR SEX AND CULTURE

Through September 11, 2011

TOKE plays Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and on Sundays at 5:00 p.m.  Tickets are $25, available through BrownPaperTickets.com.

Come see CQ in Toke: The Play and support CSC while you do it. Just say Carol Queen or CSC at the door and enjoy $15 admission, PLUS a portion of your dollars will benefit CSC.

If you are student, a veteran, or a medical cannabis patient, admission is JUST $10! The theatre is right across the street from Ashby BART, at Ashby and MLK.

TOKE, the Play about Manners, Morals, and Marijuana Adds Sexologist Carol Queen as The Pot Fairy; Deedee Kirkwood’s supercharged heroine, Weedee, smashes through suburbia with The Pot Fairy at her side - Ashby Stage, through Sept. 11th

“The perfect, upbeat antidote to Reefer Madness.” -  High Times

Swirl Media presents TOKE, Deedee Kirkwood’s madcap comedy of manners, morals, and marijuana, at Ashby Stage in Berkeley, August 18 through September 11.

Who better to lead Weedee away from stifling convention and Tupperware than sexologist Queen, a Bay Area icon and co-founder of San Francisco’s Center for Sex and Culture. 

TOKE is the real story behind the Betty Crocker generation.  Follow the fall and rise of Weedee, the hapless All-American girl as she crashes through the Tupperware Wall to become the self-proclaimed “face of marijuana” and Counter-Culture activist.  Weedee’s wild ride leaves husband and lovers, male and female, in the dust.  From her sneaky sorority tokes to German anarchist collective bong fests, from kosher households to swinger parties, she fails again and again to choose the straight and narrow.

TOKE confronts the “family values” side of America and makes the case for embracing Weedee, the black sheep with the heart of gold…the Auntie Mame of marijuana…the woman with the courage to admit – and celebrate - what others have suppressed: “Yes, I did inhale.” And to top it off, it’s based on a true story and inspired by the writings of the late Jack Herer, the internationally celebrated “Father of the Hemp Movement.”

TOKE is produced by Swirl Media, directed by Patricia Miller and stage managed by Maria Castro.  Featured in the cast are Tenaya Hurst as Weedee, Jake Vincent* as Woody, Kelly Sanchez as Bud, Paul Jennings as Ken, Pamela Rosin as Mom, Jennifer Marie Kosta as Mizz Amerika, and (did we mention this?) Carol Queen and Sister Pat N. Leather splitting the run as the Pot Fairy.

*Member, Actors Equity Association

Synopsis of TOKE

TOKE follows the adventures of Weedee, a young woman of the ’60s in what seems to be a heady and breezy lark, then follows her colorful, out-of-whack life to the present day. But beneath all the seemingly lighthearted fun is really a frantic flight from intimacy and from the guilt of abandoning her first love who has become a terrified, ravaged, post-Vietnam shadow of himself.

The story line bumps up against many major issues from the ‘60s to the present day – abortion, drug use, radical politics, sexual exploration, and domestic abuse. Escape leads Weedee to a German commune, an Afghan campground, and a dispirited marriage.

Eventually, Weedee is liberated from her guilt and gains a sense of well-being as she forges mature and balanced relationships with all three of her true loves – her first love, her present-day love, oh, and yes… marijuana.

TOKE’s Official Partner for this production is The Berkeley Patient Group, a full-service medical cannabis dispensary and community center for legally qualified patients and caregivers.  2747 San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley.  (510) 540-1928.

NOTE: Ashby Stage is Wheelchair Accessible