Incite/Insight Winter 2019 FINAL Incite Insight Winter 2019 | Page 18

18 I n c i t e /I ns i ght five brains won’t always agree on a single vision. The effects of trusting the script, our guts and each other is felt throughout every performance. LC: The beauty of building this play physically was in sharing the ideas and inspiration across many minds. In our initial dramaturgy work for this play, we visited a class of middle school girls from an Austin public school and asked them to workshop several scenes. Working with young people - the intended audience for this piece - helped us clarify our aesthetic choices and informed the visual and physical world of the play. Suddenly, a dishrag could be the giant ocean; a cake box could be the puppeted head of our stepmother; a step- ladder turned on its side could be a giant sideways lighthouse; three apple crates could be three war horses. SP: I could offer my worst idea and not have that offer be a reflection of my artistry or value and worth, but actually just a brick to try in building the path of the play. This level of trust came quickly in the room but was built towards over several years as we’ve done multiple projects together. AT: Our ensemble’s trust and commitment to collaboration transferred to our institutional partner, ZACH Theatre. It took some finessing to define and balance responsibilities, but our ensemble reinforced that all of us were decision-makers on every aspect of the project. ZACH was responsive to this redistribution in communication and decision-making and asked us all for our input and approval on marking W i n te r 20 1 9 This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing with Lina Chambers, Kriston Woodreaux, Sam Provenzano and Ally Tufenkjian. Photo Credit: Lawrence Peart educational materials and production. JC: My favorite thing about this show, honestly, has been the people. I have gotten the opportunity to create something like nothing else I have created prior AND perform it alongside people I admire so. It has been a learning process, a loving process and also a true testament to the meaning of organic collaboration. Jada Cadena is an integrated sound designer working in and around Austin to create theatre for young audiences. She graduated from The University of Texas at Austin’s Theatre and Dance program with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2015. Lina Chambers is a theatre-maker, performer and educator. She is an MFA candidate in the University of Texas at Austin’s Drama and Theatre for Youth and Communities (DTYC) program. Her research and practice centers young and very young people and she strives to build engaging theatrical experiences through collaborative devising. Sam Provenzano is from Las Vegas and graduated with her MFA in Drama and Theatre for Youth and Communities from UT Austin in 2018. She is currently the inaugural UT Austin Theatre for Youth Fellow at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia where she focuses on Theatre for the Very Young, Theatre for Young Audiences, and Museum Theatre. Ally Tufenkjian is an artist, educator and activist. Through her research and artistry, she aims to forward youth voice and agency through school-based arts opportunities and create theatre with and for young people. Kriston Woodreaux is an actor/director based in Austin, TX. His next collaborative project is a solo performance adaptation of Cornelius Eady’s Brutal Imagination in the 2019 Cohen New Works Festival in April.