NEW WORKS SHOWCASE
To mark the end of our Fall 2020 season - our first going entirely remote! - my pride and joy, the Hudson Valley Performing Arts Laboratory, is celebrating the community of performers and creators that make the Lab the amazing organization it is. Join us for an evening of new music and writing developed over the fall season in our Writer's and Composer's workshops; performed by our 2021 guest artists and cast members from this year's productions! I'll be reading in a few of the pieces, but the event as a whole is near to my heart.
This event is happening remotely this year, and reservations are free! Hope to see you there!
My role: Producer, Performer
- Join the Party! -
Hawk's Landing
In March of 2020, the staff of the Hudson Valley Performing Arts Laboratory found ourselves asking; how can we devise and produce a show completely remotely? And how can we provide artistic support to our community when we can't physically come together?
We came up with Play to Play: a remote devising game in which anybody could sign up and submit responses to visual and writing prompts. Participants in the game were then invited to join the cast as we used the responses to inspire a production.
The result: a silly, community-devised soap-opera, written and filmed entirely remotely.
My roles: Writer, Script Supervisor, Assistant Director, Performer (Janessa)
PLAY TO PLAY
Production roles:
Game Master
Script Supervisor
Writer
Performer (Janessa)
As the Hudson Valley Performing Arts Laboratory moved our programming online, we were faced with the exciting challenge of creating the theater we are known for, but in a completely new way. We developed a game called Play to Play as a way to continue to work collaboratively despite being isolated from each other. The game was the first step in our devising process; at the close of the game, players were invited to join us as we moved (remotely) through the next phases of development, rehearsal, and performance. This devising process produced Hawk's Landing; a silly soap opera written, rehearsed, and produced entirely remotely.
MARTIN REED
PERFORMING ARt
Production roles:
Performer (Jamie, Ensemble)
Just before the world shut down, The Hudson Valley Performing Arts Laboratory completed our month-long collaboration with the Samuel Dorsky Museum at SUNY New Paltz, in which we invited 12 members of our communities into the galleries and asked ourselves, "What if other people's experiences stayed in the museum after they left?" Under the direction of Liz Dahmen, and sourcing inspiration from the pieces on display, we devised a short play that utilized music, text, sound, and movement to bring the visual artwork to life.
A documentary about the making of this piece can be found here.
CARLA JONES
medea (by medea)
Production roles:
Assistant Director
Dramaturg
Writer
Performer (Medea)
Euripides version of Medea's story has been told for over 2000 years. This experimental production explored what happens when Medea is in charge of her own narrative. Using devised theater techniques and written collaboratively, this production invited the audience to experience a classic Greek tragedy from a new perspective. How might Medea tell her own story, if she had the chance?
JOSIE LANE
The Hudson Valley Performing Arts Laboratory is a company based in Poughkeepsie, New York that provides education and engagement opportunities for performing artists of all levels of experience. Through affordable and donation-based programming, sustainable scheduling, and radically democratic casting processes, The Lab is dedicated to bringing quality performances and training to the Hudson Valley theatre scene while simultaneously fostering community and collaboration across the board.
Reach out to info@hvpal.org or contact me directly at sarah@hvpal.org to discuss how we might be able to work together!