Segal Center Film Festival on Theatre and Performance (FTP) 2022 is pleased to present individual submissions created under the digital initiative…
A Dozen Dreams
by Anne Hamburger, John Eisner and Irina Kruzhilina
Country: United States | Language: English | Year Of Inception: 2021
About A Dozen Dreams
“Twelve exquisitely designed installations capture the fears, hopes and reveries shared on audio by 12 women playwrights.”— The New York Times
En Garde Arts, the not for profit theatrical production company known for its site-specific and immersive productions, premiered A Dozen Dreams in May, 2021. Co-conceived by Anne Hamburger with John Clinton Eisner and Irina Kruzhilina, A Dozen Dreams was an immersive theatrical walk-through experience that brought to life the pandemic dreams of 12 of America’s most prolific women playwrights. These bold, articulators of our time, from Pulitzer prize winners to Tony nominees to emerging voices, answered with their extraordinary stories that encompass the full range of expressions of this world event which has unalterably changed all our lives. The playwrights are: Sam Chanse, Erika Dickerson-Despenza, Emily Mann, Martyna Majok, Mona Mansour, Rehana Mirza Ellen McLaughlin, Liza Jessie Peterson, Ren Dara Santiago, Caridad Svich, Lucy Thurber, Andrea Thome.
The designers are: Irina Kruzhilina, Visual and Environmental design, Brittany Bland, Video & Projection, Jeanette Yew, Lighting, Rena Anakwe, Sound Designer.
Presented by Arts Brookfield, their dreams came alive through the creation of a stunning multi-dimensional world by an extraordinary group of women designers thinking in visionary ways about how to immerse the audience in these dream landscapes.
Beginning in the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place in downtown Manhattan, the audience entered a labyrinthian maze of dream environments, in COVID safe pods so that social distancing was strictly adhered to. They heard the playwrights’ stories through headphones that were passed out at the entry. Tickets were free of charge and the public art installations that were in the mall and began and ended the show, attracted many passersby. The audience was then led inside an empty store that was completely transformed into this imaginary world of dreams.
The videos in A Dozen Dreams highlighted the playwrights who chose to perform their dreams live for the camera. Brittany Bland, the video designer, integrated effects to amplify the political and social issues portrayed through the language. Each video was artfully integrated into Kruzhilina’s scenic environments. Liza Jesse Peterson, performed her dream called “My dream in this moment”. Her dream reflected upon our current moment in society with Black LIves Matter dominating the discourse, but she also conjured up a world where African Americans can live in a truly just society. When the audience entered Liza’s room, they were surrounded by teetering columns and cracked facades which evoked the feeling of a crumbling society. There was a slit that ran along the floor, a cracked earth. The video of Ren Dara Santiago’s hip hop performance called “As Hard as you Can” was showcased in a tiny room that was almost claustrophobic. It was very dark with reflections of water all around us, her video seamlessly integrated into the environment. There was a small pool of water on the floor into which water slowly dripped while we witnessed a close up of Ren’s face as she told her story.
