Chemical Exile: synthesis
"Ultimately, Chemical Exile’s gift is in its thoughtful, self-reflexive world-building. At its best, Synthesis fulfills that brief by asking us to, as Velouria says, “look again,” whether at the beautiful, inventive rooms designed by Nadir Bey, Sarah Beth Hall, and Grace Trudeau; the ties that bind a family, despite its existential dysfunctions; or the city that inspired it all, which earned a fittingly spectacular salute at the show’s climax".
-- Washington City Paper
Following a seven part pyschogeographies found space Washington DC historical-fictional fusion theatrical experience, Chemical Exile was an immersive experience spanning multiple floors of an abandoned FDA government building. Myself, along with an extensive design and production team, created a space of nearly 30 rooms which individually took the audience through different iterations of 3 realities- Teddy's office, Velouria's beach and Kalik's park. In between these character based realities, were rooms of 'failed' reality reject attempts such as a cemetery, chapel, carousel and chemical storage room. I designed the beach rooms, the cemetery, chemical storage, the mirror room, and the chapel.
The plot: When chemist Teddy Morris left Amsterdam to return to her hometown this fall, it was not the DC she remembered. A stranger followed her around the city, her memories were coming apart at the seams and a man claiming to be her dead dad had become a controversial faith leader. Over the next six months, her life took a swerve she never saw coming. This summer, Dr. Theodora Morris cordially invites you to tour the R2 Labs where she and her colleagues are hard at work developing a chemical compound that may punch a hole through space time and allow those displaced from alternate realities to return home. Probably.
FEATURING Erik Harrison, Nathanael Hatchett, Jen Rabbitt Ring, Arika Thames, Roz Ward, and Baakari Wilder.
DESIGNED BY Nadir Bey, Sarah Beth Hall, and Grace Trudeau (Set Designers); Dean Leong and James Morrison (Lighting designers) Gordon Nimmo-Smith and Veronica J. Lancaster (Sound Designers); Paris Francesca (Costume Designer); Rooster Skylar Sultan and Adam B. Ferguson (Props Designers); and Kylos Brannon (Video Designer).
WITH Valarie McFatter (Stage Manager), Alika Codispoti and Caraline Jeffrey (Associate Stage Managers), Emma Sloane and Paige Willis (Assistant Stage Managers), Simone Schneeberg (Technical Director), Elliott Shugoll (Master Electrician), Adam B. Ferguson (Production Manager).
PRODUCED BY Randy Baker and Jenny McConnnell Frederick
-- Washington City Paper
Following a seven part pyschogeographies found space Washington DC historical-fictional fusion theatrical experience, Chemical Exile was an immersive experience spanning multiple floors of an abandoned FDA government building. Myself, along with an extensive design and production team, created a space of nearly 30 rooms which individually took the audience through different iterations of 3 realities- Teddy's office, Velouria's beach and Kalik's park. In between these character based realities, were rooms of 'failed' reality reject attempts such as a cemetery, chapel, carousel and chemical storage room. I designed the beach rooms, the cemetery, chemical storage, the mirror room, and the chapel.
The plot: When chemist Teddy Morris left Amsterdam to return to her hometown this fall, it was not the DC she remembered. A stranger followed her around the city, her memories were coming apart at the seams and a man claiming to be her dead dad had become a controversial faith leader. Over the next six months, her life took a swerve she never saw coming. This summer, Dr. Theodora Morris cordially invites you to tour the R2 Labs where she and her colleagues are hard at work developing a chemical compound that may punch a hole through space time and allow those displaced from alternate realities to return home. Probably.
FEATURING Erik Harrison, Nathanael Hatchett, Jen Rabbitt Ring, Arika Thames, Roz Ward, and Baakari Wilder.
DESIGNED BY Nadir Bey, Sarah Beth Hall, and Grace Trudeau (Set Designers); Dean Leong and James Morrison (Lighting designers) Gordon Nimmo-Smith and Veronica J. Lancaster (Sound Designers); Paris Francesca (Costume Designer); Rooster Skylar Sultan and Adam B. Ferguson (Props Designers); and Kylos Brannon (Video Designer).
WITH Valarie McFatter (Stage Manager), Alika Codispoti and Caraline Jeffrey (Associate Stage Managers), Emma Sloane and Paige Willis (Assistant Stage Managers), Simone Schneeberg (Technical Director), Elliott Shugoll (Master Electrician), Adam B. Ferguson (Production Manager).
PRODUCED BY Randy Baker and Jenny McConnnell Frederick