kin • song: ode to disability ancestors
DECEMBER 2-4 AT 7:30 P.M. DECEMBER 4 AT 2:00 P.M.
ON-DEMAND: DECEMBER 6-12, 2021 VIRTUAL PERFORMANCE
THEATREDANCE.UTEXAS.EDU
Kathryn “Kat” Clark – Stage Manager • Michael DeWhatley – Memorial Design Team Natalia Martin Rodezno – Memorial Design Team • Elias Merlo – Memorial Design Team Ali Pappa – Composer, Sound Designer • Alexis Riley – Director Molly Roy – Dramaturg, Choreographer • Adam Sornat – Memorial Design Team Cay Schaefer – Shadow Puppet Designer • Shannon Woods – Dramaturg, Choreographer Quinn Wozniak – Community Engagement
ENSEMBLE (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER) Jazz Bell Annie Clepper Madysen Criss (Vocalist) Melissa Elkins Sabrina Ellis (Vocalist) Hannah Mendoza
Bella Morgart Hannah Neuhauser (Vocalist) Frances Smith Jay Smith Juliana Smith-Etienne Victoria Vargas
There will be a post-performance discussion featuring members of the creative team following the 2:00 p.m. performance on December 4, 2021. kin • song: ode to disability ancestors is produced, in part, through generous support from The University of Texas at Austin College of Fine Arts Diversity Committee Student Project Grant.
NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR All across the United States, thousands upon thousands of disabled people lie buried in state hospital cemeteries, their names unknown, graves unmarked and remains unclaimed due to mental health stigma. kin • song: ode to disability ancestors is a digital performance ritual—a cybernetic seance—crafed in response to this injustice. To devise this production, our team spent time researching the history of disability and mental health care broadly and institutionalization specifically. In addition to drawing on historical archives, performers also engaged their embodied archives, translating individual, familial and cultural grief practices into mourning scores: gesture phrases enacted as a form of memorialization, marking both loss and celebration of life. We then took these mourning scores on the move, beginning at the Austin State Hospital Cemetery, processing by The University of Texas at Austin’s Intramural Fields, through The Triangle development, past the state hospital and into Central Park, tracing, with performers’ bodies, the original geography of the Austin State Hospital campus. Afer re-membering the displaced cemetery and the current state hospital, performers reenacted these mourning scores in their individual spaces, each adorned with a memorial garland containing the names of current and former state hospitals located across the United States, efectively projecting the performance across time and space. Throughout the process of creating kin • song, this project has transformed from a performance that engages disability to a practice that embraces disability. Crafed by disabled and non-disabled artists and mounted during the COVID-19 pandemic, kin • song not only provides an opportunity to reflect on the histories of isolation that permeate disability history; it also draws attention to the way performance has contributed to that isolation through inaccessible rehearsal and production practices. As we worked to identify and dismantle access barriers within our own process, we ultimately came to understand performance itself as a form of kinmaking—with our ancestors, with our ensemble and now, we hope, with you. Ultimately, kin • song is not a single production; rather, kin • song exists wherever it is enacted. Will you join us in our song?
NOTE FROM THE DRAMATURGS There are multiple meaningful ways for you to share in this experience. Join us in whatever way feels best and most available to you today. You might begin by bringing your attention to both your personal space and the digital space. What do these spaces ask of you, and how does your body respond? All too ofen we are taught we must change ourselves to fit within certain spaces, but it does not have to be this way. Sit quietly, make noise, lie on the floor, move around, doodle, stim. We invite you to shif your attention to time and consider that it is not always linear. It can loop, trace, unfold. Be in process, leave and return, take a break. We invite you to an origin story. We invite you to explore an imagined future, one more liberatory and inclusive than what was once intended. Join us as you are.
The Department of Theatre and Dance is a world-class educational environment that serves as the ultimate creative incubator for the next generation of artists, thinkers and leaders in theatre and performance.
