Artwork by @RedHandedRobyn

ABOUT

Since April 2020, Voices from a Pandemic has been inviting artists and cultural workers to remotely collect testimony from people on the frontlines, to hear their experiences during this worldwide pandemic. This includes anyone continuing to do the in-person work that keeps a country and its people alive and functioning, not only essential employees but also the frontline protesters who have risked their safety and health to fight for a revolution that uplifts us all.

The program has expanded and shifted in unforeseen ways since its inception, growing to reflect the breadth of experiences from people all over during these many months as the damage from the pandemic continues to compound ongoing and new national (and international) crises. Notch believes it is crucial to archive these experiences in real time, documenting the vast scope of stories that defines this urgent chapter in our cultures and histories. Moreover, Voices strives to subvert and expand our historic archives, and it aims to question what constitutes legitimate documentation by centering community-based stories and by collecting, affirming and amplifying peer-to-peer testimonies that currently may not be being given a platform.

We launched the below digital story bank and presented a two-night, online sharing of a Voices play, featuring actors and community stories from all over the world in an effort to maintain momentum for the current Civil Rights Movement by providing a first-person history of this unprecedented time and strives to remind us of the promises we made to ourselves to disrupt and dismantle racist systems and to rebuild a more just and equitable future for us all in 2021 and beyond. ​

Finally, Voices is a communal creation, owned by all participants and story sharers. It has no one playwright, no singular author or creator and has collaborated with over 100 cultural workers, community members and artists  from all disciplines and from all over the world. 

STORY BANK

​This living story bank, where actors recreate verbatim interviews of first-person testimony from individuals on the frontlines of the pandemic and current Civil Rights Movement, creates an artistic time capsule of the real lives lived and lost.
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Moreover, the Voices story bank segments also function as a library of personal narratives that other theaters can access (for free) to create their own unique Voices productions. The only caveat being that all Voices productions must be free and open to the public. Each time a theatre presents the work, the program's circle of community and creators grows. With no set end date, the story bank will continue to expand in response to our quickly and ever-evolving world.

"it's never​ stopped thriving"

Story Sharer: Mayde
Date: 7/1/20
Interviewer: Portland Thomas
Transcriber: Portland Thomas
Actor: Gabriela Saker

"what really happened" ​

Story Sharer: Anonymous Activist
Date: 8/2/20
Interviewer:  Isabel Pask
​Transcriber: Ashley J. Hicks
Actor: ​​Ash J. Hicks,   Director: Dina Vovsi

"they have lil anty-bodies"

 Story Sharers: Jed & Joclyn
​Date: 4/23/20
Interviewer:  Addie Gorlin-Han
​Transcriber: Rhiannon Ling
Actors: ​​J. Richey Nash & Moira Squier

"no options"

Story Sharer: Anonymous Prison Counselor
Date:  6/28/20
Interviewer: Isabel Pask
​Transcriber: Anonymous
Actor: ​​ Lennox T. Duong

"I've reignited the fire"

Story Sharer: Kelsey
Date: Unknown
Interviewer: Anna Kinnebrew
​Transcriber: Rachel Schmeling
Actor: ​​ Shimali De Silva

"light at the end" ​

Story Sharer: Maryam
​Date: 6/14/20
Interviewer:  Ahmed Ashour
​Transcriber: Anonymous
Actor: ​​Ahmed Ashour

 "a mass sickness"

 Story Sharer: Anonymous CPS Worker
​Date:  7/11/20
Interviewer: Sean Dunnington
​Transcriber: Eric Wiegand
Actor: Kathryn Metzger

"no second chances"

Story Sharer:  Joan / I.C.E. Prison Volunteer
​Date: 6/19/20
Interviewer:  Anna Kinnebrew
​Transcriber: Samantha Fonseca
Actor: ​​ Moira Squier

"also a reality in India"

Story Sharers: Mahima & Saumya
​Date:  6/13/20
Interviewer:   Karishma Swarup
​Transcriber:  Rhiannon Ling
Actors: ​​Karishma Swarup & Shimali De Silva

"never lift that pinky"

Story Sharer: Carlos
​Date: 7/27/20
Interviewer:   Gabriela Saker
​Transcriber:  Anonymous
Actor: ​​​ Victor Anthony

"noble enough to work"

Story Sharer: Karishma
​Date:  5/14/20
Interviewer:  Ashley Teague
​Transcriber: Rhiannon Ling
Actor: ​ Karishma Swarup

"do your fuckin' civic duty."

