ME TOO MONOLOGUES Preview – Conversation with Director Leah Huskey

ME TOO MONOLOGUES Preview – Conversation with Director Leah Huskey, October 24 – 26 -- 7:30 pm nightly

When:

October 24 – 26-- 7:30 pm nightly

Where:

Awakenings
4001 N. Ravenswood Ave.
Suite 204-C
Chicago

Connective Theatre Company will present ME TWO MONOLOGUES – in which eight artists will share their experiences as survivors of sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and gender-based discrimination. The monologues and group pieces were written by the cast through a series of writing workshops conducted in partnership with Awakenings, which is an arts organization dedicated to making visible the artistic expression of survivors of sexual violence.

ME TOO MONOLOGUES
Leah Huskey (director)

Connective Theatre Company ensemble member Leah Huskey (LH)  is directing the program. She spoke with Picture This Post  (PTP) about the process of developing it.

 (PTP) How did this piece come about?

(LH)This performance was the product of a lot of different things, including of course the Me Too Movement started by Tarana Burke back in 2006. Eve Ensler’s THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES was an inspiration for our title and performance structure. But the idea primarily came out of all the stories that were finally being told (not only told, but listened to) in 2017 when Me Too became a hashtag. There is so much power in survivors speaking out and telling their stories in a society and culture that has historically silenced, ignored, and actively perpetuated instances of violence. There is also power in telling these stories through art and performance.

I organized the first iteration of ME TOO MONOLOGUES at The University of Missouri in April 2018, then brought it to Connective Theatre Company for our inaugural season. This time, we partnered with Awakenings, a local organization devoted to making visible the artistic expression of survivors, which led to the writing workshop-to-rehearsal-to-performance structure. In order to find our cast, we created a submission form where people could talk about why they wanted to be in the project, and their past experiences with acting and writing. We felt it was more appropriate to learn about potential participants through a written form rather thanauditioning them. We put out the information on casting websites, but also reached out to local organizations that work with survivors to try to spread the word beyond the theatre community.

ME TOO MONOLOGUES are the performers’ stories

Are each of the ME TOO MONOLOGUES /performers doing their own stories, or reading each others?

The cast members are each performing their own pieces, but some chose to incorporate other cast members to help tell their story as well. For example, one cast member ended up writing a song and has the rest of the cast singing background vocals. There are also two group pieces that were created out of a discussion we had during a writing workshop, where all the cast members come together to speak chorus-style about their shared but unique experiences.

Can you describe the process with the writing workshop?

Jeri Frederickson, the Creative Director at Awakenings, led six writing workshops over the course of three weeks. She led the cast through different prompts for each workshop that gave performers options for exploring their creativity as writers and built a sense of ensemble and shared perspective among the cast. Jeri also helped performers decide what they wanted to share with the audience and why, and helped create a safe environment for turning their experiences into written pieces to be rehearsed and performed.

What has been the emotional impact of this process on the writer/actors?

Revisiting trauma is not easy, and the process has certainly been emotionally taxing at times. We had a trained advocate at every workshop and rehearsal available to the cast to process any difficult emotions that came up during the process, and we had a dedicated space where actors could remove themselves from workshops/rehearsals if they needed to step away. But overall, I think this has been a very healing and empowering experience for the performers. They have been able to regain control of their narratives and are now able to share their experiences for an audience who is there to listen. At Connective Theatre Company and Awakenings, we believe that art can be healing for both the artist and the audience, and I believe that is true for Me Too Monologues.

Director: Leah Huskey
Lena Romano, Assistant Director
Jeri Frederickson, Director of Writing Workshops.

Cast:

Radcliffe Adler
Valerie deGroot
Chase Hauser
Tehilla Newman
Wendy Parman
Ramona Pozek
Bianca Thompson
Nikki Thompson

More information visit Connective Theatre Company website

Rehearsal photos by Rachel Schulz

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