a place called the middle
a place called the middle
In collaboration with Adam Sussman & Lena Barnard
Video Introduction to the show
The performance is part of UT New Theatre (UTNT), a showcase for third-year MFA playwrights at the University of Texas at Austin. The performance ran from March 26th to March 31th, 2019.
Photo Credits: Lawrence Peart & Francisco Uribe
In collaboration with Adam Sussman & Lena Barnard
Video Introduction to the show
The performance is part of UT New Theatre (UTNT), a showcase for third-year MFA playwrights at the University of Texas at Austin. The performance ran from March 26th to March 31th, 2019.
Photo Credits: Lawrence Peart & Francisco Uribe
ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE
"No self is an island;
each exists in a fabric of relations that is now more complex and mobile than ever before.
-Jean-François Lyotard"
"A story isn’t a good story until it receives a story in return."-Barbara Mayerhoff, quoted by Arthur Stirling
Performed in collaboration with the audience, a place called the middle is a participatory and sensory journey to a mythical hometown called "the middle," a place where the earth moves so slowly that its inhabitants live for only half a day. The performance explores the idea of remembering, returning and reliving. Are we always traveling? How do we see and help each other in the middle of our own stories?
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The production of a place called the middle is part of my long-lasting and ongoing creative research on building belonging through participatory performance. The research centers on the idea of diaspora, and its connection to vulnerability, aid, reciprocation, and memory. There were different stages of the research—the collaborators have all contributed ideas to feed this research in various degrees.
For a place called the middle, the performance is developed with a process that involves generative input and dramaturgical support from the key collaborators in the team, which includes:
Adam Sussman as the director,
Lena Barnard as the dramaturg,
Brittney Dolan as the stage manager,
Brisa Shaw as the assistant stage manager and guitar musician,
Andrew Rodriguez and Aaron Moore as the assistant directors,
Rachel Atkinson as the environment designer (for both lighting and scenic design), Mikeala Kelarek as the sound designer,
Benjamin Clark as the assistant sound designer,
Laura Gonzalez as the costume designer and the aromaturg (for the design of aroma-turgy which creates experience of smell),
Mingxiang Ya as the integrated media designer,
and also,
Devin Ramirez,
Diana Guizado,
Eleanor Webester,
Francis Garnett,
Ryan Cruz,
as the cast of the first school production.
Deep special thanks to
Adam Sussman—Without Adam’s human leadership, I could never have come this far to finish the production.
Lena Barnard—Without Lena’s active dramaturgical sensibility, I would have lost in time and in the process.
Lina Chambers, who taught me how process mattered, and offered ears & heart to help me see who I was.
Liz Engelman, Kirk Lynn, Steven Dietz, who accepted me to the program as I was still stumbling through the doubts about being non-native English writer.
KJ Sanchez and Alex Bassiakou Shaw, who curated UTNT and offered a platform of imagination.
Megan Alrutz, who guided me, with generosity and kindness, to unpack my thinking, to capture ideas that didn’t exist in my native language.
Edward Carey, who was the first reader of “the middle” when they were still in the shape of short fiction. He shared patience, passion, and this secret “Write the story you want to read” when I felt devastated by the nostalgia in my own stories.
My family and friends, who have listened to me and offered kindness to my existence.
All my collaborators for this piece, whose names are credited in the next page. They are the people who made the performance happen.
"No self is an island;
each exists in a fabric of relations that is now more complex and mobile than ever before.
-Jean-François Lyotard"
"A story isn’t a good story until it receives a story in return."-Barbara Mayerhoff, quoted by Arthur Stirling
Performed in collaboration with the audience, a place called the middle is a participatory and sensory journey to a mythical hometown called "the middle," a place where the earth moves so slowly that its inhabitants live for only half a day. The performance explores the idea of remembering, returning and reliving. Are we always traveling? How do we see and help each other in the middle of our own stories?
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The production of a place called the middle is part of my long-lasting and ongoing creative research on building belonging through participatory performance. The research centers on the idea of diaspora, and its connection to vulnerability, aid, reciprocation, and memory. There were different stages of the research—the collaborators have all contributed ideas to feed this research in various degrees.
For a place called the middle, the performance is developed with a process that involves generative input and dramaturgical support from the key collaborators in the team, which includes:
Adam Sussman as the director,
Lena Barnard as the dramaturg,
Brittney Dolan as the stage manager,
Brisa Shaw as the assistant stage manager and guitar musician,
Andrew Rodriguez and Aaron Moore as the assistant directors,
Rachel Atkinson as the environment designer (for both lighting and scenic design), Mikeala Kelarek as the sound designer,
Benjamin Clark as the assistant sound designer,
Laura Gonzalez as the costume designer and the aromaturg (for the design of aroma-turgy which creates experience of smell),
Mingxiang Ya as the integrated media designer,
and also,
Devin Ramirez,
Diana Guizado,
Eleanor Webester,
Francis Garnett,
Ryan Cruz,
as the cast of the first school production.
Deep special thanks to
Adam Sussman—Without Adam’s human leadership, I could never have come this far to finish the production.
Lena Barnard—Without Lena’s active dramaturgical sensibility, I would have lost in time and in the process.
Lina Chambers, who taught me how process mattered, and offered ears & heart to help me see who I was.
Liz Engelman, Kirk Lynn, Steven Dietz, who accepted me to the program as I was still stumbling through the doubts about being non-native English writer.
KJ Sanchez and Alex Bassiakou Shaw, who curated UTNT and offered a platform of imagination.
Megan Alrutz, who guided me, with generosity and kindness, to unpack my thinking, to capture ideas that didn’t exist in my native language.
Edward Carey, who was the first reader of “the middle” when they were still in the shape of short fiction. He shared patience, passion, and this secret “Write the story you want to read” when I felt devastated by the nostalgia in my own stories.
My family and friends, who have listened to me and offered kindness to my existence.
All my collaborators for this piece, whose names are credited in the next page. They are the people who made the performance happen.