Post Theatrical Premieres THE MAILBOX By Tiny Box Theater, Artist Ya Chin Chang, and Composer David Lamoureux

When all of the mailboxes in the world disappear overnight, you are tasked with tracking the truth in The Mailbox, May 17 - June 6.

Tiny Box Theater (NYC) and Ya Chin Chang (Hong Kong) in collaboration with David Lamoureux (NYC) and Post Theatrical (Pittsburgh) present THE MAILBOX, an experience that unfolds through theatrical text, original illustrations, audio and video (with closed captioning), text-based puzzles, and branching story interactives. Buy your ticket any time before May 14 and the experience will begin to unfold from May 17 - June 6.

THE MAILBOX invites you to join the Worldwide Wildlife Investigative Firm (WWIF) on your first case: When all of the mailboxes in the world disappear overnight, you are tasked with tracking the truth. But never fear, WWIF's Lynx, Hound, Chameleon, and Raccoon are on hand to help aid you in your investigation. If you go digging, swimming, and climbing, you may uncover more than one mystery at work...

Post Theatrical was conceived and coordinated by Pittsburgh's RealTime Interventions, and features a diverse range of works that use the medium of mail in a broad range of ways. THE MAILBOX begins when each participant receives a packet of original artwork and theatrical text delivered to their own mailbox.

"We set THE MAILBOX, during a pandemic in the midst of an extreme environmental crisis, because we're living through a pandemic in the midst of an extreme environmental crisis, and as creators and humans we're having a hard time forgetting that. We wanted to make a story about what it means to live through such times, and why it matters to fight for something better. We chose to investigate these themes through adventure, whimsy, and storybook-inspired animal characters, drawing on the rich history of anthropomorphism as a means to examine humanity," notes co-creator Sarah Murphy.

Co-Creator Joy Tomasko adds, "I first encountered Ya Chin Chang's artwork five years ago and was immediately struck by her playful and witty storytelling voice. In her still life paintings, she creates scenarios in which juice boxes have a phone conversation using two tin cans linked together by string; or a stack of clementines that look like a figure peers out of a window cut into a small box. We share a love of telling stories through objects that often invoke nostalgia or amplify the context of the times."

Tomasko continues, "With THE MAILBOX, Tiny Box Theater wanted to create an experience that includes a tangible interaction, especially since touch has become so limited due to concerns regarding COVID-19. With Ya Chin back home in Hong Kong, it was important to us that THE MAILBOX could also be experienced anywhere in the world. Inspired in part by the works of Richard Scarry and the Brambly Hedge series by Jill Barklem, Ya Chin has drawn intricate scenic illustrations and created paper doll cutouts that we send to participants through the mail. The drawings invite the audience to explore the storytelling details up close, to make connections with the content online, and to create works of their own to be shared with other participants."

"I wanted to do the story justice. With every character, plot device, conflict, or setting, Joy and Sarah gave me the opportunity to discuss, share questions and even the agency to add details to the visuals," notes co-creator Ya Chin Chang. "I explored how my visual language (line, color, mood, composition) could support the narrative and mirror the writing style. Usually the story dictates the illustrations, but I was surprised and excited by how our collaboration sometimes worked the other way, the visual ideas created new clues and led to the development of interactive methods of storytelling. This is a testament to the creative and dynamic ethos of Tiny Box Theater."

"The goals of Post Theatrical are to support participating artists in making new work both during this time and in response to it," says RealTime Interventions Artistic Directors Molly Rice and Rusty Thelin. "The mail service arose from a need to communicate, like theater; and like theater, it survived all manner of disease and disaster. Post Theatrical celebrates that resilience."

THE MAILBOX features story by Joy Tomasko, Sarah Murphy and Ya Chin Chang; original artwork by Ya Chin Chang; text by Joy Tomasko with Sarah Murphy; and sound and score by David Lamoureux. It features voice artists: Jen Anaya (Brooklyn), Arsène DeLay (New Orleans), Nico Grelli (Brooklyn), David Lamoureux (Queens), Matthew Leonhart (London), Sarah Murphy (Brooklyn), and Victor Santos (Austin).

Tickets and information for THE MAILBOX are available at www.posttheatrical.org. Tickets are on sale now through May 14. Mailings are postmarked on May 17, the experience continues through June 6th, with website access through June 30th.

tinyboxtheater.com
posttheatrical.org

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