CINCINNATI, OH – Pones Inc. Laboratory of Movement collaborates with Performance Gallery on a brand new movement-theatre piece titled, THROUGH THE EYES OF A CROW written by Sarah Mansfield. THROUGH THE EYES OF A CROW muses on the influence of memory in the creation of ourselves and received project support provided by a grant from ArtsWave. An early draft of the script inspired a successful collaboration between the two groups during the 2011 Cincy Fringe Festival on THE BODY SPEAKS, and the companies are excited to pursue another unique way to bring original and innovative work to Cincinnati with this joint production. Mixing the theatre-based backgrounds of Performance Gallery and the movement-based work of Pones Inc., performers from both companies will round out the cast of seven. Each of the six performances will occur in a different non-traditional space allowing the production to be available to patrons in a variety of neighborhoods. All shows are a suggested $12 donation at the door, expanding accessibility to a wider audience.
Regina Pugh of Performance Gallery who is performing in the piece says, “Creating theatre in this collaborative way is a special treat for actors. It is terrifying and exhilarating and I have found the subject matter of false memory to be especially interesting. I’m curious to learn how this piece will ‘land’ with our audiences, what questions they will have and what conversations might ensue about the elusive quality of memory.”
THROUGH THE EYES OF A CROW explores the subject of false memory and its corrosive effects on relationships. The value and fragility of memory are explored when two sisters confront each other, and their pasts, in order to discover their own versions of the truth. Fusing sound, text and movement, the experimental show promises to put each audience members’ own memory to the test. All performances of THROUGH THE EYES OF A CROW start at 7:30 P.M. and are under two hours allowing patrons to enjoy an ‘after party‘ with cast members each evening. Show dates and venues are as follows:
- Friday, October 28th – Northside Tavern, 4163 Hamilton Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45223
- Saturday, October 29th – Leapin Lizard Gallery, 726 Main Street, Covington, KY 41011
- Friday, November 4th – Essex Studios, 2511 Essex Ave., Walnut Hills, OH 45206
- Saturday, November 5th – Below Zero Lounge, 1122 Walnut Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202
- Friday, November 11th -The Mockbee, 2260 Central Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45214
- Saturday, November 12th – TBA
Inspiration for the show was taken from research of real case studies on false memory. In typical Pones Inc. fashion, the cast paired performance with outreach and participated in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s on October 1st where they helped raise over $338,000 for the Alzheimer’s Association. Pones Inc. and Performance Gallery are working collaboratively to create the performance from the ground up with Ian Gullet of Diet Audio, who is composing and playing live music at each performance. Gullet’s added layer to the show utilizes spoken word recordings, instruments and electronic sound.
Kim Popa of Pones Inc. states, “The poetic quality of the script inspired me to think about the complicated connections between memory and movement. Our bodies ‘remember,’ hence the term muscle memory, and it is intriguing to think about how we retain our life experiences in our physical selves. The mind and body are not separate entities and through this piece we hope to tell the story of false memories in an abstracted, new way. I aspire to create a piece where audiences leave feeling that they have just had an experience, versus simply seeing a show. I hope that patrons question their own memory of the production details and ponder how susceptible we all are to memory distortion.”
About Pones Inc.
Pones Inc. Laboratory of Movement is a non-profit performance art group dedicated to creating original work that blends various disciplines and focuses on community, site-specific performance and educational outreach. The company explores theatre for social change through its combination of dance and theatre in its signature style of pedestrian-influenced movement. Founded in 2008 by Kim Popa and Lindsey Jones, Pones Inc. continually collaborates with a diverse range of artists and groups and performs in multiple locations. For more details visit www.ponesinc.com.
About Performance Gallery
Performance Gallery is a collaborative performance environment existing to produce and promote challenging works of theatre which seldom find a home on mainstream stages. Founded in 2002, they produce a varying amount of works per year in a variety of spaces ranging in discipline from new plays generated from within the company, director experiments, existing but seldom produced scripts interpreted with an experimental vision, works in progress, or “stuff we’ve just been dying to do”.
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