Avery Anderson (L) and Samantha Marti-Parisi. (Photos courtesy Story Keepers)
The Good Page features positive LGBTQ+ news in Central Florida and Tampa Bay, uplifting and inspiring stories highlighting locals in our community. In this issue we introduce Story Keepers, a community-rooted company in St. Petersburg.
Story Keepers is “dedicated to bold, site-specific storytelling.” It focuses on work rooted in community, access and human connection and makes its debut with “The Pink Unicorn.”
The acclaimed one-woman show is by Elise Forier Edie. Through Story Keepers, it is making its way to St. Pete in an unusually intimate run through private living rooms and backyards across the region Jan. 15-25. It will then step into the lights of Studio@620 and The Werk Gallery Jan. 29–Feb. 1.
“The Pink Unicorn” is intentionally being performed in the kinds of spaces where people gather and the audience is close enough to see every flicker of emotion. It is theater stripped down to its essentials: story, connection and the courage to say what needs saying.
Each show is intentionally small in scale, creating a rare, up-close theatrical experience that invites audiences to lean in and listen. This grassroots approach mirrors the way real conversations about gender, identity and acceptance unfold: quietly at first, then with growing confidence.
Transformation does not always happen in public. Sometimes it happens at a kitchen table. Sometimes in a folding chair on someone’s lawn. Sometimes in a room where you can hear the performer breathe.
Director Avery Anderson, founder of Story Keepers and a Tampa Bay-based arts producer and community builder, conceived the site-specific staging to foster conversation and connection beyond the traditional theatre setting.
“This play doesn’t ask audiences to sit back — it asks them to sit together,” Anderson says. “By bringing ‘The Pink Unicorn’ into homes and neighborhood spaces, we’re creating room for listening, reflection and shared experience. That kind of closeness feels essential right now.”
Carrying a one-woman show onstage is no small feat, and actor Samantha Marti-Parisi brings both emotional depth and electric presence to the role. Known for her ability to blend vulnerability with comedic timing, with her most recent award-nominated one-woman show, “The Kickass Wit of Molly Ivins” at TheatreFor in 2025, she is poised to deliver another performance that is intimate, disarming and unforgettable.
“Right now, when families are being torn apart by misinformation and fear, this play creates space for empathy. It asks us to meet each other with honesty and curiosity, especially when someone’s identity challenges what we thought we knew,” says Marti-Parisi. “I just hope that people walk away realizing love isn’t passive, love is a choice that we make.”
Set in the fictional small Texas town, “The Pink Unicorn” follows Trisha Lee, a conservative Christian widow whose world tilts on its axis when her teenage child comes out as genderqueer. Trisha is not an activist. She is not a rebel. She is a woman who loves her kid and believes she has her life more or less figured out. But when her child wants to start a GSA at school, Trisha finds herself thrust into a battle she never expected to fight.
Marti-Parisi’s portrayal promises to honor the play’s roots while bringing fresh nuance to Trisha’s journey. Audiences can expect a performance that feels less like watching a character and more like sitting across from a neighbor who has finally decided to tell you the truth.
She explains, “This is a very personal, human and honest conversation during the turmoil we’re experiencing. Shared spaces invite deeper listening and connection.”
At a time when LGBTQ+ youth are navigating unprecedented political and social pressures, Story Keepers hopes “The Pink Unicorn” feels both timely and timeless. It reminds us that allyship is not a label, it is a practice; a choice made again and again, often in the face of resistance.
The play will present celebration and reflection, offering a roadmap for parents and recognition for anyone who has ever felt unseen. For all of us, it will offer hope.
Learn more and purchase tickets at StoryKeepers.org.
Interested in being featured in The Good Page? Email Editor-in-Chief Ryan Williams-Jent at Ryan@WatermarkOutNews.com in Tampa Bay or Central Florida Bureau Chief Bellanee Plaza at Bellanee@WatermarkOutNews.com in Central Florida.
