Cartogoraphashia (2010)
Produced by Telephone Bronco Theater Company
Directed by Louis Jargow
Created by Telephone Bronco Theater Company
Written by Sam Goodman (with Jessie Bear)
Starring:
Nell Bang-Jensen
Jessie Bear
Eric Holzhauer
Isa St. Clair
Set Design by Emma Ferguson
This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs. On stage. Or on paper. This is your brain on New Zealand Mean Time. Your brain on longitude. Your brain off. Isn't this your brain? I swear it looks just like you. And haven't I seen you around here before?
September 3-11, 2010: Circle of Hope (Philly Fringe Festival), Philadelphia
Poster Credit: Emma Ferguson
Directed by Louis Jargow
Created by Telephone Bronco Theater Company
Written by Sam Goodman (with Jessie Bear)
Starring:
Nell Bang-Jensen
Jessie Bear
Eric Holzhauer
Isa St. Clair
Set Design by Emma Ferguson
This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs. On stage. Or on paper. This is your brain on New Zealand Mean Time. Your brain on longitude. Your brain off. Isn't this your brain? I swear it looks just like you. And haven't I seen you around here before?
September 3-11, 2010: Circle of Hope (Philly Fringe Festival), Philadelphia
Poster Credit: Emma Ferguson
Cartogoraphasia was the first piece by Telephone Bronco Theater Company. Newly graduated (them...I was already a year out :) ), we were excited to put some of the awesome collaborative theater training we'd picked up at Swarthmore College to use. If you've looked at some of my later projects on this website, you'll know that it is with this group that I formed some very lasting bonds, and found artistic partners I'd work with for years to come.
The process of making Cartogoraphasia was epic. We did about a month and a half of improvs - some guided, some not, some structured, some not - and then figured out, essentially, how to turn all that into one cohesive play. I think we had over fifty characters who we'd invented. Sadly, not all fifty made it into the show. (One of my most rueful losses was a wily little guy named Captain Lorenzo who I invented - an Italian super hero who also happened to be a perpetual liar).
How we turned so much raw material into the finished performance we wound up with is something that I'm pretty damn proud of, and a testament to the success of our process. We wound up with a piece with several disparate storylines that nonetheless served to provide a complete theatrical experience.
Or, you can read an excerpt of one of my favorite scenes below.
The process of making Cartogoraphasia was epic. We did about a month and a half of improvs - some guided, some not, some structured, some not - and then figured out, essentially, how to turn all that into one cohesive play. I think we had over fifty characters who we'd invented. Sadly, not all fifty made it into the show. (One of my most rueful losses was a wily little guy named Captain Lorenzo who I invented - an Italian super hero who also happened to be a perpetual liar).
How we turned so much raw material into the finished performance we wound up with is something that I'm pretty damn proud of, and a testament to the success of our process. We wound up with a piece with several disparate storylines that nonetheless served to provide a complete theatrical experience.
Or, you can read an excerpt of one of my favorite scenes below.

jessie_bear_cartogoraphasia_excerpt.pdf |