Slumber Party (Portland, OR): Slumber Party (2023)
Theatre/Ritual
PERFORMANCE SYNOPSIS
This 20 minute piece deepens from our past explorations of slumber parties as sites of play, risk, and resistance, to explore death—the death of individual human beings and the mass death of climate collapse. The slumber parties of our youth were opportunities to encounter the mystery of oncoming adolescence and changes in our bodies/minds, and practice empowered responses through prank calls, seances, dress up, emotional catharsis, and feats of strength (staying up all night, playing “light as a feather, stiff as a board”). Now, we are asking how these rituals can create supportive connections as we (in middle-age) are caretaking loved ones approaching the end of life, raising children amidst climate chaos, and confronting our own enmeshment in modernity.
BIO
Slumber Party is an ongoing, long-term project of Lucille Dawson, Liz Hayden, Erin Leddy, Jen Mitas, and Maesie Speer, initiated in 2018. Slumber Party began as a group of women taking the night to interrogate our relationship to patriarchy, white supremacy, and the often exploitative and coercive culture of theatre in the US. Slumber Party has become an exploration of ritual and the creative expression of friendship, care, and intention, shared with others. As artists and producers, we have collaborated on over 25 original performances and events since 2006.
CREDIT
Performer/Creators
Lucille Dawson
Liz Hayden
Erin Leddy
Jen Mitas
Maesie Speer
Costume & Scenic Design
The ensemble
Music
Erin Leddy