MATER PERFORMANCE LABS

This workshop series is open to the public and focused on collaborative creative processes. Named for the ancient root of both mother and matter, these labs transmute raw lived experience into lasting material culture. By exploring memories, embodying roles, and shifting perspectives, participants gain safe emotional distance to look at their histories clearly. Utilizing practices from performance art, creative writing, collage, somatic inquiry and archival materials, memory is physically forged into art.

Ancestor Plays

An Artistic Devising & Playwriting Intensive

How do the daily, felt experiences of our ancestors live within our creative bodies today? Is there a family legend or lore calling for you to explore? Our lineages are recorded in the textures our ancestors touched, the melodies they hummed, the work they did with their bodies, and the material worlds they survived.

Ancestor Plays is an intimate, generative theater intensive that bridges ethnographic inquiry, somatic embodiment, and the art of documentary playwriting. This workshop invites you to step into the dual role of researcher and playwright. Together, we will engage family lore through the visceral and the tangible; transforming memory and imagined history into original, living art.

Beyond the final script, this process is designed as a sacred act of reconnection and self-understanding. By leaning into role and embodiment as a form of creative self-care, you will cultivate a grounded presence, honor the roots that hold you up, and offer a gesture of love to both your ancestors and your present self.

The Creative Progression

Over the course of this series, we will move through a distinct, sensory-driven structure designed to translate personal lineage into an original script:

 ·       The Material Archive: We begin by anchoring the imagination in the physical world. Using photographs, textiles, letters, or music, we engage the weight, scent, and texture of your specific lineage.

·       A Study of Archetypes: We hone in on a particular story, or people from your lineage whom you are interested in learning about. We use the language of applied archetypes and roles to gain an understanding of who they were within their family and cultural system.

·       The Somatic Embodiment Landscape: We transition into the body, “taking on” the imagined physicality and circumstances of these ancestors. Through this visceral engagement, you begin to speak, imagine, feel, and think “as” this person.

·      The Script as Container: Stepping into the playwright’s seat, you will bring two or more ancestral voices into an imagined, cross-generational dialogue—writing an original script that externalizes family lore into poetic text.

 The Culmination: A Witnessed Reading

The series concludes with an intimate, work-in-progress reading on zoom. Surrounded by the warmth of invited community, your characters' words will be brought to life transforming personal lineage into a celebrated collective theater piece.

• SCHEDULE: Mondays, 7:15-8:45 EST | Virtual via Zoom.

• DURATION: 7 weeks of generative ensemble sessions and 1 final showcase (8 total sessions).

• INVESTMENT: $199 (includes 7 virtual sessions & 1 in person final showcase.)

• TIMELINE: 10/26, 11/2, 11/9, 11/16, 11/23, 11/30, 12/7. A final, intimate, in-person showcase and reading hosted on zoom for an invited audience on 12/13, time TBD.

• CAPACITY: Strictly limited to 10 participants to preserve creative intimacy and guarantee dedicated individual focus.

HOW TO JOIN

  1. Submit your application: Fill out the short form below to share your creative intentions and availability.

  2. Review & Connection: I will personally review your application within 48 hours to ensure the lab aligns with your goals.

  3. Acceptance & Invoice: If the lab is a match for your journey, you will receive a formal welcome email containing your tuition invoice and your onboarding packet.

  4. Secure your spot: Tuition must be paid witin 72 hours of acceptance to lock in your space in the circle.