power/trip

POWER/TRIP

Carnegie Mellon School of Drama—October 2021

“Phenomenal… Ruthless… A sacred experience.” — The Tartan

Text/Direction: Anne Cecelia DeMelo
Music Composition/Direction: Tucker Helms
Dramaturgy: Sabrina Zanello Jackson
Ensemble: Ayana Williams, Cassiel Eatock-Winnik, Chattan Johnson, Emily Chang, Jonathan Champion, Nicholas Biddle
Musicians: Aaron Morrison, Hikari Harrison, James O'Malley Gorbea
Scenic: Evan Frank
Costume: Lily Cunicelli
Sound: Erik Cereghino
Lighting: Matthew Weisgable
Media: Julian Kelley
Stage Management: Christopher Chase

POWER/TRIP is a dynamic, modern reworking of Shakespeare’s Richard II. Set in a community center deep in rural America, and inspired by 1970s psychedelica and southern ghost stories, the piece weaves together old and new text, political media archives, live music, dreamscapes, and drug trips to tell a story about what — and who — we choose to believe. On a cool autumn evening, a small group gathers to rehearse a play. As they grapple with questions of authenticity and authority, the lines between performance and reality rapidly begin to blur, exposing a world that is stranger and more intoxicating than they could have imagined.

Photos by Louis Stein