Theater artist and faculty member Janie Geiser has a new production in Los Angeles this weekend: Fugitive Time. The multidisciplinary puppetry performance, “inspired by the dual histories of illness and health in early 20th Century Los Angeles,” runs from Oct. 3-5 at the Automata, a performance space in L.A.’s Chinatown.
The work premiered on Sept. 21 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Santa Barbara, and now makes its debut where the piece was inspired.
Producer Miranda Wright (Theater MFA 09) explains in a recent press release that sunny L.A. became a haven and often final destination for sufferers of tuberculosis during the 20th century. Fugitive Time investigates this theme through puppetry, miniature landscapes, film, live-feed video and music/sound in order to “create an immersive, elliptical meditation on the body, illness, nature, and time.”
More from Geiser:
Fugitive Time began in early 2013 when I encountered a photograph of an early 20th century tent clinic for “consumptives” perched on a hillside in Los Angeles. This image was haunting—I couldn’t get it out of my mind. I followed this image into the compelling, disturbing history of Tuberculosis in early 20th Century Los Angeles, where I found a record of illness and hope, life and death. … Illness can be embarrassing, isolating, and obfuscating; it can instill fear and confusion. Alternately, it can be the site of sublime human interaction. Fugitive Time is a meditation on illness, landscape, and memory. We approach this history with compassion and care.
Many CalArts alumni helped Geiser realize the production, including set designer Vincent Richards (Theater MFA 13), composer Cassia Streb (Music MFA 06), video designer Su-Hyun Cho (Theater MFA 15), lighting designer Chu Hsuan Chang (Theater MFA 15), costume designer David Moyer (Theater MFA 14), associate costume designer Felicia Rose (Theater BFA 14) and performers Moira Macdonald (Theater MFA 12), Molly Allis (Music/IM MFA 14) and Minjung Kim (Film/Video MFA 15).
KCET’s Holly Willis praised the show in a Sept. 24 review.
Event Details
Fugitive Time
Oct. 3-5
8 pm on Friday and Saturday, 4 pm Saturday and 3 pm Sunday
Automata
504 Chung King Ct, Los Angeles
Tickets: $17-$20