Anima Rising

(Run Time: approx. 12 hours)

From New York Times bestselling author Christopher Moore comes a hilariously deranged tale of a mad scientist, a famous painter, and an undead woman's electrifying journey of self-discovery.

Vienna, 1911. Gustav Klimt, the most famous painter in the Austrian Empire, the darling of Viennese society, spots a woman's nude body in the Danube canal. He knows he should summon a policeman, but he can't resist stopping to make a sketch first. And as he draws, the woman coughs. She's alive!

Back at his studio, Klimt and his model-turned-muse Wally tend to the formerly-drowned girl. She's nearly feral and doesn't remember who she is, or how she came to be floating in the canal. Klimt names her Judith, after one of his most famous paintings, and resolves to help her find her memory.

With a little help from Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, Judith recalls being stranded in the arctic one hundred years ago, locked in a crate by a man named Victor Frankenstein, and visiting the Underworld.

So how did she get here? And why are so many people chasing her, including Geoff, the giant croissant-eating devil dog of the North?

Poor Things meets Bride of Frankenstein in Anima Rising, Christopher Moore's most ingenious (and probably most hilarious) novel yet.

Christopher Moore (Author) is the author of eighteen novels, including the international bestsellers, Lamb, A Dirty Job and You Suck. His lastest novel, Razzmatazz, was published May of 2022. He’s currently working on a historical set in early 1900s Vienna.

Before publishing his first novel, Practical Demonkeeping in 1992, he worked as a roofer, a grocery clerk, a hotel night auditor, and insurance broker, a waiter, a photographer, and a rock and roll DJ. Chris has drawn on all of these work experiences to create the characters in his books. When he’s not writing, Chris enjoys ocean kayaking, scuba diving, photography, and painting with acrylics and oils. He lives in San Francisco.

Mary Jane Wells (Narrator) trained as an actor at the Royal Scottish Conservatoire, doing theatre in the UK and Europe for 12 years prior to her long-term love affair with the US. She is an award-winning actor and writer who has performed at The Mark Taper Forum with an adaptation of French classic, The Red Balloon, returning later with a solo show, Martha, which toured to the Annenberg Centre, the Kennedy Center, the New Victory on Broadway, and at an international showcase in Philadelphia. She has toured extensively with the Smithsonian and Honolulu Theatre.

Her next new solo show, The Good Girl, is a recent recipient of sponsorship. She partners with Author’s Republic, Capital Theatres and The Kennedy Center from the very beginning — for what she hopes will be an irreverently hilarious new show for those who care for and live with Dementia.

It is her wildest dream to serve with storytelling and create appropriate social impact where possible. maryjanewells.org