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For the past 24 years, On the Boards' NW New Works Festival
has nurtured and showcased new and in-progress performance pieces by established and emerging Northwest artists. For some
of the artists, this is their first major public appearance or the first time they are receiving attention from critics. Given
this context, the best way to approach the 18 individual pieces is to determine if there is an interesting artistic concept
at the core or one aspect of the production that is compelling. Of the nine works performed during the first weekend,
three were clear standouts, although, surprisingly, only one of them took place in the large, mainstage theater, with the
strongest appearing on Friday night in the intimate downstairs studio space. Tikka Sears' "work created under
compulsion" is a powerful exploration of the struggles of three women throughout history -- Scheherazade, a Holocaust
survivor who painted concentration camp scenes, and a Latina immigrant serving in the U.S. Army in Iraq. Actor-director
Sears has collaborated with a team of musicians, singers and designers, including Manuel Castro, Eyvind Kang, Jessika Kenney,
Otong Durahim, April Mae Clifford and Chrissy Wai Ching Leung, to create a multimedia production that ties these three very
different life stories together. Using a series of imaginative props, including two round projection screens, a wheel-like
creation that becomes a third projection screen and hanging sheets of fabric, Sears and her talented collaborators enable
us to see the challenges these women face as they try to make the best of very different, but equally difficult, life situations. |
Read Alice Kaderlain's review of work created under compulsion
directly from the original site: seattlepi.nwsource.com/ae/319344_otb12q.html Click below to listen to audio interview with Tikka Sears, artistic director of the Memory
War Project and Sean Ryan, Regional Programs coordinator of the Northwest New Works Festival at On the Boards:
luxmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o10/clients/otb/2007_tikkasears.mp3 Tikka
Sears and fellow collaborators has been awarded grants to expand work created under compulsion into an evening length
performance piece from 4Culture and the Mayor's
Office of Arts and Culture |
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