Sibyl Kempson: 12 Shouts to the Ten Forgotten Heavens: Fall Equinox
Sat, Sep 22, 2018
7 pm, 8 pm, 9 pm
Sibyl Kempson, 12 Shouts to the Ten Forgotten Heavens, Summer Solstice, June 21, 2018, at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Photograph © Paula Court
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Floor 7; Floor 1, Museum Lobby
The eleventh Shout in this cycle of twelve rituals celebrates the Autumnal Equinox. In preparation for the turning of the seasons, Sibyl Kempson composes an eclectic affair featuring live musicians, a historically controversial character, and a waltz, in looped performances at 7 pm, 8 pm, and 9 pm. Audiences will have an opportunity to honor the Potato Doll Beings brought into manifestation at last year's Equinox. The exact moment of this Equinox (9:54 pm EDT) will be marked by a culminating action in the Museum lobby, free and open to the public.
At a point when summer feels its fullest and most vivid, the Autumnal Equinox signals the growing darkness and shortening of each day’s light. This brings forward a sense poignancy, a quietening, a resolve to gather together. And in this case, a chance to reap the harvest of this project’s three-year cycle in anticipation of the 12 Shouts finale in December.
On the waning expressiveness of summer Sibyl Kempson writes:
“The Autumn Equinox marks the moment of its passing. With the gentle, knowing glow of the goldenrod reflecting the light of the Sun’s deeper angle, a kind of fatigue draws us inward. The seeds of our former fruiting and flowering now rely on wind, water and wing to be spread and propagated across the landscape. Our leaves yellow and our eyes soften with the accumulation of past thought, action and experience that is memory. We reflect upon deeds and on the manifestations of consciousness of which our Life is comprised. We discover the energies of wisdom that lay in our aging bodies and frangible branches. In the lulling rhythms of crickets and cicadas, we intuit the whispering of our ancestors and prepare to become ancestors ourselves—to the generations who will succeed us.”
Ticketed performances, Floor 7
7 pm, 8 pm, 9 pm*
*This performance has reached ticketing capacity.
Tickets are required for the performances ($10 adults; $8 members, students and seniors).
Equinox culmination, Floor 1, Museum Lobby
9:54 pm
The Equinox culmination is free; no tickets required.
About the Artists
Sibyl Kempson is a playwright, director, and performer, and is the 2018 recipient of the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award for an American Playwright in Mid-career. She founded 7 Daughters of Eve Thtr. & Perf. Co. in 2015. Her plays have been presented in NYC, Minneapolis, Baltimore, Omaha, Bonn, and Austin, TX. She is a 2010 MacDowell Colony Fellow, a 2013–14 McKnight National Resident and Commissionee, a 2014 United States Artists Rockefeller Fellow, and a graduate of New Dramatists, Class of 2017.
Performers
Dee Dorcas Beasnael
Tei Blow
Donna Brickwood
Omie Johnson
Sibyl Kempson
Stephen McGroarty
Jodi Melnick
Quartet Metadata (Lynn Bechtold & Mioi Takeda, violins; Carrie Frey, viola; Jennifer DeVore, cello)
Milica Paranosic
Sarah Willis
Collaborators
Jed Bark: Potato Doll Being stewardship
Tei Blow: sound design
Suzanne Bocanegra: costume design
Omie Johnson: astrological dramaturgy
Kira Alker and Elke Luyten: choreography
Milica Paranosic: musical composition
Amanda Villalobos: puppetry consultant
Molly Zimmelman: stage management
Production Assistance
Leonie Bell: prop assistance
Johnny Gasper: sound assistance
Theodora Lang: costume assistance
