Z SPACE to Host Workshop of Immersive Concert-Play WILDFIRE by Jessica Kahkoska

New immersive concert-play WILDFIRE is making its way to the West Coast for a workshop at Z SPACE, San Francisco's premier home for the development of new work. The two-week workshop will culminate in two invite-only presentations on September 7th & 8th, 2024.

Written and Conceived by Jessica Kahkoska (The Death of Desert Rose, Letters to the President), WILDFIRE is inspired by a community-responsive research process and features songs by Chimney Choir, Elephant Revival, Gregory Alan Isakov, Cary Morin, Daniel Rodriguez, and SHEL.

WILDFIRE follows the lives of eight people in a picturesque, mountain resort town over the course of one momentous week as they face the threat of a massive wildfire. A local fire marshal, a park ranger, a reporter, a rancher, and other evacuated residents...these are a few of the lives that are crossed, changed, and ultimately interwoven forever.

Featuring a score by award-winning folk musicians and inspired by real testimony from more than 30 oral history interviews, WILDFIRE explores trauma, grief, healing, and the communities that rise from disaster.

The Workshop Performances will be Directed by Adin Walker (PrEP Play, or Blue Parachute by Yilong Liu -NCTC), with Music Supervision and Orchestrations by Mark G. Meadows (The Outsiders), Dramaturgy by Lynde Rosario (Director of Fellowship Programs, Playwrights' Center), and Creative Producing by Melissa Cashion (David Byrne's Theater of the Mind). Other creative team members include Michael Creason (Sound Design), Kelyn Crapp (Musician), Matt Fukui Grandy (Associate Music Direction), and Ray Oppenheimer (Lighting Design).

Featuring an talented cast of actor-musicians including: Lila Blue (Reporter), Ashkon Davaran* (Fire Marshall), Mark G. Meadows (Rancher), Josh Pollock (Historian), Dom Refuerzo (Kid), Deborah Martínez Rosengaus (Pastor), and Christina Walton (Park Ranger).
*member, AEA

WILDFIRE was initially commissioned and produced by Denver Center for the Performing Arts where it re-opened the company's live performances following the pandemic shutdown with an outdoor amphitheater tour throughout the state of Colorado. This re-imagining invites audiences into an indoor, immersive and intimate setting and connects Bay Area communities with both universal and hyper local stories of struggle, collaboration, and resilience in the face of climate crises.