In 2004, Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks decided to write a play a day for a year. Starting on November 11 (the day Parks began her writing project) in 2006-2007, regional and university theaters produced the full year of Parks’ plays in their originally written order, occurring simultaneously across the country. The Intermedia Performance Studio (IPS) at the University at Buffalo, in conjunction with the Departments of Theatre & Dance, Media Study, and English, was pleased to present the week of plays from April 23rd through April 29th as part of its ongoing mission to integrate digital technology, interactive fiction, virtual reality, and embodied performance. Within the IPS, Parks’ plays take on new dimensions through digital characters, audience interaction, and live dancers and actors.
The IPS production of 365 Days/365 Plays occurred in two performance, April 26-27 in the Intermedia Performance Studio at the University at Buffalo. This production was generously supported by the Office of the Vice President for Research with an Interdisciplinary Research and Development Grant, and the resulting production showcased many of the emerging elements that distinguish the IPS. Participation in the festival was noted in the publication of 365 Days/365 Plays by Suzan-Lori Parks (TCG, 2008), The Buffalo News and in the 365 National Festival Newsletter.
The Plays
The scenography for the plays consisted of a curving wall of projections and minimal props.
Make Me A Willow Cabin at Your Gate
Live actors over stereographic photographs from the Civil War era. Camera based tracking of 3 live actors for interactive “growing” of trees.
Tundra
Live actors over pubic domain TV footage from the 50s and a single stereo photograph of the tundra.
Lights/Rats
Virtual actors act in virtual world. Glitch. Interrupting live actor and computer code. Reprise of virtual characters.
Giant Step
Live actor displaces video images on scrim.
Diva
Live actor with tracking system manipulates a projected computer graphic avatar of herself.
The Development of Tourism in Los Angeles County
Live actors with projected backdrop of composited images of the audience.
Playing Possum
Live actors over projected video of playwright Parks. Tracking system for erasure of video image.
