The performance studies program of the department of communication at UNC announces 12 new creative projects beginning in October 2015, to be performed in Swain’s Studio 6.
- Infinite Loop by Christopher Dahlie, Oct. 2-3
- Brabo by Susannah Ryan, Oct. 22, 23, 24, 29, 30, 31
- And So We Walked by DeLanna Studi, produced by the UNC Process Series, Nov. 13-14
- This Statement is False (What is the Question?) by COMM 464, Dec. 2 (Bingham 203)
- The Emotions of Normal People, a devised work, in association with Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern, Dec. 3-19
- Veterans and Their Families, A Series of Three New Works, in association with StreetSigns Center for Literature and Performance, Jan. 8-23
- Downrange: Voices from the Homefront by Mike Wiley, Jan. 8, 9 and 14
- Silhouettes of Service by Gregory DeCandia, Jan. 10, 15, 16 and 18
- An Loc by Elisabeth Lewis Corley, Jan. 17, 22 and 23
- Mary Domingo by Anne García Romero, produced by the UNC Process Series, Feb. 19-20
- In an Interrogative Mood by the Performance Collective, March 31-April 2
- Right to Be Paranoid by COMM 664, April 26
- Media in Performance Project by COMM 666, April 27
The 2015-16 Swain Studio 6 season was designed to capture the eclectic, spontaneous and creative energy of performance studies at UNC. Studio 6 will once again become an incubator for diverse new work on campus as each creator enters the “next steps” in the development of their respective pieces. The season will begin with a piece created by communications graduate student Christopher Dahlie that will explore the relationships between memory, sound and popular culture. The piece will be performed using Studio 6’s newly acquired sound system, which includes 32 digital channels, a state of the art sub woofer and digital interface.
Studio 6 will see the development of three plays about the lives and stories of veterans and their families — revisiting the experience of military life with a freshly familial lens.This sub-series will present works of regionally acclaimed playwright, Mike Wiley; Elisabeth Lewis Corley, the co-creator of the last year’s Process Series performance, Geomancy; and Gregory DeCandia, a third-year MFA acting candidate with PlayMakers Repertory Company at UNC. The studio will come alive with the electric energy of The Performance Collective’s newest devised work, In An Interrogative Mood. Returning to Swain after their incredible performance of Eating Animals, the collective of like-minded local artists will be deconstructing the text of Padgett Powel’s acclaimed novel in the most non-literal performance of the season.
Studio 6 will host new works by Anne Garcia Romero (Mary Domingo) and DeLanna Studi (And So We Walked) produced with the UNC Process Series. These pieces watch history collide with contemporary issues of ethnicity, gender and intersecting identities. In conjunction with the innovative work of performance studies graduate students, Studio 6 will hold the first staged performance of Brabo by Susannah Ryan, a piece that explores the nature of colonialism and white supremacy in the Congo. Finishing the season, the innovative new work of department of communication undergraduates will be debuted in showcases curated by Tony Perucci and Joseph Megel. These class showcases display not only the exceptional hard work and creativity of undergraduates and graduate students at UNC-Chapel Hill, but the vitally experiential and experimental nature of performance studies.
Learn more at http://comm.unc.edu/areas-of-studies/performance-studies/
The Performances:
Infinite Loop
By Christopher Dahlie
Oct 2-3 @ 7 pm
A retro night DJ muses on the popular culture of which he was custodian. This performance asks why the past cannot stay in the past, and how it can become all too present, an infinite ritual, a party without end.
Brabo
Written and Directed by Susannah Ryan
Oct 22, 23, 24, 29, 30, 31 @ 7 pm
When an African-American politician investigates the business potential of a “Congo Free State,” he discovers instead the brutal reality of the colonial slave state. Martin begins a human rights campaign, but with the King’s soldiers following close behind, he will need the help of a cynical British surgeon and the leaders of a Congolese rebellion to return home safely with his evidence.
And So We Walked
Written and Performed by DeLanna Studi, Directed by Corey Madden
Nov 13-14 8 pm
Cherokee actor/writer, DeLanna Studi looks at the enduring impact of the Trail of Tears on contemporary communities. Produced in Collaboration with the UNC Process Series.
This Statement is False (What is the Question?)
An evening of performances by the students of COMM 464: Performance Composition, Curated by Tony Perucci.
Dec 2, Curtain at 5:30 pm
Martha Nell Hardy Performance Space, Bingham Hall 203
The Emotions of Normal People
Directed by Nicola Bullock, Jaybird O’Berski and Tony Perucci
Produced in association with Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern
December 3-19
A devised movement theater work set in 1970’s East Germany. Two families negotiate love, betrayal and the Stasi to a Kraftwerk-infused soundtrack.
Veterans and Their Families
Three works (below) that look at the lives of veterans and the experience of the families of the military.
Produced in association with StreetSigns Center for Literature and Performance.
Jan 8-23 Thursdays-Saturdays @ 8 pm, Sundays at 2 pm
Downrange: Voices from the Homefront
By Mike Wiley
Jan 8, 9 and 14
A new play about the impact of deployment on military families based on interviews with military spouses from our community. A New Work Commissioned by the Cape Fear Theatre.
Silhouettes of Service
A Docudrama Performed and Written by Gregory DeCandia
Jan 10, 15, 16 and Monday the 18th at 5 pm
A new documentary theatre piece that illuminates the true stories of soldiers from the shadows of WWII to current cadets.
An Loc
By Elisabeth Lewis Corley
Jan 17, 22 and 23
One decision by one person caused an avalanche of consequences in a small hamlet sixty miles north of Saigon in the spring of 1972. An Loc is a story of what happens to individuals in extremity — who rises, who falls, and who might be impacted by any given explosion.
Mary Domingo
A New Play by Anne García Romero
Feb 19-20 8 pm
Witty and moving, this story explores Mary Peabody-Mann’s relationship with the men in her life — her education reformer husband Horace Mann, and Argentinian author Domingo Sarmiento — as she struggles for gender equality. Produced in collaboration with the UNC Process Series.
In an Interrogative Mood
A Devised Work by the Performance Collective
March 31- April 2
The Performance Collective returns with a new devised work based on Padgett Powell’s acclaimed novel in questions, exploring the nature of inquiry, knowledge, and cat hospitals.
Right to be Paranoid
And evening of performances by the students of COMM 664 Paranoia in Performance, curated by Tony Perucci
April 26, Curtain at 6 pm
Media in Performance Project
A project studying the emerging connection between Media and Performance, created and performed by the students of COMM 666, under the mentorship of Joseph Megel and Will Bosley.
April 27, Curtain at 5 pm
