In Communicado

a play with dance and film

written and directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt and Erica Rice.

World premiere. Produced by Nest Arts. Presented at the DIAVOLO Space, Los Angeles, CA. March/April 2006
Workshop presentation at Highways Performance Space, February 2006.

Choreography by Adrienne Campbell-Holt and Mesha Kussman
Lighting and Technical Artistry by Cris Moris
Musical direction and arrangement by Dan Heflin and George M. Uplifter
Original marionettes and properties by Tova Epp

No two people hear the same song.

In Communicado is a whimsical play with dance and film exploring 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 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.