The Birds
directed by Tess Cruz and Lillian White
written by Aristophanes
production design: Samantha Butler
assistant design: Brandi Alexander
cast: Mattie Barber-Bockelman, Aylin Eker, Rosie McInnes, Julia Melfi
producers: Tess Cruz, Lillian White, Mattie Barber-Bocklenman, Samantha Butler
April 2018
The Birds tells a story of men who seek a better world, and upon finding it choose to colonize and proclaim dominion over it. A human’s tale that is as old as time. Our crew of 10 women brought this transportive tale to a historic school has in the Backswamp community of Darlington, SC. Families across town invited us into their homes for food, festivities, singing, and sharing. We were able to return the favor by including them in our theater process in various ways. Over one month, our troupe, supported by the community around us, mounted an immersive, site-specific, clown-like production of this journey to the skies.
About Juncture Mobile Theatre Lab
Meeting in Oregon, Lillian and I quickly bonded over being from southern states and going to school in northern liberal places/spaces. In light of the, then, very recent election, we were quick to discuss the colossal amount of theater being made about the tension between these contrasting ideologies within our own country. We found dissonance in the bulk of this theater happening in the American Theater "Meccas" which generally attract fairly ideological-uniform audiences.
We became interested in what it would be like to create theater off the beaten path; to go to a community where theatre isn't normally created and create it.
How could we influence a community?
How could a community influence us and our work?
