Constellations ~PLUS~ The Kind of Thing You Don’t Talk About Alexis Atkinson ~PLUS~ Asia Gagnon
About This Show
Constellations is a multimedia theater piece that reflects and tracks the psychological and emotional development of a young black female. The one-woman play utilizes prose, narrative anecdote, spoken word, and poetry to explore the depth of a marginalized experience. An unnamed Lead takes the audience on a tour through time and space in the Garden of Dreams, a resting place for unrealized aspirations and the unresolved past. Dissonance between violent implications of navigating oppression, wrestling with identity politics, and hope for a better future echo throughout crucial moments of self-discovery.
~PLUS~
This project is a one-woman show.
It is not a pity-party. It is not a freak show. It is not a cathartic tale of woe and redemption.
It is a message in the form of a story (with other stories interspersed) for anyone who feels that his or her experiences fall into the category of The Kind Of Thing You Don’t Talk About. It is an encouragement to those who have secrets, to those who fear labels, to those people who hide parts of themselves in an effort to avoid making other people uncomfortable.
About the Artists
Constellations
Alexis Atkinson is an actress and writer born and raised in Jamaica, Queens, New York. Her passion for social justice, theater, performance art, and building communities shines through the disruption of theatrical and cultural archetypes that stunt personal development. As a recent graduate of Colby College, Atkinson double-majored in Theater & Dance, and American Studies. Her academic career focused on how artistic storytelling mediums like theater dictate the way history develops and impacts our daily interactions. With her work, she intends to break the cycle of theater history that acquiesces to regurgitating stories and tropes that perpetuate stereotypes. As a black artist, she has seen theater tropes parallel her own life and shape the way people treat her. Her debut play, Constellations, aims to articulate the disconnect experienced by marginalized peoples, where the limitations of the body are at constant odds with the freedom of the mind.
The Kind Of Thing You Don’t Talk About
Asia Gagnon received her BFA in Directing at Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama. She has interned and worked with companies including Mabou Mines, Elevator Repair Service and currently holds a technical intern position with The Wooster Group. Recent work in New York includes the staging of her own play Bright Things (Manhattan Repertory Theatre), Encanta – The Magical Latina Lesbian Love Story Of Our Generation by new playwright Shawn Harris (Manhattan Repertory), and Chinashop Meet Bulls by new playwright Michael Perrie Jr. (Standard Toykraft).
Max Bernstein was born and raised in Buffalo, NY where he received his BA in Media Studies from UB. Bernstein also received an MFA from UC Boulder. In addition, he is an associate of the Wooster Group, video designer for Kaki King, media designer for Michelle Ellsworth, a member of The Flinching Eye Collective, a member of Friends Of The TANK, and drummer of the band Eupana. Bernstein’s personal works combine elements of cinema, theater, sculpture, performance, and new media, often exploring contemporary notions of representation and phenomenology through experimental narrative and technology.
Thursday, August 25 at 7:30pm
General Admission
$15 in advance
$18 at the door
Students/Seniors/idNYC
$12
70 minutes
share £
Credits
Constellations
Written, performed & conceived by
Alexis Atkinson
Director for Dixon Place presentation
Todd Coulter
Sound Design
Olivia Gould
Projection Concept Design & Research
Thomas Lue
Publicity Concept Artist
Rosangela Melendez
Lighting Design
Rachel Prestigiacomo
Staging Consultant
Lauren Stockless
Stage Manager
Leah Alfieri
Media Technician
Max Bernstein
Photo Credit
Rosangela Melendez
The Kind Of Thing You Don’t Talk About
Written, created & performed by
Asia Gagnon
Media Design
Max Bernstein
Photo Credit
Max Bernstein
Give someone the gift of theater…