CREATIVE Kathryn "Kat" Clark (Stage Manager) is a second-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in stage management at The University of Texas at Austin. Recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include Community Garden (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2021). She has also worked on a few studio projects as well as performances featured in The Cohen New Works Festival (2021).
riers within conventional U.S. performance practice, centering the desires of disabled folks while celebrating the wisdom of diverse bodies and minds. Most recently, she directed The Mad Maps Project (The Cohen New Works Festival, 2021), a digital performance archive that explores the use of psychiatric language in unexpected places (patientacts.com/madmaps).
Michael DeWhatley (Memorial Design Team) is a second-year M.A. in Theatre candidate with a specialization in performance as public practice. His background is in production management, with credits at Actors Theatre of Louisville and Kentucky Shakespeare, among others. DeWhatley is also the president of the Theatre Advisory Council for Trinity Street Players.
Molly Roy (Dramaturg, Choreographer) is a dance artist, scholar, educator and Ph.D. in Theatre candidate with a specialization in performance as public practice researching choreographies of surveillance.
Natalia Martin Rodezno (Memorial Design Team) is a second-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in design and technology at The University of Texas at Austin. She has a broad background in scenic design. Recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include a project in The Cohen New Works Festival (2021). Elias Merlo (Memorial Design Team) is a B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in design and technology at The University of Texas at Austin. Merlo’s work currently centers around scenic design and playwriting. Ali Pappa (Composer, Sound Designer) is a music major in the Butler School of Music at The University of Texas at Austin. Pappa's background extends from composition and sound design to percussion performance and improvisation. He frequently works in music and theatre production and is co-founder of the theatre company Sound Worlds Improv. Alexis Riley (Director) is a Ph.D. in Theatre candidate with a specialization in performance as public practice at The University of Texas at Austin. Her devised, improvised and applied theatre work aims to dismantle access bar-
Cay Schaefer (Shadow Puppet Designer) is a UTeach Theatre major at The University of Texas at Austin. She has a background in acting, teaching artistry and lighting design. Her most recent projects include the University of Houston’s 10-Minute Play Festival as well as teaching improv theatre at ZACH Theatre in Austin. Adam Sornat (Memorial Design Team) is a B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in stage management at The University of Texas at Austin. Recent stage management credits include Lonely Planet (Austin Community College), Much Ado About Nothing (Austin Shakespeare) and The Tempest (The Baron's Men). Shannon Woods (Dramaturg, Choreographer) is a Ph.D. in Theatre candidate with a specialization in performance as public practice at The University of Texas at Austin. She is a dance artist and received her Master’s in Performance Studies from New York University. Quinn Wozniak (Community Engagement) is a poet, dancer and story-teller from Arizona. They are currently working on their M.F.A. in Theatre with a specialization in drama and theatre for youth and communities at The University of Texas at Austin. Their work centers largely on the disabled community and social justice.
ENSEMBLE
Jazz Bell
Annie Clepper
Madysen Criss
Melissa Elkins
Sabrina Ellis
Hannah Mendoza
Bella Morgart
Hannah Neuhauser
Frances Smith
Jay Smith
Juliana Smith-Etienne
Victoria Vargas
ENSEMBLE Jazz Bell (Ensemble) is pursuing their Master of Science in Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin. They have a background in spoken word poetry performance and vocal performance. They are a Pink Door Writing Retreat fellow, a Fresh A.I.R. resident, a "Best of the Net" nominee and a Pushcart Prize nominee. Their work has been published in Muzzle, Nat. Brut, DIALOGIST, Write About Now, Button Poetry and elsewhere. Annie Clepper (Ensemble) is a first-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer's process. She has a background in both vocal work and acting. This is Clepper's first performance with Texas Theatre and Dance. She has worked with Unity Theatre and Gibbous Moon Productions in Brenham, Texas. She's also a former academy student at the Humphreys School of Musical Theatre. Madysen Criss (Ensemble, Vocalist) is a B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer’s process at The University of Texas at Austin. While most of her performance experience is in dance, she has also been singing and acting for the past five years. Melissa Elkins (Ensemble) is a B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer's process. Elkins started performing her sophomore year of high school. Recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include Year of The Tiger (2021) and Margo and Mr. Snooze (The Cohen New Works Festival, 2021). Elkins will also be seen in the UTNT (UT New Theatre) production Murky as Hell in Spring 2022. Sabrina Ellis (Ensemble, Vocalist) is a B.M. in Choral Music Studies major at The University of Texas at Austin. She has experience in multiple vocal styles including choral, operatic and cabaret. Recent credits include performances with the Butler School of Music’s Concert Chorale, the LAH-SOW vocal coaching workshop and performance of Die Zauberflöte and Butler Opera Center's production of L'elisir d'amore.
