relEASE physical theatre

on a personal note...

1. Who do you play? Describe your character.

   I play Wendy. In this story, she, like Pan, is an orphan who drifts from foster home from foster home. She is very imaginative and a storyteller. She clings to fairytales to cope with the realities of her life and feelings of being unwanted. In this way she shares a bond with Pan, who also finds an escape in her stories. At the same time, her imagination is like her fortress; she is very sheltered and has a hard time understanding her own privilege.

2. What is your favorite part of this process?

   That I get to come into rehearsal and learn, poke, and prod at these issues with so many artists that I love and admire.

3. What is the hardest part of this process for you?

   The realization at every rehearsal about how much I have to learn about the world. And people. And my own implicit preconceptions about other human beings.

4. Why is this show important to you?

   It is both an exhilarating and excruciating time to be alive. I feel like as a nation we careening towards this tipping point in terms addressing systemic prejudices and injustices. Racism, misogyny, transphobia, homophobia, income inequality. It's all becoming harder and harder to ignore, which is great, yet at the same time the confrontation with these issues ignites really ugly human behavior. The familiarity of a fairy tale helps people wade into unfamiliar and uncomfortable territory.

5. What is one thing you have learned from making this show?

   The disenfranchised are dying to have their voices heard and their stories told. I feel empowered to be an active listener to those stories.

6. If you could stay any age forever, what age would you stay and why?

   ​I always feel that I lost my innocence between 2001-2002. Between ages 10-11. That was the year of 9/11, the death of my childhood friend, and the snipers in the DC area. So probably age 9. Those were good times.

7. Was there ever a time when you were afraid for your life?

   When I was shoved up and held against a wall by two drunk men who were angry that I wouldn't kiss them. When I was sexually assaulted by a trusted colleague. When an ex told me he wanted to hurt me when I broke up with him.

8. What was your favorite bedtime story and why?

   ​We would read Roald Dahl and Shel Silverstein before bed growing up. I can still access the images invoked by those stories. It's an amazing thing to see something so powerful in your mind's eye as a child and still see it as an adult.

9. Why did you want to be a part of SOTM?

   ​I love the story of Peter Pan, I love political theater, I love physical theater, and I love the people making the show. I can't really ask for more in a project :)

10. If you feel you have privilege, have you ever used it in your favor? If so, for what?

    ​I use my economic privilege all. the. time. I live at home with my parents so I can save money for grad school. I daylight as a yoga teacher and teaching artist, and I would not have been able to build those careers without having stayed at home to find my footing. This is more of a mix of using my white privilege and playing into stereotypes perpetuated by the patriarchy, but I flirt and "play dumb" out of getting pulled over. And then there's the white/thin/cisgender/heteronormative privileges that I have on a daily basis. I'm sure I abuse those in myriad ways that I'm not even aware of yet.