The Willmar Project (July 2017 - Present)
is a verbatim theatre project created with and for residents of Willmar, MN. In July of 2017, three members of The Neighborhood Theatre Project team traveled to Willmar, MN to conduct interviews and conversations with Willmar residents. We conducted over 100 interviews, gathering over 150 hours of recorded audio. We asked a variety of questions: How long have you lived in Willmar? What is your daily routine? What do you think of when you hear the word “community?” and finally: What is it like for YOU living in Willmar? The interview process was constructed to discover the many stories of a place through the words of the people who live there.
Since 2017, we have worked with a team of script creators, dramaturgs, producers, directors, and actors to create, workshop, and develop a full-length play constructed—entirely verbatim—from these interviews. We are currently in the planning process for the final stage of this project: sharing the play with Willmar participants accompanied by dialogue and community engagement activities surrounding topics in the piece.
Devising Our Future (November 2020 - April 2021)
my master’s thesis project, Devising Our Future was a ten-week critically-engaged devising project with high school juniors enrolled in a theatre training program within a public high school. The primary goal for the project was to create a space in the theatre training classroom for civic dialogue and critical consciousness. We aimed to accomplish this goal through a process of devising original theatre from the ideas and perspectives of the participants. Along with devising, we engaged other applied theatre conventions such as process drama, games, and dialogue to critically imagine the world in which we want to live, our future.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this project took place entirely on Zoom. We explored topics that inspired and interested the students; we investigated how these topics show up in today’s world, and we devised an original piece of theatre that we recorded and presented as a film. Topics explored in the final piece included racial justice, queerness & sexuality, domestic violence, and healthcare.
The Harvest Exchange (October - November 2020)
was a 4-week project created in response to the increased and disproportionate social isolation faced by nursing home residents due to COVID-19. As part of my graduate work and in partnership with Ferncliff Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center in Rhinebeck, NY, the project aimed to cultivate joy and connection between Ferncliff Residents and members of the surrounding area communities.
Throughout the four weeks, we partnered with local farms and the Rhinebeck farmers markets to set up booths at various locations in Rhinebeck and Red Hook, NY. We provided crafts, postcards, and prompts to spark "long distance" dialogue between community members and the Ferncliff Nursing Home residents. Simultaneously, we worked with Ferncliff activities staff to facilitate postcard writing with Ferncliff residents, based on these same prompts.
On the final day of the project, we organized a (COVID-safe) celebratory performance on the Ferncliff campus. Collaborating with local high school student musicians and local performers (singers, dancers, pianists and puppets!), we organized a live concert viewed by Ferncliff residents through windows and via a Skype live-stream.
