A One Act Play About Rape
Created by Aleah Black
HOW TO EAT THE THING THAT EATS YOU is a new play created in collaboration with survivors of sexual assault. It was made by conducting workshops with 18-23 year old members of the community, and interviews with 25 survivors of assault Bard College in New York. It is a synthesis of the Persephone myth with stories and memories of rape. It uses monologue, poetic text, dance, and clowning to attempt to touch the indescribable experience of being a survivor.
Because of this, the play is more that one person’s exploration of a terrifying, taboo topic; it is the lived experiences of a whole community of people. It is a way to ask questions and not assume we have the answers. It is an attempt to stare down this invisible epidemic, and break it apart with rage, love, fear, joy, and honesty.
"...Here's how it happened.
I didn't fall.
I welded to the sheets.
Hips become the bedframe...."
Photos by Emma Ressel
Performance history:
2016 Dixon Place Mainstage, New York, New York
2015 The Old Gym at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
Click here for booking inquires.
THE CHAPBOOK
A visual collaboration between Aleah Black and Moriah Mudd-Kelly that attempts to capture the beauty, love, and pain of HOW TO EAT THE THING THAT EATS YOU.
CAST
Persephone [Kore].............................................Mikey Gray
Persephone [Gune].......................................Eleanor Robb
Persephone [Anassa]..................................Isabel Bennett
Demeter...........................................................Ethan Rogers
Hades..................................................................Aleah Black
Ghosts..................................Salome Dewell/Imani Jones/
...........Ariel Gillooly/Taylor Cantrall/Eleanor Broughton
Everyman..................................................................................
CREW
Playwrite/Director............................................Aleah Black
Stage Manager/Lighting...............Annie Garrett-Larsen
Artistic Director...................................Moriah Mudd-Kelly
Technical Director......................................Lauren Barnes
Sound...........................................................Jackson Parker
Make-Up......................Emily Claypoole/Emma Webster
Videographer.....................................................Talia Eshel
Photographer................................................Emma Ressel