Presented by ARTS BROOKFIELD FOR BROOKFIELD PLACE NEW YORK
The Designers:
Visual and Environment Design: Irina Kruzhilina
Sound Design: Rena Anakwe
Video/ Projection Design: Brittany Bland
Lighting Design: Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew
The Playwrights:
Room 1: Ellen McLaughlin
Room 2: Andrea Thome
Room 3: Mona Mansour
Room 4: Ren Dara Santiago
Room 5: Rehana Mirza
Room 6: Caridad Svich
Room 7: Erika Dickerson-Despenza
Room 8: Martyna Majok
Room 9: Liza Jessie Peterson
Room 10: Sam Chanse
Room 11: Lucy Thurber
Room 12: Emily Mann with singer Kecia Lewis
About the Artists
Anne Hamburger (creator and co-conceiver) is the Founder and Artistic Director of En Garde Arts. Her 35 year producing history began by putting site-specific work on the map, using New York City as a stage for bringing important new artists into the limelight. During En Garde Arts early years she worked with Anne Bogart, Chuck Mee, Tina Landau, Mac Wellman, Reza Abdoh and Jonathan Larson, transforming such unlikely sites as the streets of the meatpacking district, the East River Park amphitheater and Wall Street. Hamburger left New York for over a decade, founding and running a global division for Disney where she brought theatrical artists into the world of parks and resorts. She then returned to New York City and relaunched En Garde Arts with an expanded mission to approach the creation of new work with social justice at its core. She co-wrote the documentary theatre piece Wilderness with Seth Bockley. It was then published and is performed by highschools and colleges to highlight the issues around mental health for teens. En Garde’s work always focuses upon the myriad approaches that theatre artists can embark upon when telling stories, embracing risk and new ideas to not only look at what stories are being told but to also think about where they are told, how they are told and to whom. Her multi-faceted approach to theatre emanates from her roots as a performance artist and environmental sculptor. She has a penchant for risk and continual discovery of new forms and ideas. Hamburger is a graduate of the Yale Drama School and a recipient of the Lee Reynolds Award. She has a theatre tolerant husband Rafe Jenney and is the mother of 24 year old twins.
John Clinton Eisner (co-conceiver & dramaturg) John Clinton Eisner co-founded The Lark in 1994 as a community of theater professionals dedicated to the playwright’s vision. He has grown The Lark into an award winning “think tank for the theater,” with local, national and global reach. He divides his time between working directly with playwrights and creating strategies with artistic leaders in the United States and abroad to advance new plays into the repertoire. He has collaborated with partner theaters, literary agencies and funders to develop multiple-production “pipelines” for new plays. Trained as an actor, he began his transition to directing and producing through his experiences at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference, the National Theatre of the Deaf, the Denver Center Theatre Company and Williamstown Theatre Festival (where he acted in one of Tennessee Williams’ last plays, Gideon’s Point). He has led workshops at many universities and served as advisor for CEC Artslink, the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, Theatre Development Fund, Theatre Communications Group, National New Play Network, TheatreForum Magazine, Transport Group and the Lucille Lortel Awards Committee and on the boards of the National Theatre Conference and the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America (of which he was a charter member). He received degrees from Amherst College and the National Theatre Conservatory and lives in New York City with his wife Jennifer Dorr White and two children, Hannah and Jake.
Irina Kruzhilina (Co- conceiver & Visual & Environment Designer) Irina is a Russian-born, New York-based generative artist, scenographer, visual dramaturg, and teaching artist, creating work at the intersection of visual art, live performance and civic engagement. Irina’s creative endeavors range from interdisciplinary downtown theatre to large scale parades, from community pageants to site responsive installations. Since 2005 her work has been shown, locally and globally, at Times Square, Tokyo Disney, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Prague National Theatre, the NY Philharmonic, the XXI Commonwealth Games, Barbican Center, and many others. Irina is grateful to be in community and continuous collaboration with visionary artists like Dmitry Krymov, Doug Fitch, Lars Jan, Geoff Sobelle, and En Garde Arts. Irina is the founder of Visual Echo, a New York-based performance organization dedicated to facilitating generative dialogues among people from diverse backgrounds. As an educator, Irina embraces collaborative artistic exchange among theatre makers from different backgrounds, fostering generous creative educational environments that value a diversity of approaches and ideas. Irina is a faculty member at the New School of Drama, a NEA/TCG Career Development Program recipient, a Target Margin Theatre Institute Fellow, and a Chashama resident.
Brittany Bland (projection and video design, she/her/hers) Brittany Bland is a storyteller who has dedicated her life to the proliferation of empathy. As a projection designer for the stage, she has designed for theater, dance, and opera. Her work as a video artist often explores the ideas of legacy and memory.
Rena Anakwe (Sound Designer) Rena Anakwe is an interdisciplinary artist and performer working primarily with sound, visuals, and scent. Exploring intersections between traditional healing practices, spirituality and performance, she creates works focused on sensory-based, experiential interactions using creative technology. Currently, Rena is a resident of the Jerome Foundation AIRspace Residency for Performing Artists at Abrons Arts Center. She has collaborated, produced, and shown work at New York City institutions including: Weeksville Heritage Center, Dia Foundation, Fridman Gallery, Knockdown Center, Lincoln Center, MoMA PS1, CultureHub, ISSUE Project Room, and Montez Press Radio. She is based in Brooklyn, New York, by way of Nigeria and Canada.