Hannah Mendoza (Ensemble) is a first-year undeclared student at The University of Texas at Austin. She has had an interest in acting and theatre for many years, having participated in productions throughout junior high and high school. This is her first production with Texas Theatre and Dance. Bella Morgart (Ensemble) is a UTeach Theatre major at The University of Texas at Austin. She has extensive experience in acting, singing and dance. This is her first production with Texas Theatre and Dance. Hannah Neuhauser (Ensemble, Vocalist) is a Ph.D. in Musicology student at The University of Texas at Austin with a research emphasis in film music and musical theatre. Independent of her scholarly pursuits, Neuhauser is an active member of the artistic community. Recent credits include her work as a research consultant for Andrew Robert Wilcox’s SOCK TOWN: a noir sock puppet musical (Long Beach Playhouse, May 2020), for which she also portrayed the role of “Jennifer.” Frances Smith (Ensemble) is a fourth-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer's process at The University of Texas at Austin. Recent credits include Titus Andronicus and Anatomies with the University Theatre Guild at UT Austin as well as Much Ado About Nothing with the student organization Foot in the Door Theatre. They have also assisted with makeup design for additional projects on campus. Jay Smith (Ensemble) is a first-year human development and family sciences major who aspires to pursue a double major in theatre. This is his first production with Texas Theatre and Dance. Juliana Smith-Etienne (Ensemble) is a first-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer's process at The University of Texas at Austin. This is Smith-Etienne's first production with Texas Theatre and Dance.
ENSEMBLE Victoria Vargas (Ensemble) is a second-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer’s process at The University of Texas at Austin. From a young age, she has practiced the crafs of singing, dancing, acting and playing instruments. This will mark her first production with Texas Theatre and Dance.
CREW
SHADOW PUPPET TECHNICIANS ROBERT DOBBS ROLANDUS SENTOSA
DIRECTING ADVISORS MEGAN ALRUTZ ROBERT RAMIREZ
ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER KAYLA ALONZO
STAGE MANAGEMENT ADVISOR RUSTY CLOYES
TECHNICAL ADVISOR PHILLIP OWENS GRAPHIC DESIGNER JEFF GRAY
SPECIAL THANKS NANETTE ACOSTA THE AUSTIN HISTORY CENTER SLADE BILLEW JENNA COOPER THE UT COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS DIVERSITY COUNCIL THE DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE AND DANCE OPERATIONS ASSISTANTS
ANDREW DELL’ANTONIO ELIOT GRAY FISHER JIM GLAVAN JEFF GRAPKO EMILY GREEN NATHAN HARPER ANDREA L. HART ALISON KAFER
KAREN MANESS JULIE MINICH AFSHEEN NOMAI KRISTEN OSBORN REBECCA ROSSEN KJ SANCHEZ ELLA SCORSEBY NICK WINGEZ-YANEZ
For additional artwork and accessibility features, visit kin-song.com.
MORE INFORMATION AVAILABLE AT JOINTHEDRAMA.ORG
P H OTO BY LAW R E N C E P E A RT