Testimonials are a great way to gauge theatre. Here are a few to choose from.

“Ingrid is a woman I could have a beer with.”
– Amelia Earhart
(American aviation pioneer, author,  1897-1937?)

“I loved the way Ingrid embodied so many aspects of the archetypal feminine. So many facets of female psyche were explored against the violence and sexually explicit backdrop of the life of a typical Viking warrior. It brilliantly challenges so much of what it means to be a woman, both back in Viking times, and every bit as relevant today. This is a play for our time. It is both timely and timeless. The range of emotions Melanie’s play stirred in me left me questioning my own relationship and identity as a woman. It raised so many questions about my own story around anger, grief, sexuality, vulnerability, motherhood, heartbreak, and in its essence portrays gritty, messy and undeniable lust for life.” – Tina Boehm, Farmer, Mother

“Ingrid’s take no prisoners attitude is relevant and resonates. F*@k ya baby! Its about time!”

Wait! We have more testimonials!

“Ingrid the Warrior arrived at our festival fully-formed and ready to kick ass.  Shield Maiden sparks conversations about gender equality, feminine empowerment, and the #metoo movement – with a flamethrower.    I’ve never seen a theatre crowd leave a show so charged up.  – Mitch Miyagawa, Producer, Cultivate Festival

“I will see you in Valhalla! Thank you for inspiring me to let my Vag Viking out. She will rage and conquer!” – Sara

“Watching Ingrid battle her shadow side was cathartic for me. And I loved her perspective on working with a bunch of dudes.”
– Sacagawea (Native American Guide, interpreter, 1788-1812)

“Shield Maiden by Melanie Teichroeb is a fierce and funny mashup of Vikings and a Tony Robbins workshop, and was truly one of the highlights this year of our 26th annual fringe festival, FronteraFest. Not only is it a great script, but Melanie’s performance was just incredible. It was no surprise that it was the best-selling Long Fringe show of the festival this year. Can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.”
  – KEN WEBSTER, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, HYDE PARK THEATRE

“Nice to see another strong warrior woman in history finally getting her due. Took long enough…” – Hatshepsut (Egyptian pharaoh, military leader, 1503 BCE – 1453 BCE?)

“That was rad!” Alex

“Thank you Ingrid! You have no idea how much I needed to hear what you had to say!”
– Maxine

“Shield Maiden was one of the hits of this year’s FronteraFest Long Fringe and it’s no wonder. The show is smart, funny, bold, and thought-provoking. Addressing contemporary issues through the hilarious lens of a Viking “red talk”, Melanie’s performance was fierce and unflinching and a pure delight. ”                                                                                   – Christina J. Moore,  FronteraFest Producer  

“This show gave me permission to find and then try out becoming my most powerful self. It awakened the badass woman warrior inside me who had been trapped for the past 20 years of my life. And let me tell you, this warrior is fierce, she is brilliant, she is powerful. And I like her. Thank you, Ingrid. Thank you Melanie Teichroeb. Watch out world, here I come.” – Chloë Straw, Managing Director, Wave Consulting Ltd.

Testimonials continue!

“I think Ingrid is way too nice. But, whatever, she got some s**t done.”
– Isabella I of Castile (Queen of Spain, creator of the Spanish Inquisition, 1451 – 1504)

you knocked it out of the park. You were met blow for blow. Wow! You were brave and fierce and passionate, just like a shield maiden/vag warrior would have been. Thanks so much for gifting us with your vision and courage.
– SHEILA NORGATE, VISUAL ARTIST, WRITER, PERFORMER   

                                 

Testimonial from a brilliant writer

As a piece of theatrical writing, Shield Maiden is by turns side-splittingly funny, utterly heartbreaking, thought provoking, poignant, hilariously bawdy and profane – hey, we’re all adults here – but it is also as socio-politically timely as can be imagined.  Inspired and incensed by the presumption of the sex of the remains of a Viking warrior discovered buried in Birka, Sweden, as male – later reported by the American Journal of Physical Anthropology as confirmed by DNA testing to be female – Melanie set out to write and consequently perform her vision of a Viking shield maiden.  Her powerful and brilliant work examines not only the role of women in the overwhelmingly male-dominated Norse culture, but also perfectly reflects the overarching philosophies and aims of the burgeoning #MeToo movement today when, over 1,000 years later, in so many ways so little has changed for women in our so-called modern society. 

Shield Maiden is accurately marketed as ‘Fierce. Funny. Sexy. Unapologetic.’  It is all of these things in abundance, yet so much more.  For reasons enough to comfortably fill a notebook it deserves to become an inspirational cultural phenomenon, and on the evidence of Melanie’s breathtaking debut performance in August 2018, if she can maintain the stamina it demands I can think of no reason for that not to occur.  So, please, at your earliest opportunity, go see Shield Maiden at all costs.

                                                                                                             – David Morrison, Freelance Writer