From Iris McCloughan as part of Miniball Festival.
A “whale fall” is a deceased cetacean who has fallen to the deepest zones of the ocean floor. Here, where life and resources are scant, the introduction of a large body generates a local, multi-species ecosystem that, while finite, can sustain itself for decades.
Taking this phenomena as inspiration, Whale Fall: A Monologue enacts a similar catalysis, propagating new imaginings of how we should structure our relationships with each other and our world after social and ecological crisis. Whale Fall asks our audience to consider the social space of the theater, social organization at large, and humans' varied relationships to each other, to other animals, and to planetary systems, particularly through our relationships to cetaceans. Throughout, as a single performer guides the audience through a series of stories, sounds, projections, and interactions, they prod the audience (and themself) to question our assumed place in the natural world, the ontology of language and thought, the limits of individualism and mutual aid, and the possibilities for organized life after capitalism. Moving from ancient Roman and Japanese artworks depicting warriors on top of cetaceans to videos of Greenpeace Whale Protectors mounting hunted whales; from Cold War hydrophones to the “Loneliest Whale” phenomenon; from CIA-funded dolphin schools to emerging technologies that may soon allow us to speak to these creatures, Whale Fall begins with a simple, childhood fascination with marine biology and asks us to consider intelligences and communicative modes radically different than our own.
Philly Theatre Week:
Thursday, April 7, 7:30pm - 8:35pm
Friday, April 8, 6:00pm - 7:05pm
Additional Information:
Accessibility: Unfortunately the Maas Building is not wheelchair accessible. The performance space is up a flight of stairs from street level.
COVID-19 Information: In order to keep our artists and audiences safe, please note you will be required to show proof of vaccination before entering the venue and you will be expected to wear a mask indoors at all times.
