19

19, a design-based devised piece was based on Chinese dissident Liao Yiwu’s essay, 19 days, an account of memory over a 19 year period on each yearly anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Starting our process with only designers and the director in the room, we responded to the text using a technique based on an exercise that I use in my design classes, “poetic sensual imaging.” This exercise used impulses and physical senses to ask, “What do you see? What do you hear?” Through this technique, we began to create poetic images that expressed the text. Initially, we created a visual and aural landscape for the audience’s journey and eventually added two actors to the process who became several characters. I created an immersive installation where the audience followed the action through several rooms.

Playwright: 
Devised by Mei Ann Teo, Designers, and Cast
Director: 
Mei Ann Teo
Mei Ann Teo is a Singaporean theatre/film maker working internationally and based in the U.S.A. Her work has toured extensively including Belgium's Festival de Liege (Lyrics From Lockdown, “Truly polished, meaningful and entertaining” -New York Times), Edinburgh International Fringe (MiddleFlight, “Stunning” -Scotsman), M1 Singapore Fringe Festival (The Shape of a Bird, "Superb staging" - Straits Times), INFANT Experimental Theatre Festival in Novi Sad, Serbia, Beijing International Festival (Labyrinth - Top 8 in Beijing News), Dumbo Arts Festival, Shanghai International Experimental Theatre Festival (Caucasian Chalk Circle with all CU MFA actors), and the Montreal World Film Festival. She has directed and developed new work at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Phil Killian Fellow 2015), Goodman Theatre, Public Theater, Berkeley Rep, Yellow Earth in London, and was the first Asian director to work at the National Black Theatre. She is the first cohort for the Hemera Foundation Tending Space Fellowship and ArtEquity Facilitator Training, and has received grants from the Center for Cultural Innovation, the Asian Cultural Council, NET, and LMCC. She is an Artist in Residence for The Performance Project at University Settlement 2015/2016 and a Professor of Directing and Dramaturgy at Hampshire College. MFA in Theatre Directing from Columbia University. Future projects include The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin at the History Theatre in Minneapolis, Dim Sum Warriors The Musical at Theatre Above in Shanghai.
Lighting Designer: 
Jennifer Reiser
Costume Designer: 
Liene Dobraja
Projection Designer: 
Deepthi Welaratna
Venue : 
Schapiro Theatre, Columbia University, NYC
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