Notch Theatre Company Presents Voices From A Pandemic

Notch Theatre Company presents the World Premiere Presentation of Voices from a Pandemic created with over 100 artists and community voices across the globe, live-streaming January 29th and January 30th online.

Voices from a Pandemic is a two-part, live workshop featuring artists and community from all over the world sharing first-person testimony from individuals on the frontlines of the pandemic and current Civil Rights Movement. As we embark on vaccine distribution, Voices strives to provide an artistic time capsule of the real lives lived and lost in 2020.

Act One will take place at 8:00pm ET Friday, January 29th and will be directed by Christopher Windom** and Nigel Semaj. Act Two, directed by Sanaz Ghajar, will take place on January 30th at 9:00pm ET. Both acts can be enjoyed as stand alone events or as a two-part series. While the sharings are free and open to the public, capacity is limited. Please RSVP to [email protected] to receive a link to attend.

Producing Partner: Portland Thomas;* Production Management: Jenny Kennedy;* Stage Management: Nikki Hyde, Emilee Buchheit,* Lorraine Fiore, Ducky Anderson; Costumes and Dramaturgy: Elinor T Vanderburg; Video Design: Bruno-Pierre Houle; Sound: Emma Hasselbach.

Since April, Voices from a Pandemic has been inviting artists and cultural workers to remotely collect testimony from people on the frontlines, to hear their experiences during this worldwide pandemic. This includes anyone continuing to do the in-person work that keeps a country and its people alive and functioning, not only essential employees but also the front line protesters who have risked their safety and health to fight for a revolution that uplifts us all. The program has expanded and shifted in unforeseen ways since its inception, growing to reflect the breadth of experiences from people all over during these many months as the damage from the pandemic continues to compound ongoing and new national (and international) crises.

“Voices from a Pandemic is a communal creation, owned by all participants and story sharers. It has no one playwright, no singular author or creator.” -Notch Theatre Artistic Director Ashley Teague

Notch Theatre believes it is crucial to archive these experiences in real time, documenting the vast scope of stories that defines this urgent chapter in our cultures and histories. Moreover, the project aims to maintain momentum for the current Civil Rights Movement, providing first-person histories of this unprecedented time and reminding us of the promises we’ve made to dismantle inequitable systems and rebuild a more just future in 2021 and beyond. Voices, as in all of Notch’s work, endeavors to subvert and enrich our historic archives, and to question what constitutes “legitimate documentation” by centering and amplifying community-based stories, which may not currently be given a platform.

Voices has collaborated with over 100 community members and artists. To name a few…

Actors in this production: Julian Abelskamp, Anthony Adu, Victor Anthony*, Shimali De Silva, Moire Dia, Iliana Guibert, Ashley J. Hicks, Lisa Jai, Sarah Keyes*, Abigail C. Onwunali, Aleca Piper, Gabriela Saker, Anne Scurria*, Karishma Swarup, Portland Thomas*, Deema Turkomani, Elisabeth Yancey*.

Story Collectors: Ahmed Ashour, Anna (Boo Bess) Bridgforth,  Mary Rose Branick, Sean Dunnington, Nayib Felix, Samantha Fonseca, Marianna Gailus, Addie Gorlin-Han, Gwen Kingston, Ann Kinnebrew, Maggie Mason, Marina Morrissey, Ann-Kathryne Mills, Abigail C. Onwunali, James Dean Palmer, Isabel Pask, Gabriela Saker, David Samuel, Dario Sanchez, Ashley Teague, Portland Thomas, Lea Zawada – plus several collectors who wish to remain anonymous.

Transcribers and Text Editors: Sean Dunnington, Lennox T. Duong, Samantha Fonseca, Ashley J. Hicks, Monica Ho, Sarah Keyes, Rhiannon Ling, Riley McFarland, Gabriela Saker, Rachel Schmeling, Karishma Swarup, Portland Thomas, Eric Wiegand, Elisabeth Yancey.

*Appearing curiosity of Actors’ Equity Association, **Member of SDC

Artists in previous workshop iterations and story banks: Julian Abelskamp, Anthony Adu, Sergio Mauritz Ang, Victor Anthony, Ahmed Ashour, Mary Rose Branick, Dylan Crow, Shimali De Silva, Lennox T. Duong, Nayib Felix, Marianna Gailus, Iliana Guibert, Ashley J. Hicks, Monica Ho, Lisa Jai, Sarah Keyes, Louis Reyes McWilliams, Kathryn Metzger, Ann-Kathryne Mills, J. Richey Nash, Abigail C. Onwunali, Isabel Pask, Anish Varma Pinnamaraju, Gabriela Saker, David Samuel, Dario Sanchez, Jacques Smith, Moira Squier, Portland Thomas, Bahni Turpin, Dina Vovsi, Lea Zawada.