CalArts Festival Theater Returns to Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Above: Trailer for ‘IamI.’

For the 12th year, the CalArts Festival Theater returns to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the largest arts festival in the world. Three CalArts productions take to the Venue 13 stage in Edinburgh, Scotland from Aug. 8-31.

The CalArts Festival Theater and Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama collaboratively run Venue 13 to showcase productions of emerging artists from Wales and California. School of Theater faculty Jon Gottlieb serves as this year’s program director, with Ian Garrett (Theater MFA 08) returning to Edinburgh for his eighth year as consulting producer. Reman Tzipora (Theater 15) is this year’s production manager, with Baily Johnson (Theater BFA 17) serving as assistant production manager.

IamI

Written and directed by Shawn Brown (Theater MFA 16), IamI is a multimedia dreamscape that illuminates the complexities of death. The story follows Iam, an immortal being with a mirror for a face. His companions have all passed away: Aila, through drowning; Deos, sacrificed in a ritual; Feriluc Maydie and Wellesley Kelvin, through cholera. They find themselves in the Eversphere, thinking about their past lives in the light of their apparent immortality.

IamI unifies sacred themes, the animal nature of humanity, and the scientific perspectives of academia. It features an original score, astral projections and experimental animation.

IamI stars actors Isaiah Baez (Theater MFA 16), Carly Bayer (Theater BFA 18), Molly Connor (Theater BFA 16), Sydney McDonald (Theater BFA 17), Gabriel Meltz (Theater BFA 15), Nathan Nonhof (Theater MFA 15), Alixandria Schwartz (Theater BFA 15), Thomas Slivinski (Theater MFA 16) and Kristin Tripe (Theater MFA 16); with lighting design by Alexander Freer (Theater MFA 17), costume design by Andrea Suarez (Theater BFA 17) and stage management by Kimberly Haith (Theater BFA 15).

Francesca, Francesca…

Writer Chelsea Duvall (Theater MFA 15) imagines the brief life and career of American photographer Francesca Woodman in the bio-fiction Francesca, Francesca…., directed by Megan Lewicki (Theater MFA 16).

Woodman, mostly known for her nude self-portraits, committed suicide when she was 22, leaving an enigmatic but powerful body of work. In Francesca, Francesca…, antique slide projectors and experimental projection techniques transform Woodman-inspired images into interactive landscapes and her most iconic photographs are rendered in 3D. The intimate stage production explores the mythology surrounding Woodman and the legacy she left behind.

Francesca, Francesca… stars Skylar Hamblen (Theater BFA 15) and Duvall, with Mariah George (Theater BFA 18) serving as stage manager.

Above: Trailer for ‘Francesca, Francesca….’

Bayou Blues

Through spoken word, song, dance, animation and rap, multidisciplinary artist Shaina Lynn (Theater MFA 17) tells the drowning dream of a girl named Beauty in Bayou Blues. Diving into the rich history of New Orleans, the production takes audiences on a journey exploring the waters of the bayou and the flood that washed over the city, while contemplating slavery’s damaging effects on black beauty, value and identity.

Bayou Blues is nominated for the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award, an award given to an outstanding human rights-themed play at the Fringe.

Brian Carbine (Theater MFA 16) directs the production, with lighting design by Jesse Fryery (Theater MFA 17) and stage management by Haith. Avanti Adivarekar (Theater MFA 17) is the show’s producer.

Shaina Lynn in ‘Bayou Blues.’ | Photo courtesy CalArts Festival Theater