Back to Back Theatre

wexner center for the arts AT THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY PRESENTS

Back to Back Theatre

The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes

2019–20 PERFORMING ARTS SEASON

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POLICIES Late seating and reentry after the program has begun are generally not permitted at dance and theater presentations. When late seating is permitted, latecomers will be seated during a break so as not to disturb other patrons.

Taking photographs, filming, or operating recording devices during the performance is strictly prohibited.

Please turn off mobile phones and other electronic devices before the performance.

All programs are subject to change. Sorry, no refunds or exchanges unless an event is canceled.

COVER PHOTO: JEFF BUSBY

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The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes THU, FEB 13 | 8 pm FRI, FEB 14 | 8 pm SAT, FEB 15 | 2 & 8 PM PERFORMANCE SPACE

The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes is cocommissioned by Carriageworks; Theater der Welt 2020, DĂźsseldorf; the Keir Foundation; the Thyne Reid Foundation; and the Anthony Costa Foundation and is supported by Creative Partnerships Australia through Plus1, with development support from the Geelong Arts Centre, Arts Centre Melbourne, Melbourne International Arts Festival, the Une Parkinson Foundation; the Public Theater, New York; and ArtsEmerson, Boston.

The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes was developed in part at the 2019 Sundance Institute Theatre Lab at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA).

this presentation made possible by

this work made possible by

STANFORD LIVE

Back to Back Theatre is supported by Australia Council for the Arts, Creative Victoria, and the City of Greater Geelong.

The Wexner Center’s presentation of The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes is made possible by the Greater Columbus Arts Council, Ohio Arts Council, American Electric Power Foundation, and The Columbus Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Arts Midwest Touring Fund, a program of Arts Midwest that is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional contributions from Ohio Arts Council and the Crane Group.

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PROGRAM

Back to Back Theatre

The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes CREATIVE COLLABORATORS AUTHORS Michael Chan

Mark Deans

Bruce Gladwin

Simon Laherty

Sarah Mainwaring

Scott Price MUSICAL COMPOSITION Luke Howard Trio (Daniel Farrugia,

Luke Howard, Jonathan Zion)

PERFORMERS

Michael Chan Simon Laherty Sarah Mainwaring Scott Price

SCREEN DESIGN

Rhian Hinkley, lowercase

LIGHTING DESIGN

Andrew Livingston, bluebottle

SOUND DESIGN

Lachlan Carrick

SCRIPT CONSULTANT

Melissa Reeves

COSTUME DESIGN

Shio Otani

TRANSLATION

Jennifer Ma

STAGE MANAGER

Alana Hoggart

SOUND ENGINEER

Thomas Campbell

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Bao Ngouansavanh

PROGRAM CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Michael Chan Mark Cuthbertson Mark Deans Bruce Gladwin Rhian Hinkley Simon Laherty Pippin Latham Andrew Livingston Sarah Mainwaring Victoria Marshall Scott Price Sonia Teuben Brian Tilley

TOURING PRODUCER

Alice Fleming

TOURING director

Daniel Schlusser

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Alice Nash

artistic director

Bruce Gladwin

Back to Back Theatre wishes to thank the incredible team at the Wexner and especially Lane Czaplinski for watching our work across time and leaping with us to present Shadow. We also extend our deepest thanks to Oskar Eustis, Mark Russell, David Dower, Philip Bither, Chris Lorway, Elaine Costa, Robert Costa, Lisa Havilah, Phillip Keir, Rupert Reid, and Stefan Schmidtke.

We thank you, the audience, who give your time and attention, to tell us what the show is about.

—Alice Nash, Executive Producer, Back to Back Theatre Note: this performance contains coarse language, neurotypical shaming, and references to sexual and physical abuse, prescription medication, and the oppression of animals and humans.

