A new performance inspired by the life of Marta Becket—a Broadway dancer who left New York at the height of her career, moved into an empty Opera House in an abandoned desert town, painted an entire audience on its walls, and performed there for the next 40 years whether anyone was there to see her or not. This show will be created in rehearsal, taking inspiration from Marta’s life, Vaudeville performance, artistic obsession, using “getting lost” as a strategy for finding oneself, and dust devils.

“Is it eccentric to love your work so much that you would go anywhere in the world to do it?” – Marta Becket

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CREATIVE TEAM 

Director | Katie Pearl 

Associate Director | Alex Keegan 

Assistant Directors | Leo T Kaplan & Joel Pau

Teaching Assistant | Leo T Kaplan

Stage Manager | Caleb Spivey

Lighting Designer | Alex White

Projection Designer | Courtney Gaston

Set Designer | Emmie Finckel

Puppetry Designer | Maya Lozea

Costume Designer | By Martinez-Castaneda

Sound Designer | YM Myla Neaj

Dramaturg | Molly Volker

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ENSEMBLE

Chloe Bean

Zoe Ferguson

Saydie Grossman

Ezra Holzman

Sally Hu

Tommy Parker

Kayla Raphael-Shirley

Har-el Shrem

Quinn Tolman

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ASSISTANT DIRECTOR'S NOTE

Welcome to Marta Becket, Save Us All! We’ve spent the last two and a half months building the show, meeting each other, meeting Marta, and meeting ourselves. All of us connected to Marta in different ways– some of us as fellow dancers or performers, others as daughters or  animal lovers, others just as people trying to make their own way through life.  This place and process has become our shared world, the space of each of our hearts, a liminal place that is both Death Valley Junction and a black box theater in Middletown, Connecticut. We are so excited to invite you in and live here together with you for the 70 minutes of the show.

 

The core of this play is driven by questions about success and authenticity. How do we define success? What is keeping us from living as our authentic selves? As Anne Bogart writes in A Director Prepares, “Your growth as an artist is not separate from your growth as a human being: it is all visible” (118). With Marta Becket as our artistic inspiration, each member of the ensemble has crafted a narrative arc out of their own desire to grow in this way, simultaneously as both artists and humans. Taking creative and personal risks, or leaps of faith, has been essential to our process. Risk means something different to everyone, and taking a risk looks different for everyone. 

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You, as audience and participant, are the final ingredient of our collaboration. We hope our work sparks delight and reflection in your own attempts (and failures!) to grow closer to an authentic, desired self. 

 

Enjoy!

 

Leo T Kaplan & Joel Pau

Assistant Directors

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Photos by Elijah Philip & T. Charles Erickson