Come to the river: the RIVER ST. premiere

In a room above a busy bar lives a young man in the deeps of a turbulent time, pursued by his government, in love and in trouble, and driven, always, by words: RIVER ST. is Christopher Marlowe’s life, in his words and in mine. Ben Willis’ acute and subtle interpretation used water as an instrument along with dulcimer, drum, and drowned bells. One patron said that she felt “The room had melted away and I was standing on the river’s edge.” Another called RIVER ST. “A sorely-needed message—I was so moved.” Another said “Thank you for the life raft.” And one said, simply, “It gave me dreams.”

Detroit was RIVER ST.’s maiden voyage, and I was thrilled at the audience response. Now I’m working to take this piece any and everywhere that Marlowe’s voice can reach—Chicago, NYC, Austin, San Francisco, Toronto, London (Shoreditch would be perfect). I’ll shortly be launching a support campaign to help make that happen in 2019 and beyond. Come to the river!

RIVER ST premiere

Squeeze and Release

Two of my favorite creative dancers, thinkers, and artists, Rachael Ahn Harbert and Marianne Brass, perform together as Squeeze and Release. And tonight I’ll be collaborating with them (along with Julia Fowler and Jared Scott Morin) on Enlightened Discharge v2.0 which will involve soy dogs, pennies, the cry of plaintive loons, and an audience up for the playful challenge.