Third annual Women’s VOICES Theater Project coming to Thunder River Theatre
HeatherBayer/Couresy photo
Carbondale-based nonprofit VOICES is presenting its third Women’s VOICES Theater Project, “Objects in Mirror,” April 19-21 at the Thunder River Theatre.
Incorporating music, humor, storytelling, and movement, five local women creatives take the audience on a powerful journey of human experience and explore the memories, mirages, and messaging that make up our lives.
The inaugural Women’s VOICES Theater Project (WVTP) in 2019 was inspired by VOICES’ founder Barbara Reese and founding Director Renee Prince. Both were moved to respond to a study by the Dramatists Guild, which found that only 22% of the plays produced in the U.S. in the previous three years had been written by women. Until that point, VOICES programs had worked primarily with youth and families.
This project would be VOICES’ first endeavor to provide a stage, a page, and a microphone for solely adult creatives, in this case women, to tell stories of survival, resilience, love, healing, and our deep connections to one another and the natural world. WVTP has paved the way for VOICES’ additional on-stage programs that focus on the LGBTQ+ and Spanish-speaking communities, and intergenerational collaborations between sages (75+) and youth through devised theater-making.
The third WVTP brings together an ensemble of women artists, some of whose voices or stories have not yet been heard, expressed, or discovered, and is under the Artistic Direction of Cassidy Willey, who was an ensemble member in the 2019 WVTP. Through the WVTP, Willey developed what would become her first solo play, “As Close As I Can,” which premiered at TRTC in 2021.
Willey has also worked in various capacities for VOICES since 2018.
“Directing Women’s VOICES this year feels like a full-circle moment in my time with VOICES,” said Willey in a prepared statement. “As an ensemble member in 2019, I experienced very potently the transformative power of this project. It cracked me open creatively in ways that I had not yet dreamed of and led me to dive deeper into my life and artistry. It is my great honor to help midwife this year’s project to the stage.”
The full ensemble includes Gabriela Mejia, Jen Campbell, Kayla Henley, Kami Miranda, and Lana Greengrass. The all-women Production Crew includes Dani Taylor-Moxon (stage manager), Bineke Kiernan (props, Set, and costume design), and Gabrielle Bailes (sound design).
Friday’s performance will be followed by an Artist Talkback, moderated by VOICES founding Director, Renee Prince. Tickets are $25, with pay-what-you-can options available, and can be purchased at voicesrfv.org. *Habrá interpretación en vivo del inglés al español por parte de Convey Language Solutions.
