Three months after the close of THIS IS ON RECORD, and still so much to be proud of.
We pushed ourselves to create:
- The most technically ambitious Applied Mechanics show to date, which has earned Maria Shaplin a well-deserved Barrymore nomination for Outstanding Projection Design
- A album’s worth of songs in the style of 1960s folk (listen to Alison Ormsby singing her eulogy to Bobby Kennedy here)
- A children’s book, written by Anita Holland and illustrated by Emily Schumann
- A ten-minute documentary shot by Annie Wilson in the style of the mid-80s
- Not to mention all the period-specific props, furniture and print media (shout out to our amazing props designer, Emily Schumann and set designer Lisi Stoessel!).
Selections from The Many Lands of My Mother, created by Anita Holland and Emily Schuman for This Is On Record.
We celebrated long-standing collaborators like Annie Wilson, Brett Robinson, and Anita Holland, and brought new folks into the fold, like Daniel Park, set designer Lisi Stoessel and sound designer Liz Atkinson. We took our democratic company culture to new heights with the experiment of multiple directors (dream team of Isabella Sazak, Maura Krause and Becky Wright).
We took a huge topic like “media” and turned it into a set of stories that were intimate, original, political, and highly personal. We transformed the Glass Factory in Brewerytown into a time traveling installation, and we got to know the neighbors and streets of a new-to-us part of Philly. We moved audiences, sold out shows, and rejoiced in the laughter and tears of the run.
Oh, and we welcomed another Shapwright baby into our family in the midst of it all:
Ida Shapwright
Moreover, we completed the trilogy we started working on in 2015, following the success of We Are Bandits. The trilogy started with a deceptively simple prompt: use our unique immersive style to depict multiple time periods onstage simultaneously. So many students, designers and actors have joined us on this journey.
We began the trilogy with a large cast of UArts students in ROUGH DRAFT (2015), which overlaid three different American protests — The Bread and Roses Revolt of 1914, the Detroit Uprising of 1967, and the Seattle WTO protests of ‘99.
We continued it with FEED(2016), exploring the past, present and future of food with our smallest-ever cast of just three people; this show fed over 40 people every performance, sometimes twice a day. And we completed it, gloriously, with THIS IS ON RECORD. What a way to end an era.
Ida at TIOR production meeting
One thing all the shows in this trilogy have in common is that they were all stage managed by Nic Labadie-Bartz. Nic was a student at University of the Arts when we met them and they have since become an cherished collaborator of our company, navigating some of the most complex work we have ever made with incredible acumen and grace, touring with us, and even co-writing new songs for our in-house band, The Bandits!
They have blessed us with their precision, kindness, humor and unwavering excellence and we are honored to have them officially as our newest Associated Artist (see their bio here).
We turn 10 years old next year: no small feat for a company of our small size and humble stature. In recognition of our growth as a company, we were selected as finalists for the June and Steve Wolfson Award for an Evolving Theater Company this year. We’ve certainly come a long way from making shows in Becky’s West Philadelphia apartment.
Jessica Hurley in Selkie, 2009
So what’s next?
We want to keep making radical theater and pushing our own boundaries.
We want to keep questioning what our medium can do.
We want to keep creating spaces for our fellow artists to create, thrive, and flourish.
We want to connect with new audiences and celebrate those wonderful folks who always show up, show after show after show.
We’re proud to have done so much already and will keep you posted as we do more. It really feels like the world is our oyster now. Thank you to our community for going the distance with us. Here’s to Year 10!