Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and American Conservatory Theater have partnered on a film of The Bushwick Starr’s 2017 production of Animal Wisdom, created by and starring Heather Christian. Currently being filmed at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre in Washington, DC, a streaming release is slated for late spring.

Amber McGinnis directs the film, with stage direction by Emilyn Kowaleski. The cast also includes Sasha Brown, Eric Farber, B.E. Farrow, and Maya Sharpe.

In Animal Wisdom, singer-songwriter-soothsayer Christian lays to rest the souls that haunt her, shape-shifting between rock star, folklorist, and high priestess, as she conjures a constellation of souls in an effort to confront her family’s mythologies.

“At its heart, Animal Wisdom is an admission and ritualization of grief, and an acknowledgment that we carry those that we lose with us every day. It's about the reconsecration of spaces as much as it is about the reconsecration of feelings that we all have and bury in order to get us from one day to the next,” says Christian. “This has been a year of immense loss and turmoil. More than ever, I am being asked to confront those things in my day-to-day life, and I think after this year, that's a pretty universal experience. I am excited beyond measure that this piece has new utility on a much wider scale.”

Animal Wisdom also features production design by Christopher Bowser; costume design by Heather McDevitt Barton; percussion design by Eric Farber; orchestrations by Christian, Brown, Fred Epstein, Farber, and Sharpe; piano and vocals by Christian; guitar, cello, and vocals by Brown; bass and vocals by Epstein; percussion and vocals by Farber; bass and vocals by Farrow; and violin and vocals by Sharpe.

The film is produced in association with Matt Ross, Madeleine Foster Bersin, and Outskirt Media.

Streaming and ticketing information will be announced at a later date. Visit AnimalWisdomFilm.com.