CoHo Lab: Matter//Counting

Public Showing August 14 @ 8pm

Matter is Mother by Julia Bray

Counting Pebbles by Faultline Ensemble

Lab Work August 1-13


Matter is Mother

Created and Performed by Julia Bray

Costumes by Hailey Desjardin and Jane Staugas

Vocal Recordings by Ronald Peet

Matter is Mother is a one ­woman show set in a private resort in the Bahamas where a mythic sea monster named “Lusca” is said to dwell. Throughout the show the audience is coaxed in to this tropical world through character­-driven monologues, recordings, dances, and songs as each character uses Lusca’s presence to reflect their relationship to the feminine. Drawing a parallel between the collective pressure we’ve placed on females in our society and the mindlessness in which we’ve treated the ultimate feminine force, Mother Earth, this piece offers science cloaked in raucous comedy and solutions for healing wrapped in poetry and performance.

Julia Bray is a performer, writer, singer, dancer, producer and teacher who has lived and created in New York City for the past 10 years. She has performed Off Broadway in multiple productions (including two New York Premiers), and appeared on television in “Law and Order SVU”, HBO’s “How to Make it In America” and “Boardwalk Empire” and MTV’s sketch­comedy show “Hey Girl”. In January 2015 Julia founded “ALL BOATS” a bi­-monthly variety show that features new work in theater, film, dance, song, comedy, performance art and beyond. Julia’s writing and solo­ shows have been seen at Dixon Place, Fresh Ground Pepper, Theater in Asylum, The Habitat Theater Company and the variety shows “New Skin” and “All Boats”. She produces and directs the music videos for her comedic rap group “Sister Wives”, and is a founding member of two sketch comedy troupes “Thanks For Coming Comedy” and “Emotional Pizza”. She graduated from NYU Tisch and is currently exploring a bi-­coastal lifestyle between her hometown of Portland, OR and her Brooklyn turf. She teaches ballet and Kundalini yoga to adults and children. https://julia-bray.com/


Counting Pebbles

By Faultline Ensemble

Directed by Taiga Christie

“If there’s one thing first responders do, it’s tell stories.”The Code Green Campaign

First  responders  working  in  Emergency  Medical  Services  (EMS)  are  ten  times  more   likely  to  contemplate  suicide  than  the  national  average,  and the most  common  reason   responders  leave  the  field  is  burnout  and  psychological  trauma.

Created in partnership with the Code Green Campaign, this devised  performance  will explore experiences of first responders struggling with and finding paths through trauma. The piece will draw  on interviews, anonymous stories collected by Code Green and  art  by EMS workers to weave a story of shared  trauma, pride and resilience.

Taiga  Christie  is  a  Portland-­‐based  playwright  and  director  of  collaborative  original   works.  She  is  the  founder  and  director  of  Faultline  Ensemble,  an  ensemble  dedicated   to  creating  theater  that  increases  community  health  and  resilience,  and  has  studied   community-­‐based  theater  for  social  change  at  Dell’Arte  International  Theater   Company,  Cornerstone  Theater  Company  and  Sojourn  Theatre.  She  also  works  as  an   EMT  and  health  educator,  and  is  a  collaborating  artist  with  Children  of  the  Wild,   company-­‐in-­‐residence  at  Double  Edge  Theatre  in  Ashfield,  MA.      Taiga’s  past  original,  collaborative  works  include  “Six  Billion  Utopias,”  a   documentary  performance  about  mental  health  access  for  sexual  and  gender   minorities,  and  “Holding  onto  the  Sky,”  a  community-­‐based  play  about  disaster   preparedness  and  health  access  in  Portland.  “Six  Billion  Utopias”  toured  in  New   England  in  2013,  in  partnership  with  nonprofits  working  to  increase  minority  access   to  care.  “Holding  onto  the  Sky”  was  recently  remounted  in  Portland  due  to  the   popularity  of  its  first  run  in  2014.  Her  work  centers  on  pieces  that  incorporate  a   multiplicity  of  marginalized  voices,  conflicting  points  of  view,  and  an  anti-­‐ oppression  analysis.      Taiga  is  also  an  Emergency  Medical  Technician,  a  practitioner  of  trauma  support   work  in  the  healthcare  field  and  a  community  health  trainer.  She  aims  to  use  theater   to  explore  the  tension  between  varied  experiences  of  trauma,  and  to  raise   awareness  and  sensitivity  to  individual  and  collective  trauma  throughout  our   culture.