After a fall semester full of innovative productions, Oberlin's only site-specific performance installation company is opening this semester with some of its most challenging works to date. Three of the \twelv\ will be performing solo pieces this weekend. The pieces were developed over winter term under the direction of the man behind \twelv\, college senior Merrill Truax. They are separate and unrelated, but all three promise to intrigue and engage.
"Danaïd," with college senior Jennifer Sargent, is perhaps the most ambitious project of the three. To start, the performance will begin immediately following 48 hours of no sleep. To top it off, Sargent will do a continuous movement/speech improvisation for the duration of the piece, which is set for five grueling hours. The piece aims to explore the psychological state of a person under such conditions; in the bizarre, late hours when the body is drained and the mind wanders to strange places.
The outcome of the piece is unpredictable, both to the audience and to Sargent herself. The only certainty is that it will be draining and difficult, both physically and emotionally. The exhausting length of the piece, however, is crucial to its purpose. Sargent felt that it was only over the course of a drawn out period that deeper psychological layers would really begin to peel away and externalize themselves. Despite the incredible demand it will place on her body and mind, Sargent is more excited for the experience than scared of the consequences. "I'm nervous because something is going to happen that I can't anticipate, but I'm not afraid."
Rehearsals for "Danaïd" involved Sargent dragging a large matress (a key prop) while barefoot and in costume all the way from the Jones Field House to the arboretum and back. Sargent and Truax chose the Field House as the site for its large, haunting size and evocative quality. "It seems to have all kinds of stories to tell, and this performance is about an over- saturation of stories in your head that you're trying to get out and understand."
Conservatory sophomore Yvan Greenberg is also subjected to physical duress in his solo piece, "Painted Suit." It involves strenuous and sometimes painful positions and movements, a challenge that has been a new experience for Greenberg in his work with \twelv\. The piece will take place in the basement of Johnson House and will feature live movement by Greenberg accompanied by two monitors displaying videos taken of Greenberg moving in a similar space, the basement of Talcott. It is the abandoned quality of basements that drew Truax and Greenberg to the spaces as ideal installation spots. "The lack of traffic gives them an original energy; there are definite feelings in the spaces."
Like most \twelv\ productions, "Painted Suit" is better seen than explained. It is the experience of the pieces while they are happening that gives them their meaning. "I don't think people will get everything it's about," said Greenberg. "What is important is that they are seeing my body going through a transformative experience."
Like Sargent's piece, Greenberg's focuses a lot on turning internal feeling into external manifestation. It is personal emotions that drive the intensity of the piece, thus making it as risky for the performer as it is challenging for the audience.
Finally, college junior Dan Roisman will be performing his piece, "The Tire Bridge," in a most obscure location, "the L" on the third floor of Wilder. Roisman chose the location precisely because of its anonymity. "The story it tells is more subtle and to some extent more ambiguous, allowing more freedom in interpretation, and for me, that means more freedom in movement."
Unlike the previous two pieces and even all the pieces in \twelv\'s past record, this solo effort has more of a theatrical base. For Roisman, the dramatic aspect is important, as the inspiration behind the piece came out of a childhood story. In this respect, all three pieces do share a similar thread, that of being very personal, almost private creations. Even so, the hope is that raw energy put into the pieces will communicate and translate something meaningful for audience members. For all of the performers, working alone without the support of their better eleven was an intense yet exciting process.
\twelv\ is still young and in an ongoing process of growth. But the achievements made so far are to be commended, both for their innovation and daring. We needed something in the realm of the avant-garde at Oberlin, and this is the closest we've come. So catch them while you can, for as Truax is graduating, the phenomenon of this extraordinary group may indeed be short-lived.
"Painted Suit "goes up in Johnson House Basement on Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. "The Tire Bridge" goes up in the "L" of Wilder on Saturday and Sunday at 1p.m. "Danaïd" goes up in the Jones Field House on Sunday at 1 am.
New Directions: Yvan Greenberg and Jennifer Sargent go solo this weekend. (photo courtesy of \twelv\)
Copyright © 1998, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 126, Number 14, February 13, 1998
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