En Garde Arts (Producer) is a not-for-profit theatrical production company that creates, produces and presents bold theatre experiences that reach across artistic, physical and social boundaries. Founded in 1985, En Garde Arts was the first exclusively site-specific theatre company in New York, re-envisioning the city as a stage using locations throughout the city; from Penn Yards to the Chelsea Hotel, the Meatpacking District and Wall Street. En Garde has been honored with six OBIEs, two Drama Desk Awards, and an Outer Critics Circle Special Award — with The New York Times proclaiming En Garde Arts to be “an invigorating urban presence.”
Beginning in 2014, En Garde Arts expanded its mission to produce multi-media, documentary theatrical productions in theatrical spaces. BASETRACK Live at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), New York Times Top Ten which went on a 40-city national tour that culminated at the military base Fort Hood in Texas. Wilderness was published and is now performed at highschools and colleges around the country and Fandango for Butterflies (and Coyotes), a New York Times Critic’s Pick, in the midst of a five borough tour. In 2019, En Garde Arts’ launched a new developmental series Uncommon Voices that was featured by WNET’s ALL ARTS, AllArts.org, and played to over 100,000 viewers.
When the pandemic shut down theaters across the country En Garde harkened back to its site-specific roots employing upwards of 200 artists and arts workers. The first of these was an outdoor stoop performance Uncommon Voices: Unexpected Places which the NYC Street Activity Permit Office deemed “A trailblazer for pop-up cultural events to come.”
In May of 2021, En Garde produced A Dozen Dreams — a labyrinth of 12 beautifully designed dreamscapes; and Downtown Live, a new performing arts festival presented by The Downtown Alliance in association with The Tank, that featured Obie Award and Pulitzer Prize winners, as well as emerging voices. En Garde Arts is incredibly grateful to the supporters of our work who have helped to make it possible for us to continue to enrich the cultural landscape. As an independent producing organization, we will continue to produce risk-taking, socially important work with lasting impact.
About The Festival
The Segal Center Film Festival on Theatre and Performance (FTP) is an annual event showcasing films drawn from the world of theatre and performance. The festival presents experimental, emerging, and established theatre artists and filmmakers from around the world to audiences and industry professionals. The 7th annual festival will focus on work for the screen created by theatre artists during the Time of Corona. The festival will be held digitally from March 1st – 15th 2022.
Explore projects created under A Dozen Dreams from March 1st to March 15th 2022 on the Segal Center Film Festival on Theatre and Performance (FTP) website.
Support this project by Anne Hamburger, John Eisner and Irina Kruzhilina by making a direct donation to them at the following details: Venmo: @engardearts Zelle: info@engardearts.org Direct: https://ci.ovationtix.com/34637/store/donations/24452 Check: En Garde Arts Check: 109 Bergen Street , Apt 2 Brooklyn, NY 11201
Read more about Anne Hamburger, John Eisner and Irina Kruzhilina and A Dozen Dreams at (https://www.engardearts.org/) or get in touch at anne@engardearts.org / IG | FB | Twitter @engardearts IG | FB | Twitter @annehamburger
For more visit:
New York Times Critic’s Pick
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/20/theater/a-dozen-dreams-review.html
New York Times Best of Theatre 2021
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/03/theater/best-theater.html
The New Yorker
https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/theatre/a-dozen-dreams-05-31-21
Time Out
https://www.timeout.com/newyork/art/a-dozen-dreams-at-brookfield-place
Vulture
https://www.vulture.com/2021/05/downtown-theater-off-broadway-nyc.html
Exeunt
http://exeuntnyc.com/reviews/review-dozen-dreams-brookfield-place/
Lightning and Sound America (Feature)
http://www.lightingandsoundamerica.com/reprint/ADozenDreams.pdf
@annehamburger
