Artist Statement – Performance
I make thoughtful, playful, ambitious theatre for young people and families around themes and topics that are considered “difficult” or “dangerous” for young people. Because I make every project with different collaborators, the aesthetic styles vary – from theater in a black box, to puppetry, to app-based audio theater, to site specific work – but the common denominators are always a theme that people don’t know how to talk to kids about and collaboration with a community. As a queer, Jewish artist I’m particularly interested in the intersection of social justice and identity.
Help Wanted: Pirates at the Magnet Theater
As a creative producer, my practice is dramaturgy-driven – I have an idea, bring together a team to make it, and then hold space for questions while we work together to make the idea more. The process usually follows this trajectory: I create some kind of starting point - a script, storyboard, a short proposal – and find people who have unique perspectives on that idea. Then, the making process is shaped by the collaborative relationship; I always craft my role such that I can consider the relationship among themes, content, form, and production – big picture dramaturgy with small picture attention to detail, including the producing process. Sometimes I perform, or sound design, or make music, or build things. (I don’t direct.) No matter what, I’m making observations and asking questions in service of the audience’s experience of the message of the piece.
Audience members at Snowed In for Chanukah at Romemu.
Often, the thoughts and questions young people have are policed by the discomfort of adults. “I don’t know how to talk about that.” “I’ll tell you when you’re older.” In a difficult world, I hope that my work can use play and optimism to give adults tools to navigate tough subject matter with children, and give children agency to ask challenging questions about the world they live in and demand real answers.
Guiding Questions:
What is considered to dangerous or difficult to talk about with children? Why? How can theatrical performance invite us into those conversations?
What are the thematic and aesthetic assumptions of children’s theatre, and where do they come from? Do they serve us?
Where are the boundaries between communities and individuals, and how can theater help young people cross them?