Story Sharer: Andé Kelli
Date:​ 4/26/20
Interviewer: Ashley Teague
​Transcriber: Rhiannon Ling​
Actor: ​​ Sarah Keyes

"write you out of my will”

 Story Sharer: Anonymous Medical Student
​Date:  6/19/20
Interviewer:  Ahmed Ashour
​Transcriber: Elisabeth Yancey
Actor: ​​Lisa Jai

"grinds ​my gears" 

Story Sharer: Desta
​Date: 5/23/20
Interviewer: David Samuel
​Transcriber: Samantha Fonseca
Actor:  Portland Thomas

"never learn from history"

Story Sharer: Anonymous Medical Workers
Date:  5/13/20
Interviewer:   David Samuel
​Transcriber:  Rhiannon Ling
Actors: Bahni Turpin & Jacques Smith

"I am one of you guys"

Story Sharer: Nick
​Date: 6/14/20
Interviewer: Ahmed Ashour
​Transcriber: Anonymous
Actor: ​​Dylan Crow

"attacking in clusters"

Story Sharer: Anonymous Nurse, Brooklyn
Date:  4/25/20
Interviewer: Ashley Teague 
​Transcriber: Rhiannon Ling
Actor: ​​Iliana Guibert 

"there you were"

Date: January 2021
​Interviewer/Transcriber/Actor: Abigail C Onwunali
Onwunali interviewed individuals who lost someone to COVID-19 and has woven their words into this spoken word poem. 

THE PLAYS

Play One took place the evening of January 29th and was directed by Christopher Windom** and Nigel Semaj. Play Two, directed by Sanaz Ghajar, took place January 30th.

If you missed the events, don't worry, a second sharing will take place this May, 2021. 

Producing Partners: Portland Thomas and Jenny Kennedy*
Stage Managers: Emilee Buchheit* and Nikki Hyde,* 
Assistant Stage Managers: Lorraine Fiore* and Ducky Anderson
Costume and Dramaturgy: Elinor T Vanderburg
Video: Bruno-Pierre Houle
Sound: Emma Hasselbach

Cast: Julian Abelskamp, Anthony Adu, Victor Anthony*, Shimali De Silva, Moire Dia, Iliana Guibert, Ashley J. Hicks, Lisa Jai, Sarah Keyes*, Abigail C. Onwunali, Aleca Piper, Gabriela Saker, Anne Scurria*, Karishma Swarup, Portland Thomas*,  Deema Turkomani, Elisabeth Yancey* 
​*AEA Members **SDC Member​

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Christopher Windom (Director/Choreographer) He recently choreographed the feature film RESPECT, starring Jennifer Hudson, premiering 2021. Christopher has directed or choreographed at The Vineyard Theatre, The Public Theater Mobile Shakespeare, Guthrie Theater, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Trinity Repertory Company, Signature Theatre, and Dallas Theater Center. Christopher choreographed Frozen: Live at the Hyperion for Disney Resorts. He was the Drama League Assistant Director for the Broadway production of Pippin, directed by Diane Paulus, and Associate Director for the national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, directed/choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler. Assistant director for Ruined directed by Liesl Tommy, (Berkeley Rep, Huntington Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse). MFA, Brown/Trinity Rep; BFA, Webster University. Member of SDC. http://christopherwindom.squarespace.com

