Sara Lyons Projects Presents
THIS EMANCIPATION THING
Pull up a cushion, have a cookie, get comfortable. Speak if you like, or just listen: This Emancipation Thing is an invitation to connect, to resurrect the second-wave feminist consciousness-raising circle in a new theatre event led by an interracial, gender-expansive ensemble. How do our relationships, our desires, our relationships with our bodies vibrate between 1968 and 2023, across generations? Whether for an hour or for six, settle into a womb of listening and care as contemporary LA-based feminists of all ages and genders intervene in the past, collapsing time in a new kind of theater experience from director Sara Lyons. With reproductive rights slipping through our fingers, what wisdom must we awaken from the activists who ushered in Roe v. Wade (1973)? What of that past must we crumble — and how will we emerge from the rubble?
Available for booking
Production History:
REDCAT Los Angeles, CA >> December 9, 2023 >> 4:30p, 6:30p, and 8:30p
Conceived and Directed by SARA LYONS, co-created with THE ENSEMBLE
Performed by JENNIFER JONASSEN, JACK MACCARTHY, STACI MIZE, CHENOA RAE, MICHELLE SUI
Archival texts adapted by SARA LYONS from texts by Vivan Gornick; Shulamith Firestone; Anonymous members of Redstockings (1969); Jamison Green; Supreme Court Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan; Lena Hill
Scenic Designer: EMILY ANNE MACDONALD
Media and Interaction Designer: JOSEPH AMODEI
Lighting Designer: CHU-HSUAN CHANG
Sound Designer: JONATHAN SNIPES
Costume Designer: LENA SANDS
Stage Manager: MACY E. KUNKE
Production Manager: CHRISTA TROESTER
Producer: NIKKI DILORETO
Producer: JESSICA HANNA
Producer: SARA LYONS
Fundraising Manager: SIOBHAN O’LOUGHLIN
Associate Sound Designer: YASMINE EL-TAYEB
Assistant Director: STACI MIZE
Scenic Fabricator: ALAN TOLLEFSON
Assistant Scenic Designer: YESSI GARCIA-GARIBAY
This premiere was also made possible by the creative contributions of Marian Gonzalez, Claire Edmonds, Alanna Blair, Patty Gone, Ginna Diaz, Lex Ryan, Heather Hewko, and all audience participants at prior performances, workshops, and rehearsals.
Developed with residency support from the Ucross Foundation and REDCAT.
This Emancipation Thing was created with support from the Arkay Foundation, the Eugene Mercy Faculty Development Fund at Lehigh University, and the Foundation for Contemporary Art.
Special Thanks to our Seed & Spark donors; Edgar Miramontes; Mo Siedor; Scottie Harvey; Marike Splint; Paul Outlaw; Lisa and Richard Lyons; Laura Flanagan; Lena Hill; Lizzie Borden; Lehigh University Department of Theater; Emily Lick, Giann Bello, Cori Shindo, Aylin Guzman, and Savannah Noriega; Cameron Jaye Mock; Ariel Bookman; Sylvie Sands Bookman; Stewart Blackwood; Daniela Lieja Quintanar, João Ribas, Diana Wyenn, Tony Shayne, Pete Pace, Jacques Boudreau, and the entire REDCAT crew; The Lesbian Herstory Archives; Redstockings Archive; all feminist ancestors past, present, and future.
Sara Lyons Projects is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts services organization.
Photography by Angel Origgi and Emily Anne MacDonald (photos 3 & 6)
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Sara Lyons Projects presents
THIS EMANCIPATION THING (in progress)
19th Annual New Original Works Festival, REDCAT - Los Angeles, CA
September 1-3 @ 8:30p; Virtual performance September 3 @ 8:30p
Conceived and Directed by Sara Lyons
Co-created by the ensemble
Performed by Alanna Blair, Ginna Diaz, Patty Gone, Jennifer Jonassen, and Chenoa Rae
Media and Sound Design by Joseph Amodei
Scenic Design by Emily MacDonald
Lighting Design by Chu-Hsuan Chang
Assistant Direction by Claire Edmonds
Text adapted by Sara Lyons from archival documents by Vivian Gornick for New York Times Magazine, Shulamith Firestone, New York Radical Feminists, New York Radical Women, Redstockings, and the performers.
Supported by a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant
Sara Lyons Projects is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts services organization.
photos by Angel Origgi and Emily MacDonald