RKN

The Bumps is play set in the waiting room of an audition for a washer-dryer infomercial. The play, about the possibility of connection between strangers and what we inherit across generations, is played by a cast of pregnant actors. The play calls for one actor in each trimester so that, in an extended run, an actor can perform all three roles, graduating from role to role, before graduating from the piece, thus creating a small ongoing economy for pregnant artists. Behind the scenes, the production approaches theater as a site to investigate how we might better care for each other the larger American workplace.

The Bumps has been developed collaboratively with cast members Emily Alpren, Sarena Kennedy, Jennie Page, Sara Garcia, Deana Barone, Cristina Fernandez and Jeanne Syquia. Following a 2017 residency at the Skirball Cultural Center, Jennie Liu (Movement), Lena Sands (Costume), Shannon Scrofano (Environment), and Celia Hollander (Sound) have joined the project to explore what it means to build a theater production around our lives and bodies. 
 

+FEATURED IN AMERICAN THEATRE MAGAZINE
+REFLECTION and conversation with Julia Felsenthal (culture critic for Vogue.com) 
+FEATURED AS A PART THE BBC DOCUMENTARY UTOPIA: IN SEARCH OF THE DREAM from the BBC's art channel about the history of utopian thinking in art
+Selected by the National Performance Network for a Performance Residency at the Skirball Cultural Center
+Nominated to the Kilroys 2016 Honorable Mention List
+INTERVIEW WITH THE PARENT ARTIST ADVOCACY LEAGUE ON THE PROCESS BEHIND THE SCENES with Deena Selenow
+REFLECTION FOR THE LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS by Alexander Borinsky
+REFLECTION FOR RITING.LA by Gina Young and Zoe Aja Moore
+INTERVIEW for the Feminist Crush Podcast with Kitty Lindsay
+You can read my essay on why I wrote the play and how the process has evolved here.
+The Bumps on Facebook

PERFORMANCES + EVENTS

PRELUDE 2017, New York, NY
October 6, 2017
Directed by Deena Selenow
Performed by Ying Ying Li, Jessica Luck, Elise Peterson and Wil Petre
Free and free childcare provided during the performance
Watch the footage from PRELUDE, which includes my artist talk + ACT I here 

Benefit reading organized by the cast to support Planned Parenthood, Brooklyn, NY
August 14th & 15th, 2017
Directed by Deena Selenow
Performed by Jennifer Blood, Taifa Harris, Jessica Luck and Eric Clem

Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA
Feb 3rd & 4th, 2017
2 SOLD OUT SHOWS at the Skirball's Inaugural Performance Lab
Directed by Deena Selenow, sound by Celia Hollander, movement by Jennie Liu, environment design by Shannon Scrofano, costumes by Lena Sands
Performed by Deana Barone, Cristina Fernandez, Jeanne Syquia and Ari Boyland
Free childcare provided during Saturday's performance

Bumps/Works, Women's Center for Creative Work, Los Angeles, CA
Jan 30th, 2017
An evening of performances by 6 pregnant LA-based artists, followed by a discussion about parenthood in the arts
Curated by myself and Deena Selenow
Featuring Steffinnie Phrommany, Rebecca Aranda, Deborah Rosen, Cristina Fernandez, Kanya Iwana and Deana Barone
Free childcare provided

In Real Life: Studio series at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA
December 28, 29, Jan 5, 11, 2017
Public rehearsals with performers Cristina Fernandez, Deana Barone and Jeanne Syquia and workshops with collaborating artists
Presented through the In Real Life: Studio series, curated by January Parker Amos
Free

Moskowitz Bayse, Los Angeles CA
April 3rd, 2016
Staged reading directed by Deena Selenow
Performed by Sarena Kennedy, Jennifer Neala Page and Sara Garcia
Free childcare provided

The Women's Center for Creative Work, Los Angeles CA
January 22nd, 2016
Staged reading directed by Deena Selenow
Performed by Emily Alpren, Sarena Kennedy and Jennifer Neala Page


Photos at PRELUDE 17 by Maria Baranova
Photos at the Skirball Cultural Center by Arianne Alizio and Amber La Rosa
Photos at Moskowitz Bayse by Adam Moskowitz