NIGEL SEMAJ. (they/them/theirs) is a New York City based director, movement director, choreographer and educator from Washington, D.C. Notable directing credits include, For Colored Girls who have Considered Suicide when the Rainbow is Enuf, which won awards from the Kennedy Center in Direction, Ensemble and Excellence in Costume Design, Ntozake Shange’s Spell No. 7, Paula Vogel’s The Baltimore Waltz, as well as new works such as Black Hollow, by Aeneas Sagar Hemphill, and wolfchildren runslowly through a Bruegel landscape, 1558 by Ruth Tang. Their adaptation work includes a five-female adaptation of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus entitled 10,000 Moor, and a queer retelling of the Hercules myth. Nigel has worked with directors such as Ethan Heard, Stephen Brown-Fried, Tea Alagic and Leah Gardiner. In addition to Nigel's body of work, they have worked in policy creation and amendment in higher education institutions, creating protocols and policies geared towards equity, diversity and inclusion in education. Their work has ranged from residential life, serving on Title IX conduct hearings, and creating policy to protect students of color. Nigel currently works as an adjunct professor and Administrative Assistant to the Dean of the various visual and performing arts schools as well as the new Roc Nation school at Long Island University.

SANAZ GHAJAR is an Iranian-American writer, director, curator, and DJ whose work has been described as “ambitiously subversive” and “unapologetically experimental” (Time Out NY). Described as having a “deft directorial touch” (Culturebot), she recently directed HOUSEWORK (Hangar Theatre), AS YOU LIKE IT (New York University), and BLOODSHOT by Elinor Vanderburg (Target Margin Theater) as part of The Exponential Festival. Before that, she developed and directed DANGER SIGNALS, a unique collaboration with British playwright Nina Segal and pop musician Jen Goma. Described as ”visually arresting” (ONE Magazine), it received its world premiere in New York City as part of the Archive Residency program, a partnership between the New Ohio Theatre and IRT. Her writing was recently featured in Theater in Quarantine's CLOSET WORKS, presented by the Invisible Dog Arts Center. Sanaz has developed work nationally and internationally with with Prague Film & Theater Center, Red House Center for Culture & Debate in Bulgaria, BRIC Arts | Media House, 3LD Technology & Art Center, New York Theatre Workshop, The Drama League, Ars Nova, Ikincikat Theatre in Turkey, Goldex Poldex Gallery in Poland, and others.

Emilee Buchheit* is thrilled to be joining the Notch Theatre Company for this virtual production! Emilee is a theatre Stage Manager based out of St. Louis, MO. Her most recent credits include 9 seasons at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, including productions from the 2019-2020 season- Angels in America Parts 1 and 2, Pride and Prejudice, and The Mystery of Irma Vep. Other regional credits include Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Variety Children's Theatre, New Jewish Theatre, The Foolish Theatre Company, and Lean Ensemble Theater. Emilee is a proud graduate of the Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University with a degree in Stage Management.

NIKKI HYDE is a theater and opera stage manager. She is an ensemble member of Cornerstone Theater Company and a frequent stage manager at LA Opera. Recent credits include Eurydice, The Magic Flute, La Boheme, La Traviata, Satyagraha (LA Opera), The Box (The Pulitzer Center), Highland Park is Here, Magic Fruit, California: The Tempest, Love on San Pedro (Cornerstone Theater Company), Carmen, Three Decembers, Rigoletto (San Diego Opera), Little Black Shadows (South Coast Repertory), A Trip to the Moon, Alice in Wonderland (Los Angeles Philharmonic), The Pirates of Penzance (Pasadena Playhouse), The Pride (The Wallis), Party People, Public Works' Twelfth Night and The Odyssey (The Public), Fidelio (Cincinnati Opera), Lost Girls (MCC Theater), Salome (Opera San Antonio) and A Coffin in Egypt (Houston Grand Opera/The Wallis). She has also worked for LA Theatre Works, Ojai Playwright's Conference, New Dramatists, Center Theater Group, New York Musical Festival, Merola Opera Program, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles and Opera Grand Rapids. She is a faculty member at California Institute of the Arts.

