Mammoth A de-extinction love story Adam by by Adam R.Burnett Burnett
mammothut
The Orange Fringe sp18 season
Production Credits CAST BELOVED Taylor Courtney SCIENTIST Shannon Homan HUNTER, ANIMALS Tanner Hudson LOVER Saige Larmer SHADOW Mireya Luna PRODUCTION TEAM BOARD OPERATION Jake Brinks COSTUME DESIGN Stephanie Fisher SCENIC DESIGN Tucker Goodman DIRECTION Khristián Méndez Aguirre DRAMATURGY Kristin Perkins LIGHTING DESIGN Austin Shirley SOUND DESIGN Mike Vernusky PROJECTION DESIGN Mingxiang Ya
taylor
shannon
tanner
saige
mireya
courtney
homan
hudson
larmer
luna
Dramaturg’s Note Some Confused Thoughts on Freezing by Kristin Perkins
n Tuesday, January 16th, freezing rain hit Austin, and our first official read-through for this production of Mammoth was cancelled. The cancellation was perhaps fitting, not just because our play takes place in the ice and snow, but because Mammoth presents us, as artists, with difficult text, difficult theme, and the distorted reflection of a difficult future. In initially facing the difficulty of this story, Mammoth present us with uncertainty. Uncertainty, like Austin’s January rain, freezes. It is a very human thing to freeze when faced with the unknown. And yet, the beginning of any good theatre process begins at this uncertainty; it begins at this freezing point. In the case of this particular play, it begins on a glacier. But instead of succumbing to the glacier and the freezing nature of uncertainty, we create. We move forward, through a landscape filled with bugs, animals, the sun of summer, and the pain of loss. The Mammoth team huddles together to trust in a theatrical process of discovery, innovation, and hope. It occurs to me that we are facing a time of freezing heat. That is to say, in this age of climate change, far too many politicians, teachers, and artists alike seem frozen by the threat of climate catastrophe, unwilling to move, to progress, to change. Let’s not forget that, after all, Austin’s freezing rain is an ironic harbinger of global rising temperatures. But enough of that for now. For now, let me say that it has been inspiring to watch our creative team deny uncertainty its power. Together we’ve grappled with (caressed, and seduced) an enigmatic text. This process reflects a more universal work of creation and discovery. And in the moments where we still may be unsure, where language fails and our hearts prove incapable, we still move forward. Thank you for joining us here. We begin on a glacier.
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Production Elements
by Khristián Méndez Aguirre
W
e know how it goes. There are trees and birds and plants onstage. The sun is shining, music is playing and everything is fine.Then the humans come and do their human thing: profoundly affect the natural conditions around them. Trees are logged. Birds are poisoned from pesticide. Plants die. Sun shines in strange ways and not when it used to. And the point is underlined once again: we need to save the planet. I take to the task of making a play like this for a particular reason: this script has no soapboxes. It doesn't pretend to be smarter than you. It draws from reality in its own subjective ways. Scientists are actually trying to de-extinguish mammoths, you can hunt for mammoth tusks in Siberian summers, and the seasons are actually getting a little bit weird. Likewise, it is from that reality that we draw for our production elements. We couldn't make a play about the environment that would generate a significant amount of waste. And yet, this is an ambitious play. There would be significantly less drama without our magnificent glacier. So both Scenic Designer and Director decided to pursue a Zero Waste Set–generously supported by the Green Fee Office at UT Austin. Our cheeky cougar onstage is a stand-in for the Eastern U.S. Mountain Cougar, which was declared extinct four weeks ago after 80 years of no confirmed sightings. The melting glacier sounds come from Svalbard, Norway, where the Global Seed Vault containing samples from plant varieties over the world, is located. The vault was placed there given the permanent freezing temperatures. Unfortunately, last summer, as the permafrost melted, the ground floor of the vault flooded (from thawing permafrost) and it's ability to provide failsafe protection was likely jeopardized. More than inducing fear, this is a play to meditate on loss–what is at the heart of our future. The good news is, we know the actions that need to be taken.
