Instructions for a Séance
Part DIY Seance, part historical re-enactment, Instructions for a Séance is one woman’s attempt to contact Houdini from beyond the grave. My first foray into a solo show, I’ll incorporate sleight of hand and artifacts from the iconic escape artists life to unlock the assumed narratives we tell about ambition, creativity and motherhood.
There is no such thing as a solo show, and the team for this performance is rad. Hannah Wolf is a director, dramaturg, creative producer and theater maker. Based in LA but with collaborators around the world, Hannah, a current National Directors Fellow, makes plays that subvert traditional audience rituals and asks the audience to be active members in the play making. Our partnership was born out of a longstanding friendship and an intense interest in experimenting with the possibilities of the role of audience. Hannah, with her experience working with the development of solo performances and her long standing interest in queering gender roles onstage, is perfectly matched to lead this project. Liz Engelman is a dramaturg, teacher and director of Tofte Lake Center, she has worked extensively in new play development, and was a mentor to both Hannah and I while at The University of Texas at Austin’s graduate program. Leilah Stewart is an Austin based set designer (she’s also my mom!) who has worked with The Rude Mechs with whom she’s designed and toured internationally. She’s also worked with performance artist Daniel Alexander Jones and choreographer and dancer Pina Bausch.
Instructions for a Séance will have a workshop production at The Museum of Human Achievement in the Govalle neighborhood in East Austin in September of 2019.
The Survivors/Los Sobrevivientes
The Survivors/Los Sobrevivientes is based on the historically documented group of women, children and slave people who survived the battle of the Alamo. It’s an epic historical drama told by a diverse ensemble of people who didn’t make it into the history books. It’s an intimately drawn look at the surprising alliances necessary to survive the shifting and mercurial rule of Mexico’s fledgling democracy.
Developed through The Playwrights’ Center, A Jerome Travel/Study grant through South Texas and Mexico, at The Susanna Dickinson Museum and at LaunchPad at UCSB. I’m super excited to be working with the amazing director Jerry Ruiz on a mainstage production of The Survivors/Los Sobrevivientes at Texas State University in October of 2019.
