June 5, 2023
Earlier this May, four graduate students travelled to Pennsylvania to perform for young audiences at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. Their interactive performance was presented in and inspired by the exhibition Opposites Abstract: A Mo Willems Exhibit.
Drama and Theatre for Youth and Communities graduate students Renita James, Lily Odekirk and Claire Derriennic and Performance as Public Practice Ph.D. candidate Michael DeWhatley worked together to create and perform this program for young museum-goers. The performance grew out of an earlier class project from Katie Dawson's museum theatre course. In the class, groups of students were instructed to create original performances in local museums. DeWhatley, James, Derriennic and their classmate Erin Valentine created The Materials that Make Us, an interactive play that introduced young children to the world of abstract art. Months later, Mo Willems' exhibit would open all the way in Pittsburgh, welcoming young people to engage with abstract art in similar ways.
As part of Opposites Abstract: A Mo Willems Exhibit, The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh hosted monthly events to expand on the concept of opposites within abstract art. With the help of interim chair Megan Alrutz, Mo Willems' longtime collaborator and the exhibit's creative producer, the group was invited to reimagine The Materials that Make Us as a performance for Opposites Abstract. Lily Odekirk joined Derriennic, DeWhatley and James as they reworked the original script to fit Willems' vivid, hands-on exhibit.
"Last fall we were tasked with creating a piece for young people in a museum that was not geared towards young people," shared James. "The question we were grappling with, among many, is how do we invite youth into this gallery and make it exciting and tangible for them?"
"Working in Pittsburgh," James continued, "we were in a space that regularly invites young people in and positions them as stakeholders in the environment. The question we found ourselves grappling with, is how do you invite young people to participate in a performance in a space where the 'rules' of engagement are very different, essentially where young people are welcome to engage in the space as much as they want in whatever way feels good to them. We spent a lot of time navigating a shared language around invitation to participate (or not) in the theatrical experience."
Their latest performance blossomed out of these conversations, ready for a new museum space and a new audience. In late May, the group flew to Pennsylvania for a few rehearsals in the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh's MuseumLab. On May 19 and 20, 2023 the final element of their immersive performance was added when groups of young museum-goers watched and participated in their work. From Austin to Pittsburgh, these students invited young people to deepen their understanding of the world around them, one interactive performance at a time.
Photo provided by Michael DeWhatley.