Lorraine Fiore is an AEA Stage Manager from Saint Louis Missouri. She loves her role as Assistant Stage Manager both at The Repertory Theatre St. Louis and The Muny. Recent credits include: The Mystery of Irma Vep, Pride and Prejudice, Angles in America: Parts One and Two Oslo, A Christmas Story, Evita (Repertory Theatre St. Louis) Footloose, Guys and Dolls, Gypsy, The Wiz (The Muny). Lorraine is a proud graduate from Webster University with a BFA in Stage Management and an MFA in Arts Management and Leadership.

Bruno-Pierre Houle designs scenery and projections for live performance and film. He conceived Of Course, What Did You Expect, My Child? a visual installation that reshaped the tale of Red Riding Hood. He co-created the concert-theatre experience Title Loading (Fusebox Festival). Other collaborations include set design on Small Mouth Sounds (Segal Centre), Le Loup (Duceppe), Chattermarks (Cabal), You/Emma (Wandering Bark Theatre Co.), Die Zauberflöte (Butler Opera Center); costume and lights on Sapientia (Scapegoat Carnivale), and projection design for Fit (Notch Theatre Co.), and Ingrid St-Pierre’s concert Petite Plage. He was also the art director of the feature film Sarah Prefers to Run (La Boîte à Fanny inc.) www.bphoule.com

Emma Lea Hasselbach (she/they) is a sound designer, artist, and educator based in New York City. Their recent projects include HMLT presented by Homeward Bound, As You Like It (NYU Grad School of Acting), No Place (Singapore Fringe Festival), and Willmar for The Neighborhood Theatre Project.

ELINOR T VANGERBURG is a Black-American writer, designer and voice artist born in Washington, D.C. She writes plays for and about misfits, creating troubled chimerical landscapes to call her audiences to real-world r/evolutionary action. Recent Stage: BLOODSHOT (Dir. Sanaz Ghajar, Exponential Festival/Target Margin Theater 2020); Dancing Girl (Dir. Jenny Beth Snyder, SheNYC 2019); Water, Water, Everywhere... (Dirs. Tara Elliot and Tess Howsam, Exquisite Corpse Company); K-A-A-R-O-N (FGP 2018); The Human Incubator (Dir. Martina Bonolis, SheNYC 2017). Recent Screen V/O: Bread Barbershop (Choco, Sausage; Netflix); World of Winx (Aisha; Netflix). Elinor is a Co-Creative Director of Fresh Ground Pepper, a writer-in-residence with Exquisite Corpse Company and The Shelter, the Art Director of SheNYC, and one half of the illusory theater company, underlords, alongside her partner, Drew. Elinor lives and works in Bushwick, Brooklyn. // @raisehelinor

PORTLAND THOMAS is a Philly native who holds a BFA from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. While there she had the privilege of studying at the Experimental Theatre Wing and Stonestreet Studios. Portland has worked Off- Broadway with The Classical Theatre of Harlem and at HERE Arts Center. Regional credits include The Syringa Tree at Creede Repertory Theatre, Hamlet & Saint Joan with BEDLAM theatre company at the McCarter Theatre and The Wolves at Marin Theatre Company. Portland seeks to use her talent, creativity, and passion for social justice and wellness to connect, heal, and uplift others. When she's not working Portland loves to travel, hike, eat her way through New York City, and dabble in some rollerskating and kickboxing.

JENNY KENNEDY is an AEA Stage Manager who hails from Tampa, FL and Buffalo, NY and now resides in Brooklyn. Broadway: The King & I, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Red. Off-Broadway: The Wedge Horse, Fault Line Theatre; A Minister’s Wife, When I Come To Die, Lincoln Center Theater; Mr. & Mrs. Fitch, Second Stage Theatre; The Play Company. New York: Retro Productions, The Civilians, BC/EFA, Baryshnikov Arts Center. Regional: Nine seasons with Chautauqua Theater Company; Kavinoky Theatre; Jewish Repertory Theatre.

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​Voices From A Pandemic is made possible by Amy Aquino and Drew McCoy, Chautauqua Theater Company, Tali Pressman, Shannon Morzov, Moira Squier, Julie and Cotton Nash, and with public funds from Creative Engagement, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the New York State Legislature and administered by LMCC.  LMCC serves, connects, and makes space for artists and community.