Collaboraction

TONE CLUSTERS SETS STUDIO SERIES IN MOTION

May 11^th and 12^th Collaboraction presented the inaugural STUDIO SERIES. Tone Clusters written by Joyce Carol Oates and directed by Sarah Moeller featured Scott Stangland, Cassy Sanders and Jeremy Young.  In this heartbreaking look at the disintegration of the human spirit, two parents, Frank and Emily Gulick, deal with the grief and humiliation of a crime within the family. While the Gulicks are interviewed and interrogated by a mysterious narrator, Katie Weigman and Dave Miller of the Experimental-Indie-Jazz Band Algernon coaxed the audience into a sad, mournful story, filling the room with “breathtaking melodies, jazz-tinged harmonies, and cacophonous noise-scapes”. Meanwhile a beautiful collage of video clips and images by Galina Shevenko were mixed by the artist with live video feed of the actors and audience. Throughout the performance Shevenko worked kinesthetically manipulating the video and live feed in response to the music and performers.

Collaboraction continues to bring together remarkable artists and performers, giving life to stories of the human spirit. This story of Frank and Emily Gulick, two parents ripped from their suburban life and green grass happiness by a terrible crime, although written in 1990, echoes of the tragedy that rocked America at Virginia Tech. Often times we have grieved alongside families and friends of victims terrorized by such terrible crimes. When does it stop? How do we see the pain within someone whose depression, sadness, anger, insecurities grows so deep, so hidden? What cultivates such a spirit in the human, a human who was raised just as you were, just I was?

In Tone Clusters Carl Gulick is accused of raping and murdering a 14 year old neighbor girl. Her body is found “wrapped in plastic garbage bags” in the basement of the Gulick’s home. The story Joyce Carol Oates unfolds for all of us is of that home, that family, and that neighborhood in which this rattled, dark, and sad spirit grew.  Oates tells this story through the voices of the parents who knew nothing, suspected nothing and lived through it all.

Studio Series is the newest endeavor in Collaboraction’s large span of productions, events and daring programming. Studio Series will function as an artistic laboratory, a theatrical gymnasium, a multidisciplinary classroom and a tailored company department that provides a structured creative outlet for Collaboraction’s Company Members, Associates and artistic community. Studio Series will be presented four times a year; look for the next Studio Series in August of 2007.

What is a "Tone Cluster"?

The phrase Tone Cluster refers to four or more consecutive musical notes played simultaneously. In other words, imagine hitting five notes, right next to each other, black and white keys, on a keyboard at the same time. It creates a horribly terrific dissonant sound that came into practical use in classical music in the early 1920's through Henry Cowell. Since then the concept has been put into practice by musicians from Bela Bartok to Jerry Lee Lewis.

In other words, a 'Tone Cluster' is a mix of musical elements that in essence creates chaos to the ears. The play Tone Clusters intends on creating a similar effect but to multiple senses by combining different forms of media. In short, through this production we want to go further than simply giving you a live theatrical performance. We want to give you several live performances, which occur simultaneously-creating the world of the play. Tone Clusters is a mash-up of live music, visual imaging and live video feed interweaving with the play presented on the stage. Thus, Tone Clusters has moved beyond the traditional musical concept and has been morphed into a live multi-media presentation of the world around us.
-Sarah Moeller; Director of the upcomng Tone Clusters and Collaboraction Associate

For more information on Collaboraction's Studio Series and the upcoming Tone Clusters by Joyce Carol Oates Click Here

Tone Clusters Performs for Two Nights Only

Check out the first installment in our newest programming venture STUDIO SERIES...

Tone Clusters
Written by Joyce Carol Oates
Directed by Sarah Moeller
May 11 - 12, 2007 at 7:30pm
Collaboraction HQ 437 N. Wolcott; Studio 102
Click Here to reserve your seats for Tone Clusters FREE.

Featuring...
Jeremy Young
Scott Stangland
Cassy Sanders

Video Installation By Galena Shevenko
Live Musical Performances by Dave Miller

About the Play...
Do you know your government?  Do you really know your neighbor?  Do you even really know your own family?  Frank and Emily Gulick’s lives have been ripped apart.  Watch as stereotypical, middle income, suburban American parents contend with a crisis they never thought possible due to an action committed by their religious, law-abiding son. An American gothic tale spun through live performance, video, still imaging and music.

What is Studio Series?
A Letter From Associate Artistic Director, Joel Moorman...

As both artist and audience, we look toward the arts as an outlet for expression, an escape from the speeding traffic of life, a reminder to pause and distinguish the people and moments surrounding us right now before they become distant memories of the past, or pulses of life overlooked altogether. With that in mind, the artistic staff sat down to structure a recurring Collaboraction program that would strive to embrace and explore these themes exclusively. The manifesto of Collaboraction Studio Series was inked with the format of a quarterly project presentation, providing a structured creative outlet for theatrical exploration, devoid of revenue or expense, for the sole purpose of allowing Collaboraction Company Members and Associates the opportunity of unlimited artistic growth, and with collaborative experience as the only measure of success.  There is no budget. We will scrape together the resources available, we will strip down ideas to their bare elements, and we will not charge an admission fee. The Program will function as an artistic laboratory, a theatrical gymnasium, a multidisciplinary classroom and a tailored company department that fosters new Collaboraction programming. And for one weekend every quarter, we will invite our friends, our family......you, to join us for free, to play your role and become an integral part of our growth. I look forward to seeing you on the weekends….

Joel Moorman
Associate Artistic Director

*Seating is very limited.  We recommend you reserve your seat now, so you can be sure to experience the first installment of COLLABORACTION'S very raw, very exciting, completely new project.

Click Here to reserve your seats for Tone Clusters FREE.