“If the Moon Never Came Back” was our debut production and took place from October 5th through the 7th at the Greenhouse Theater Center.

OUR PROCESS

Inspired by the Solo Performance class that each of our Ensemble members took at Columbia College Chicago, we wondered what a show might look like in the Solo Performance category outside of college and in our post-grad lives. We rehearsed at The Edge Theater in the Flex Space. We each brought in Solo Performance pieces that we had written, read them aloud, gave each other feedback, and started the devising process. Each rehearsal was filled with trial and error. However, we implemented a devising system we coin as “The Grape System”.

In devising, it is common to have a rush of ideas, to have a chaotic collective brain. In attempt to bring organization to our thoughts as a group, one could say “I have a grape!” in which we would hold our process and listen to the idea. There are many ways in which to respond to the grape. Since each performer had agency in their own pieces of writing, if the “grape” was liked, they would respond with “I like that, let’s try it.” And we would attempt to use the grape. If the grape is not so much what the performer had in mind they could either say “Let me hold onto that grape”, meaning it’s an idea we can keep in our back pocket. Or if the idea is not liked, they could say “I’m not hungry”. This was the biggest asset to our devising process.

Attempting to marry devising and solo performance is sort of contradictory. However, we were careful to only add elements to someone’s piece if it could aid telling the story without distracting from the solo performer. It was a careful balance of the two.

In the end, we had a very successful run of the show at The Greenhouse Theater Center.

The pieces in our show are as follows:

An Ode to a Hometown by Emma Close

The Moon is a Witness by Merry Marshall

Egg by Eric Hinkle

Copy of Tub by Quinton Walker

Hour of the Tremor by Emma Younger

Starcatcher by Sean Cunningham

Love, Dad by Audrey Busbee

A Prayer for the Girl Swinging Her Legs in Her Mother’s Linoleum Kitchen by Nealie Tinlin

Saved Via iCloud Notes; Last Updated Today by Hannah Loessberg

Photos by Mollie Menuck

Stage Managed by Sarah Schorle and Morgan Jahnke