The Fasting Girls by Amanda Jane Shank
Directed by Alexis Macnab
The Fasting Girls is a new play told in puppetry about the fragile tether between body and soul, power and powerlessness. In a snowy, isolated village evoking the Victorian era, two adolescent sisters test the limits of their power in society. Fourteen-year-old Eva is courted by Amos, a family friend twice her age. Reacting to this attention, and her own burgeoning desire, Eva’s grip tightens around her physical body and she begins to fast. But her world sees her actions differently. To her suitor, Eva is fading away; to her brother, she is a prized oddity; to her church, Eva is evidence of divine presence and proof that one can live on prayer alone. Only Eva’s younger sister, Molly, understands the outcomes of Eva’s refusal to eat but as a young girl herself she is powerless to stop Eva’s disappearance. The premiere of Amanda Jane Shank’s The Fasting Girls featured bunraku-style puppets, stop-motion animation, miniatures, and an original score in an intimate space. World Premiere at Z Below in San Francisco, September 2019.
CAST:
Puppeteers - Jen Colasuonno, Adrienne Dolan, Marie-Claire Erdynast, Nao Kobayashi, Fred C Riley III and Alison Sacha Ross
Vocal Performance - Jessica Basta and Cassia Streb
DESIGNERS AND CREW:
Scenic Design - Tanya Orellana
Composition - Cassia Streb
Sound Design - Colbert Davis IV
Puppet Design - Nao Kobayashi
Lighting Design - Maximiliano Urruzmendi
Costume Design - Hector Martinez, Alexis Macnab & Nao Kobayashi
Scenic Construction - Yusuke Soi
Scenic Painting - Anya Kazimierski
Animation/video - Alexis Macnab
Stage Management - Paul Seliga
Technical Direction - Thadeus Reed
Production photos by Stephen Texeira Photography
Previous workshops and residencies for this project included work by the following artists and collaborators:
Moira MacDonald, Tanya Orellana, Stephanie Petagno, Trey Gilmore, Chu-Hsuan Chang, Colbert Davis, Lena Sands, Alexander Demers, Kori Denise, Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh, Jesse Kingsley, Lisa McNeely, and Hilario Saavedra, and Cameron Squire.
SPECIAL THANKS to Janie Geiser, Susan Simpson, Miranda Wright and Automata, Naomi Okuyama and the Studio Residency at the Camera Obscura Building in Santa Monica, and Travis Preston and the CalArts Center for New Performance for their support in the development of this project.
The Fasting Girls has received support from The Jim Henson Foundation, CA$H Theatre from Theatre Bay Area, The Puffin Foundation, the Automata Residency Program, the Koret Foundation, the CalArts Center for New Performance, and the City of Santa Monica.