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AYLOR COURTNEY, Beloved, is a third-year BFA in Theatre Studies major at the University of Texas at Austin. She has recently been seen as “Tituba” in Texas Theatre and Dance production of The Crucible. After graduation, Courtney hopes to become a sports reporter and has a lifelong goal to build a theatre program at a school in need of a fine arts program to provide all students the opportunity to explore the arts. •
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HANNON HOMAN, Scientist, is a BA Performer at the University of Texas at Austin. She has recently been in the studio show, In the Glare and the Cohen New Works Festival piece, Bloodthirsty Fiends. •
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ANNER HUDSON, Hunter/Animals, is a first-year in the BFA Acting program at the University of Texas at Austin. He is proud to be a member of this production. Tanner has only appeared in one other production on campus (Book of Days by Lanford Wilson), but hopes to alter his artistic obscurity in means of changing the world. Many thanks to Khristián for the invitation to make great work happen! •
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AIGE LARMER, Lover, is a first-year BFA Acting Major at the University of Texas at Austin. She has studied acting since the age of ten, taking classes in at the Center for Performing and Fine Arts in West Chester, Pennsylvania and The Players Theatre in Sarasota, Florida. She has been a part of numerous productions, including the first-ever casting of the play, Murders and Acquisitions written by Mark Allen. She has studied Shakespeare, improv, and oncamera acting work. Saige plans on taking advantage of the many opportunities available to young actors on campus at UT Austin and beyond. •
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IREYA LUNA,Shadow, is a second-year BA performer at the University of Texas at Austin. She has recently been seen in a few shows including The Crucible (Texas Theatre and Dance) and the Cohen New Works Festival. •
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USTIN ALVAREZ, Assistant Costume Technician, is a student at the University of Texas at Austin pursuing a BA in theater and dance with a design emphasis. He would like to thank not only his mother and grandmother for being strong women in his life, his father for shaping him into the person he is today, his two brothers for pushing him to be someone to look up to, and of course the virgenita. •
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AKE KENNETH BRINKS, Board Operation, is a third-year undergrad student seeking a BA in Theatre & Dance. His UT theatre credits include directing The Last Days of Judas Iscariot; and designing lights for Spring Awakening, selected Cohen New Works Festival Pieces (Convergence, Daniel/Rose) and The Not Knowing; playing Lorenzo in the studio production of The Merchant of Venice; and board operation for telephone. •
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TEPHANIE FISHER, Costume Designer, is a first-year MFA student in the Costume Design program. Before moving to Austin, she worked as a stitcher and designer in the Washington, D.C. region, New Hampshire, Ohio, and New York. She has designed costumes for theatre, dance, and film. Favorite design credits include The Giver, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (DC); Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Annapurna, James and the Giant Peach (Peterborough, NH); Light in the Piazza, Next to Normal, There is a Happiness that Morning Is (Cleveland, OH). stephaniemfisher.weebly.com •
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UCKER GOODMAN, Scenic Design, is currently a candidate for an MFA in Scenic Design at UT. He has designed sets for Village Theatre’s KIDSTAGE, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle Musical Theatre, and others. Tucker was also recently on staff at Village Theatre, where he developed new musicals with the Village Originals program. Thanks to Khristián for the opportunity to explore this play! Instagram: @tuckergoodmandesign. •
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RANCESCA GHIZZONI, Assistant Technical Management, s a third year BFA Theatre Studies Major with a Minor in Arts Management. Francesca has a fierce passion for arts management and production, and is currently production managing the UT New Theatre Festival going up in April 2018. She holds so much respect for the cast and crew of Mammoth, and couldn’t resist finding a way to get in the room to engage with these artists and this script! •
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HRISTIÁN MÉNDEZ AGUIRRE, Direction, is a second-year MFA student in Performance as Public Practice from Guatemala City. Over the past decade he’s traveled the world as an international student, an activist and intern at the United Nations, an artist in residency, and a human ecologist in training while developing his artistic sensibility. Previous UT directing credits include No Spring Suicides (Prohibido Suicidarse en Primavera) by Alejandro Casona (College of the Atlantic); The Floor Is Yours, (College of the Atlantic); and telephone by Ariana Reines (UT Austin.) khristianmendez.com •
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RISTIN PERKINS, Dramaturg, is a first-year MA student in the Performance as Public Practice program. She recently dramaturged telephone directed by Khristián Méndez Aguirre and The Crucible directed by David Morgan. She’s worked as an intern of curation at the Museum of Art in Provo, Utah, and she’s had her plays produced around Utah county. Her poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction can be found in literary journals including AWE, Peculiar: A Queer Literary Journal, and Inscape. She is very happy to be a part of this production. •
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USTIN SHIRLEY, Lighting Design, is a first-year MFA candidate in Design and Technology at UT. He is the American Technical Director for Delfos Dance Company from Mazatlán. Austin has fond memories of sunlight piercing through Big Thicket while going hunting with his father, and even during his brief career as a child actor, it was lighting which commanded his attention. He is a familiar face at Texas Performing Arts, where he mentored several graduate students and taught his own rendering technique for lighting design. Previous UT credits include lighting & scenic design for telephone by Ariana Reines, as well as lighting design & production manager for The Drowsy Chaperone. •
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IKE VERNUSKY, Sound Designer, is a composer and sound artist. His music has been called ‘brash’ by The New York Times, and ‘isolationist’ by The Wire. Vernusky has received numerous commissions and fellowships for his music including Music at the Anthology, Meet the Composer/New Music USA, ASCAP, and the Mexican Centre for Music and Sonic Arts. His work has been exhibited at hundreds of music, film, and new media festivals across the globe. Mike Vernusky holds degrees from The University of Texas at Austin and Mercyhurst College. Vernusky’s music is published on MIT Press, New Adventures in Sound Art, Capstone, Vox Novus, Spectrum Press, and Quiet Design. His latest UT theatre credit involves sound design and composition for telephone. •
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INGXIANG YA, Projection Design, is a first-year MFA in Design and Technology candidate with a focus in Integrated Media at University of Texas at Austin. He comes form China and graduated from Shanghai Theatre Academy with BFA in Digital Media arts. Previous work includes: Fall for Dance, Uncle Vanya, King Lear, Evolution, Power n Paint, Rouge. •
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Special Thanks Jessica Champion
for helping us find space for all of our 28 rehearsals.
Cooper Roe and Dan Brisley
for their help making student shows happen in the SAC Blackbox!
Andrew Ian Carlson
for his relentless support in asking the hard questions about rehearsal, about acting, and about the joy of theatre.
Megan Alrutz
for telling us to go find gems and value them.
Jim Glavan
for his astute guidance and appreciation for tusks.
Alaina Monts
for their relentless musical support.
Carolyn Trowbridge & Fiddes Smith
for their percussions and mandolin that make paintings dance.
Kate Proietti
for advice on births and joining us for training.
Richard Stimpert & Sean Knierim
for some sick light-hanging skills and a great sense of humor.
Tanya Olalde
for advice on masks and paper.
Karen Maness
for supporting students and their painting projects!
Christine Gwillim
for her astute support in the rehearsal room.
Adam R. Burnett
for writing a beatiful text that asks us to think harder.
Jill Parris & the Green Fee Office
for supporting student-led sustainability efforts!
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