Core Deviser, Dramaturg, Performer: MASS/Rabble (Submersive Productions
Role: Core Devising Team (with Lisi Stossel, Glenn Ricci, Ursula Marcum), Devising Dramaturg, Ensemble Performer. As our bodies move, we tell a story. Where we have been, where we are going, what we hold on to, what we let go of. When bodies move in masses, they tell a larger story. Hope, fear, war, famine, the search for a better life. What does it mean to be just one body moving in humanity’s great crowd? This is a movement piece. Prepare to be moved.
“MASS/RABBLE” had the audience of up to 100 join a diverse ensemble of thirty movers to explore themes of mass migration and the borders and boundaries that separate us. The devising rehearsal process took place over several stages and many months, going through an evolution from conceptional ideas and images to a wordless physical narrative, through much physical training, improvisation, ensemble building, and dramaturgical discussion.
My role was two cull and curate the wide array of ideas and concepts we were putting into the show into the kinds of leading/open questions that would help the ensemble turn concept into narrative movement, as well as to keep a targeted eye on how the show was shaping us as a whole, particularly in how we involved/invited our audiences in a wordless movement piece. Additionally, I was for the first time part of the performance ensemble in a Submersive production (since being a Founding Member my role has always been as a director), which was a challenge for me to balance my process as a performer with my leadership position as a Core Deviser and Dramaturg for all the performers.