In Communicado

In Communicado is a whimsical play with dance and film which explores the phenomenon of communication: How the place that you are in and what you hear, smell, feel, determine how you process information. What you say isn’t necessarily what they hear. In an attempt to become a greater communicator, a young marionette operator becomes a student at “The Center” where he is guided and examined by the Doctor of Communication and the Attendants who work there. We follow him through his treatment in the surreal environment of “The Center” as well as outside into the real world where we meet his family, the strangers he meets on the street, and his true love, another marionette operator he can barely bring himself to speak to.

In Communicado explores how an individual’s perception of response to a given stimuli varies depending on how the message is expressed. The piece employs multiple film/video segments and audience participation via headsets. Each audience member will be allotted a headset with three channels and audio mixed live. All audience members are given the opportunity to experience The Center as observer and participant. The ‘Attendant’ characters double as technicians and ushers throughout the piece, facilitating activities including a hands-free orange-pass and services such as the whispering of compliments, ear unrolling, and hand washing. These actions are intended to awaken the audience members’ senses while simultaneously building a sense of community between them. In Communicado is choreographed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt and Mesha Kussman with musical direction and arrangement by Dan Helfin and George M. Uplifter.