August 31, 2017
Atlanta—In describing her creative process writing “Frankenstein,” Mary Shelley referred to the story as the “spectre which had haunted my midnight pillow.” Theater Emory’s “Midnight Pillow,” running September 21 through October 1, brings thirteen women and transgender writers together to explore Shelley’s enigmatic depiction of the artistic method in a collaborative work created and directed by Emory alumna Park Krausen.
“Midnight Pillow,” invites audiences into the bedroom as eight performers bring to life the linked writings of Fanny Britt, Shelia Callaghan, Andrea Cohen, Léonore Confino, Lauren Gunderson, Maria Headley, Cristin König, Nathalie Mason Fleury, Scott Turner Schofield, Awoye Timpo, Naomi Wallace, Madhuri Shekar and Marisa Wegrzyn. This is the first production in Theater Emory’s 2017-2018 season that in part responds to the 200th anniversary of “Frankenstein.”
Krausen, the driving force behind the project, commissioned writers from all over the world to construct monologues, scenes and short plays that consider the questions “What happens when you are in the act of birthing or creating? What happens when you refuse to create? What keeps you up at night or rumbles in that liminal space between dreams and consciousness? What happens when your creation betrays you or you it?”
“I create dialogue between divergent art forms and take the opportunity to invite everyone to play—the often represented and often underrepresented,” says Krausen about her creative process. After a decade serving as producing artistic director of Théâtre du Rêve, she describes her relatively new life as a theater director and the opportunity to work with Theater Emory as “daunting and exciting.”
“I am thrilled to be returning to my alma mater where the idea of experiential learning, the exchange between students and professionals, is paramount.”
Theater Emory presents “Midnight Pillow” September 21-23, 27-30 at 7:30 p.m.; September 24 and October 1 at 2 p.m in the Theater Lab of the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. Tickets are $18 general admission, $14 discount category members, $12 industry and non-Emory students, $6 Emory students and are available through the Arts at Emory Box Office online or at 404-727-5050. For additional information on Theater Emory’s 2017-2018 season, visit theater.emory.edu.
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Theater Emory, the professional company in residence at Emory University, produces a wide range of drama, from classics to new works. Liberal arts undergraduates work with professional directors, actors, designers, playwrights, dramaturgs, choreographers, composers, music directors and stage managers.
The NEW NOISE Workshop was, at first, simultaneously very new and familiar territory to me. As a dancer, I often do not use my voice as a vehicle of expression in performance. My instinct is my body. So, naturally, I was slightly anxious about an experimental theater workshop. With Joanna’s encouraging and clear direction, that anxiety melted away as the layers of physical mediums in art began to overlap. The intrinsic similarities between art forms opened up an endless universe of loosened possibilities; no right, no wrong, just speak with your body, speak with your voice. Prompts for creative writing exercises like “describe home to you” or “where does your body belong?” lent themselves to deep-seeded realities brought to light in a myriad of qualities: playful, dark, poignant, tense, sexy, cheerful, surprising or hilarious movement phrases, to name a few. These movement phrases, supported by a vocalization and embodiment of the words written, emphasized that the mover, the speaker, and the creator are one and the same to me. It was a very powerful experience that I am very thankful to have had! Not to mention the fresh opportunity to embody an exhausted book, a creeping chicken, and a devouring automatic vacuum cleaner…
