Theater, Music Ensembles Collaborate In Performance Portrayal Of Elder Caregiving

Local theater company Many Hats Collaboration will remount its latest physical theater work, "The Undertaking," portraying end of life care of an elder with live music by Northwest Piano Trio. Having debuted the work at the 2019 Fertile Ground Festival, the work will be presented for a limited engagement in partnership with Bag & Baggage Productions on February 7th and 8th at 7:30pm. "The Undertaking" features movement and storytelling enacted by actors and scored by live musicians to deliver an interdisciplinary performance using the music of Dmitri Shostakovich Piano Trio #2 as its spine, paired with original text by Emily Gregory. "The Undertaking" is conceived and directed by Many Hats artistic director Jessica Wallenfels.

"It's a tremendously personal piece, and a tricky one to produce," said Wallenfels of the work. "Live music adds an extraordinary element to the performance, so that audiences get a live concert as much as an original dance theater work. When Bag & Baggage expressed interest in helping us do it again, I jumped at the chance."

"The Undertaking" uses the lens of a mother/daughter relationship to investigate a larger story about how elders are treated as they near end of life. The piece's genesis comes from Wallenfels' own experiences caring for her mother as she moved from her home into a series of institutions between 2013-15. Playwright/dramaturg Gregory then filtered Wallenfels' writings into the show's fictional script, which threads narrative scenes through the four danced movements of the Shostakovich composition. The Mother (Joann Johnson) moves through institutional care, tended to by her adult daughter (Beth Thompson), who muses on their relationship past and present as the two face the inevitable approach of death.

Northwest Piano Trio musicians Hannah Hillebrand (cello), Susan McDaniel (piano), and Esther Shim (violin) play the piece live alongside the actors. Design elements by Kaye Blankenship and Jenny Ampersand contribute to this hybrid performance work between dance and theater.

Tickets are $25, available through Bag & Baggage.

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