VIDEO TRAILER FINAL FRAME BELOW

By Roger Q. Mason

Directed/Co-Choreographed by Adin Walker

Presented as part of the Araca Project

Cast: Izzy Castaldi, Stanley Mathabane, Michelle Vergara Moore*, Javan Nelson, Jean-Patrick Simeon*

( *AEA )

Lighting Design: Vicki Bain

Scenic Design: Wesley Cornwell

Costume Design: Sarafina Bush

Sound Design: Charles Inniss

Co-Choreographer: Mayfield Brooks

Stage Manager: Esther Bermann

ASM: Justin House

Community Engagement Consultant and Talkbacks Moderator: Ian Fields Stewart

Production Manager: Emma Johnson

Production Photos by Brayden Donnelly - http://braydenndonnelly.weebly.com

PRESS

“The philosophy of movement in this piece, as Adin describes it, is to explore how each character is “carrying the identities and signifiers that are inscribed onto their bodies.” Michelle is learning the language of her character’s body—they talk about the dance she is doing as if it is an internal monologue: there is a moment of remembering, there is a moment of release. The rest of rehearsal is devoted to first attempts. Cosmo Castaldi and Stanley Mathabane track their teenage characters’ relationship through a few different moments: they experiment with a sleepover scene, a nosebleed moment, a kiss where lips don’t touch. Adin wonders if the entire show could be done without using a single chair. They decide to try the scene at hand without chairs. This is the time to try things, after all—and I look forward to witnessing the decisions they make.” (Deepali Gupta, read full story here)

“RQM: Why is it important for us to make queer theatre?

AW: I recently attended Diana Oh's brilliant [my lingerie play] at Rattlestick, and the performance begins with audience members writing on paper bags their answers to the question: “why do you create a safer and more courageous world for us all?” And I feel that that mission – to "create a safer and more courageous world for us all" – and its framing question – why are we doing this – is at the heart of making work that is unapologetically queer. “Queer” is a powerful word – its meanings are vast and represent different things to different people. The word continues to take on meanings with each new movement and generation. To me, the power of "queer" rests in its insistence on political and cultural LGBTQ+ visibility: we're here, we're queer. Queer art exposes, interrogates, and disentangles the mechanisms of our politics – the signifiers that aid the world in making sense of our bodies – to therefore distill a story, a character, a corner of a universe to our core truths. And the word itself, "queer," defies definition and parameters – everyone kinda has their own relationship to the word and what it signifies and sums up to that person. And I like to think that making queer art is about making art that cannot be defined...and in that space without the walls of definition, we can start to build that "safer and more courageous world for us all," that Diana Oh so powerfully inscribed onto our little queer hearts.” (Read the full conversation here)

“After a fruitful time of discovering themselves, Mason started writing “The White Dress” while they were in graduate school (where they took up writing for screen and stage) in Chicago. Mason now celebrates all the different aspects of who they are, to wit: “black, Irish, Filipino, gender-queer, plus-sized and fabulous!” they declare. This all-encompassing stance is reflected in their approach to their creative output as well. “Before I started writing for theater, I was a pianist, I was a visual artist and I did modern dance. So, my work is constantly playing with how I can experiment with form.” This has led to Mason’s incorporating movement into “The White Dress” by collaborating with director and choreographer Adin Walker. “The White Dress” is now described as “part religious rite, part dance/performance.” (By Walter Ang, read the full story here)