JOAN BRADFORD 
STAIRS
NOVEMBER 22 & 23 | 8PM
$15 STUDENTS, SENIORS; $20 GENERAL ADMISSIONS

A movement recollection of domestic abuse, a coming to terms of concealed pain, a reconciliation of one’s own blame, moving through, growing past, flourishing.

With clear intentions, Stairs will not present the fear captured in such violent moments of abuse; it will not be a work of re-traumatization. It will present the subtle burdens, the nuances of craze, the notions of guilt, the mental injury, and societal shame survivors live within. This group work will allow the viewer to not only find empathy in the narrative before them but a first-hand perspective into the mind, soul, and spirit of those who have withstood such experiences. Through collaborative contemporary movement forms and Suzuki based physical theatre scores, the work will address the manipulation through gas lighting, the questioning of one’s sanity, perception, and memory with aims of responding to the often heard “Why didn’t you just leave?” 

With these ideas in mind, the work will use a maneuverable, segmented, life-sized staircase structure as a metaphor for stairs one claims they have fallen down to hide physical afflictions. This staircase structure performing as an abstraction of one’s life; a difficult upward trajectory, an ample amount of steps in between, and the hope of something more just beyond the landing. Alike, the descending down these literal steps, embodying the internalized, hidden, struggles of those living through such trauma. Taking some steps forward, moving more steps back, toying in between. While in the very same idea, with time and forgiveness, taking strides up these stairs, gaining the momentum to move on, to empower, and to finally, triumphantly live.