Three Fort Lewis College graduates have stayed in town - three years after they finished school - to build a theatrical troupe that concentrates on imaginative, visual storytelling techniques.
Stacey Sotosky, Alex Oliszewski and LeAnn Brubaker - the team of writers,
directors and producers - worked together on "Don't" in 2001 and "The Boy and the Rainbow" in 2002.
This year, they formed their company, Penumbra, and mounted a multi-media
play in May, also called "Penumbra."
In their programs, they cite inspiration from John Cage, Allen Kaprow,
Merce Cunningham, Robert Wilson, Bill Viola and others.
The production of "Oblivion" relies on a multiplicity of lighting
techniques, projecting patterns on backdrops, scrims, curtains and actors. The visual and musical vocabulary is
seriously multicultural and multi-period, ranging from '70s disco to ancient Siamese dance, with nods to updated
circus technique and Bollywood.
Most of the dialogue has been recorded into the soundtrack. The actors
mime in masks to their own projected voices so they can concentrate on their movement.
The program would be suitable for school-age children, except for possible
frights from the 9-foot-tall Lady of the Dead Forest and the woman-eating Zombie.
- Patricia Miller
