Olivia | Dave | Justin | Grace | Bobby | Em | Carly | Genesis
May 1 | Olivia Crews
Los Angeles
For all that I have lost and for all that the world is suffering, I am in awe of the strength that we possess to overcome challenges. I am grateful to have time to spend right now. While it is uncomfortable, it feels like I am finally being forced to sort the clutter of both my mind and my apartment, and I am thankful of whatever higher power has pushed me to step out of my comfort zone and to a new level of growth and self awareness. I'm surrendering what I think I know and working on listening.
Olivia Crews is an artist and performer with chronic illness living/socially-distancing/decaying in Los Angeles, CA, who survives far too often on coffee, chocolate and conspiracy theories.
May 1 | Dave Maher
Chicago
Dave Maher is a comedian and theater artist in Chicago.
This was the week I cracked, weeping as I rearranged the cupboard and the same bag of chips kept falling out over and over again.
May 1 | Justin Lynk
Chicago
In the middle of a panic attack, a friend once said to me, "we've never been so prepared to be so unprepared." I try to remember that every day in quarantine and in general. Though I miss dearly collaborating with other filmmakers, I am attempting to be both disciplined and flexible while embedded at home; using this time to try and master myself.
Justin Lynk is a cinematographer and filmmaker based in the Midwest. Follow him on IG @jlynk
May 1 | Grace Traynor
New York City
Grace Traynor is an actor, writer, deviser, and dramaturg from Pittsburgh, PA. She is a libra sun, a scorpio moon, and a leo rising, if you’re into that. Grace is about to graduate from NYU Tisch with a BFA in Drama, having spent time at Playwrights Horizons Theater School and at NYU Berlin. She is enjoying spending her quarantine learning to embroider, reading, and curating (and participating in!) the premiere university digital theatre festival in the nation, https://www.playwrightshorizooms.com If you'd like to learn more about Grace, you can visit her website at https://www.gracetraynor.com
My week has been kooky but warm. As a theater student in the class of 2020, my senior spring has been a bit topsy turvy. I’m experiencing a lot of lasts in a way that I never imagined, but it’s remarkable how connected I am able to feel with my classmates. Today (April 29th), I had my last group seminar, a class I take with roughly forty other directors, writers, and makers where we discuss creative leadership. Instead of logging off right at the end of class like we usually do, we had a bit of a dance party, closing out with Rusted Root’s “Send Me On My Way.” There’s no catharsis quite like sobbing while jumping and twirling like a fool. Although graduating into a field that will be put on pause in its traditional sense for quite some time makes me anxious, I am fortified by all of the amazing work I’ve been able to experience, from the innovations my classmates created for our digital festival to the archival recordings of performances from renowned theaters from around the world. The access is astounding. When the world can restart, I hope to return to a theater that values the kind of accessibility we’re able to experience right now.
May 1 | Bobby Malbrough
New York City
I've settled into a very domestic attitude lately. I bake, I keep the apartment clean, I make cheese, and I've even developed opinions about types of squash. And it's great. I get a sort of Stepford feeling sometimes. And it usually comes from our normally distant but newly affectionate cat. And sometimes it's the baking. And sometimes i'ts because of the way time seems to have slowed. And then it passes. And I bake, and I clean, and I find more squash to form opinions about. (Butternut Squash is the best squash) And I wonder about the world we'll be returning to.
ROBERT MALBROUGH is a Brooklyn-based, Texas-born mover, shaker, and noodle maker. He recently made his New York directorial debut with a roving, site specific production of An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This His Final Evening. Other previous directing credits include an immersive production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Asheville, NC), Abandon All Hope, The Lover, Don’t Talk to Strangers, and The Unexamined Life (Houston, TX). He is currently developing a piece of object theatre based on his many assumptions about the Tony-Winning play The Ferryman, and a post-modern mangling of Titus Andronicus replete with Harry Nillson covers.
May 1 | Em Troilo
Orlando, FL
rupture (state of the union)
by ME&Em
(paper, string)
Em Troilo is an Orlando-based former high school English teacher working (remotely rn) in higher education administration and planning a graduate education somewhere at the intersection of education/psychology/public policy, because holy shit does the current state of education suck. Spends time recently cuddling cats and readin’ (currently recommend adrienne maree brown’s “pleasure activism”).
Miles Espaillat is an Orlando-based bartender and artist who picked up paper-cutting while stuck in bed sick with colon cancer. He learned the scherenschnitte style from his dearest mother. Spends time recently listening to history podcasts, dreaming of steam engines, and reciting elder scrolls lore.
May 1 | Carly Quisenberry
New York City
Carly Quisenberry is a hot, funny, tacky, cool, ambidextrous, 5'2" work of art living in New York City. Ok fine. She's not ambidextrous.
She has spent her quarantine annoying her roommate both on purpose, and not.
May 1 | Genesis
Chicago
Did I brush my teeth yet? Didn't I already run the dishwasher today? Why am I having so many dreams? Another Zoom call? How is my apartment so dusty? Have we talked to each other today? Does my cat love me or want me to leave her alone? Does the turtle need another walk?
All the mundane things we do in our homes have become the most important things.
Daily rituals both comforting and, at times, disturbing.
Lost in old habits. Finding new things to miss everyday.
Remembering and misremembering.
When will I be able to give you a hug?
Soon.
Yep.
Totally...
Right?
Amanda Dunne Acevedo and Lindsey Barlag Thornton are two interdisciplinary artists. Together they are Genesis.
You can find us on Instagram @Genesis.Ensemble or https://genesismakesperformance.weebly.com/
