Representative Projects
Investigating Liveness
May 10, 2020
This project began as a request to present at an online exchange looking into the Scholarly Primitives of the Scholarly Meeting and how it might be moving more online as a result of the pandemic. They reached out to me for an arts perspective, being that the work I do is rooted deeply in shared physical presence and liveness with others. In an attempt to "show, not tell" I reached out to a group of participants I had worked with almost 10 years ago in a physically live setting to recreate an activity in the online "live" setting in the zoom room. To learn more, simply click on the link to be taken to the presentation.
The Docktown Project
April 22, 2017
Began working in April with Fuse Theatre Company to devise a piece with the Docktown Community of Redwood City, CA. There have been motions passed and residents were given notices to vacate by December of 2017 and are fighting to keep their homes and their community together.
JET Program at Marin County Juvenile Hall
September 06, 2016
In September of 2016, I began facilitating weekly workshops with the young people incarcerated in Marin County Juvenile Hall. The workshops focus on building community and encouraging expression through creativity. This partnership began with bringing the touring production of THE LITTLE MERMAID to the facility, which was well-received. The students expressed a desire for more theatre/drama engagement.
ARC of St. John's County
February 04, 2015
In February of 2015 I began working with the ARC of St. Johns County, providing drama/theatre workshops for the participants of their Community Center (for adults 18-24 with IDD) The focus is on building communication and social skills while empowering these individuals to believe in their ideas and their voice. Click on the picture to read a news article about the residency in the St. Augustine Record
Trusting My Voice
January 07, 2013
Developed a workshop with Jennifer Bohn (one of People magazines Teachers of the Year in 2012) at Evans High School to help her all-female Leadership classes explore the concept of leadership and perseverance and their place in it through the text of The Twelve Tribes of Hatti and drama as a medium of expression. After a month-long residency each class created and performed 10 minute pieces for their peers. Click on picture to see one classes' performance.
In my work, I set out to create shared experiences within communities and find commonalities, while celebrating that which makes each person unique. Through this work, I seek to deconstruct the human experience by bringing people together in order to share their stories in a theatrically inspired environment. There is something about the truth of a story, whether factual or not, that has the power to inspire and foster empathy – something the world needs more of if we ever have a chance of living harmoniously together.
The work that I do is very much rooted in play. Play, in this sense, is the experience of allowing oneself to become involved in intrinsically motivating and enjoyable activities. Employing theatrical games and techniques to encourage play in adults and children, collective pieces are created that are meaningful to all involved. Through play I encourage participants to challenge what was, what is, and what could be. I bring together groups of people and create a shared experience that introduces them to the art of theatre and informs the art of living.
I am inspired when I see passion in another person’s eyes. The subtleties of everyday life inspire me and fill me with a drive to promote sharing of these experiences, passions, and questions that fill up our lives every day. The more we can learn about each other and share with each other, the greater chance we have of making a positive difference in this world.
The work of Michael Rohd serves as a model and inspiration to mine. I share three fundamental beliefs with him; a need to create theatre that honestly matters to people, that anyone can participate in theatre and that dialogue has an amazing power to affect change in people’s lives.