A free, immersive theatrical installation based on the pandemic-inspired dreams of 12 American playwrights debuts May 13 at Brookfield Place in downtown NYC. A Dozen Dreams features works by Erika Dickerson-Despenza, Emily Mann, Sam Chanse, Martyna Majok, Mona Mansour, Rehana Mirza, Ellen McLaughlin, Liza Jessie Peterson, Ren Dara Santiago, Caridad Svich, Lucy Thurber, and Andrea Thome. Singer Kecia Lewis is also featured in the dream of Mann.
When the playwrights were asked to share their pandemic dreams, they answered with heartfelt and haunting stories that explore how we arrived at this moment; interrogate the political, social, and emotional unrest of our troubling times; and imagine a new and better future where our society may begin to heal and grow.
The installation offers multi-dimensional audio and physical interpretations of each author’s dream where audiences hear the playwright telling their stories or see them performing on video along a carefully sculpted path.
Headphones, sanitized between each use, will be distributed to audience members to hear the soundscape and help guide them through the maze. COVID-19 safety measures include social distancing markers, mask requirements, and limited capacity.
An all-female design team is led by co-conceiver and visual and environment designer Irina Kruzhilina with projection and video design by Brittany Bland, lighting design by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, and sound design by Rena Anakwe.
A Dozen Dreams is produced by En Garde Arts, presented by Arts Brookfield, and conceived by En Garde Arts Founder and Artistic Director Anne Hamburger, Kruzhilina, and former Lark Artistic Director John Clinton Eisner. The experience is open Wednesday–Saturday 2-7:20 PM ET and Sunday 12-4:20 PM ET through May 30.
Click here to reserve time slots and learn more.