If you or someone you know is experiencing a personal crisis, help is available. No one needs to face their problems alone. The following resources are free, confidential, and available 24/7.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Military Veterans Suicide Hotline Ayuda En Español LGBTQIA+ Youth Suicide Hotline Crisis Text Line

1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255) 1-800-273-TALK (Press 1) 1-888-628-9454 1-866-4-U-TREVOR (1-866-488-7386) text HOME to 741-741

PROGRAM NOTE

About the Work Weaving a narrative through the ethics of mass food production, human rights, the social impact of automation, and the projected dominance of artificial intelligence in the world, The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes is a theatrical revelation inspired by mistakes, misreadings, misleadings, and misunderstandings.

Shadow reminds us that none of us are self-sufficient and all of us are responsible.

“The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes is a story about a public meeting, the type of meeting you would hope to happen in a certain kind of democracy.

How do we come together to make decisions that are in the best interest of a civic society? This is a play about individual and collective responsibility.

Shadow's performers are also its coauthors and dramaturgs, creating the work intermittently over many months and even years through conversations and improvisation."

—Bruce Gladwin, Director and Artistic Director, Back to Back Theatre About the Company Back to Back Theatre creates new forms of contemporary performance imagined from the minds and experiences of a unique ensemble of actors with disabilities, giving voice to social and political issues that speak to all people.

Based in Geelong, the company is one of Australia’s most globally recognized and respected contemporary theater companies and has received 16 national and international awards in the last decade. In addition to its professional practice, Back to Back collaborates intensively with communities and students, focusing on artistic excellence and elevated social inclusion for people with disabilities in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, and the world. The ensemble is comprised of Michael Chan, Mark Deans, Simon Laherty, Sarah Mainwaring, Scott Price, and Sonia Teuben.

Learn more at backtobacktheatre.com backtobacktheatre

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WRITING ABOUT THE PERFORMING ARTS S T U D E N T E S S AY

For the first time, Back to Back talks disability onstage with The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes

By Kaiya Gordon, graduate student in the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program at Ohio State For a company that specifically employs actors with disabilities, Back to Back Theatre has historically shied away from showcasing disability in its content.

“Disability is one of the things that sets us apart from other theater companies,” said Bruce Gladwin, artistic director of the company in a December phone interview, but, “because we employ actors with disabilities, there is often a perception that the content we make is only about disability, or that we are some kind of benevolent social company. Which [it] is not; our purpose is to make great art.” This [reticence] is set to change with The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes, which shows at the Wexner Center for the Arts February 13–15. In Shadow, the group grapples directly with disability, confronting the audience with a conversation about language, identity, and who becomes disabled in a technical world. “It’s a territory we haven’t been through as a company, so I thought let’s just embrace it. In terms of empowerment within the ensemble, it was a territory [where] they really wanted to go,” Gladwin shared.

PHOTO: JEFF BUSBY

This selection is part of Writing about the Performing Arts at Ohio State, an interdisciplinary student-led project supported by the Ronald and Deborah Ratner Distinguished Teaching Award.

Students from departments across the university composed responses to the center’s 2019–20 performing arts season under the direction of award recipient and Department of Dance Professor Karen Eliot and Manager of Public University Programs Alana Ryder with support from Performing Arts Director Lane Czaplinski. For the full text and other student writing, visit wexarts.org.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Counterfeit Madison

MUSIC

Say a Little Prayer: An Aretha Franklin Celebration SAT, FEB 22 | 8 pm LINCOLN THEATRE

Jaimie Branch’s Fly or Die

PHOTO: KATE SWEENEY

Be there as a local treasure pays tribute to Aretha Franklin with an ensemble of 20 musicians and performers as part of an ongoing Wexner Center residency.

JAZZ

SAT, MAR 14 | 8 pm

Join avant-garde trumpeter and composer Jaimie Branch and band on the heels of Fly or Die II: Bird Dogs of Paradise (2019), recently featured in the top 10 albums of NPR’s 2019 Jazz Critics Poll.

ON SALE NOW—TICKETS.WEXARTS.ORG | (614) 292-3535

PHOTO: DAWID LASKOWSKI

PERFORMANCE SPACE