In her one-person play The Pink Unicorn, Elise Forier Edie gives us Trisha Lee, a conservative Texas widow whose monochrome Christian world has been well and truly rocked. Her 14-year-old daughter has announced she is genderqueer, and wants to starts a chapter of the Gay Straight Alliance at school.

Church elders are horrified. Trisha’s friends are aghast. As for Trisha, well, she loves her child …

“She is not a perfect person, but she always comes at it from a place of love and curiosity,” says bay area actor Samantha Marti Parisi. “And that’s what I love most about her.”

Parisi plays the mixed-up mom in a St. Pete production of The Pink Unicorn, from Story Keepers, a startup theatrical organization with big ambitions. One of Story Keepers’ goals is site-specific theater – to that end, the play is being performed in private homes Jan. 15-25, with end-of-month shows at The Studio@620 and The Werk Gallery.

‘We were thinking about: What show meets audiences where they are right now?” explained Story Keepers founder (and Pink Unicorn director) Avery Anderson. “Something that was very important to everyone on the board was queer stories, and how do we bring something like that to the stage?

“But then, how do we create an experience that feels so different than what you’re used to – so that it signifies this is not just another theater company, necessarily.”

The board, which also includes José Avilés, David DiGioacchino and Julia Rifino, unanimously agreed on Story Keepers’ wide range of goals. “This was,” Anderson said, “about creating a company that fosters not only new plays but new musical artists, new digital artists … there’s a lot of different things.

“A lot of times, it’s so hard for someone to get their first professional gig. So this is really about, how do we help artists break into new spaces?”

Mounting The Pink Unicorn in alternative spaces was first on the agenda. It is, said Parisi, not nearly a weepy, confused soccer mom bitch-fest. “It goes beyond just Trish saying ‘I don’t understand this all’ and ‘I’m not sure I can wrap my head around it’ to her dealing with all kinds of crazy people coming at her. She says she’s just trying to put one foot in front of the other, ‘and get to the point where I understand my child.’”

Anderson agreed. “She’s moved on past those moments. She’s done the emotional work, and this is her telling you the story and wanting you to understand things more.”

The in-home (that is, living rooms and back yards) settings will give Trisha’s cathartic convo the intimate atmosphere that suits the story being told. Explained Parisi: “If you were a friend or an acquaintance who hasn’t caught up with Trish in a while, and you’re like ‘I’ve been hearing some things; tell me what’s been going on.’ And Trish is ‘OK. Let me tell you …’”

Parisi, who most recently appeared in the LAB Theater Project productions of Goddess of the Hunt and Per, said that the intimate physicality of The Pink Unicorn required her to re-think her understanding of blocking and stage movement. “Most of the time, I’m seated. Because it can be kind of intimidating having someone standing over you as they’re speaking. And there’s not a lot of room to pace.

“Sitting the entire time should be one of the easier things to do. You’re taking away half of the things for my brain to remember.

“However, as an actor you kind of get that muscle memory – “OK, when I cross over here, I will set the cup down and I will say this line.’ That has proven to be a bigger challenge than I expected.”

‘The Pink Unicorn’

Jan 15-16: 541 8th Ave N, St. Pete (performed in the living room)

Jan 17-18: 6019 8th Ave, St. Pete (performed in the living room)

Jan 22-23: 3633 28th Ave N, St. Pete (performed in the back yard)

Jan 24-25: 1701 Oxford St N, St. Pete (performed in the back yard)

Jan 29-30: The Studio@620 (St. Pete)

Jan 31-Feb 1: The Werk Gallery (St. Pete)

Find times, tickets and all other information at this link.

Trisha explains it all: Samantha Marti Parisi in character. Image provided.