In the Attic was developed through a devised ensemble process, which involved three undergraduate students, two graduate students, and three alumni from the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS). The piece, inspired by Gaston Bachelard’s The Poetics of Space, focuses on a woman in the final moments of her life as she moves between resistance and acceptance. In the Attic integrates a language where movement, text, sound and visual elements are seamlessly interwoven to create a simple narrative. Touring the piece in Brazil involved six people. Leslie Felbain, TDPS faculty directed and performed. Alumni, Daniel Pinha designed the piece, and Alumni Kristy Leigh-Hall designed costumes. Undergraduate, Daniela Gomez was stage manager and production coordinator, Christina Banalopoulu PhD, was the dramaturg, Colleen Harris, adjunct/guest artist in TDPS was the composer and performed. Another production coordinator from Rio joined us in Brazil.Several other TDPS graduate and undergraduate students, as well as a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate in the School of Music were involved in the development of the piece, but to minimize costs, this tour was with a smaller core group of the ensemble company.
My research as a faculty member in our School focuses on the intersection between creative and healing arts, and applied theatre. This project is the central focus of my current research. In the Attic is a project that focuses on aging, illness, death and dying- the five daily reminders in Buddhism. The material to create the piece was derived from interviews and research with various populations who focus on these topics; hospitals, hospices, cancer support centers, and a wide variety of individuals. -A continued development of the piece, learning from the communities where the piece was presented in residency-Shared the process of developing work in this way with our School community-Created creative collaborations between TDPS and cultural institutions, a theatre company and a school in BrazilThe process of helping to develop the piece has been and will continue to have an impact on our TDPS community, our College and the University-Plans are in discussion with other units on campus to present the research and developments of the piece, and perhaps a performance.-We have been invited to an extensive tour through the Centro Cultural dos Correios throughout Brazil