It’s closing weekend of Spark and we are thrilled to announce that we have three guest groups coming to this weekend’s performances. Tonight, Thursday, we will host representatives from The All Veterans Garden. A program run by the Veterans Affairs Department, All Vets Garden provides a therapeutic program for veterans transitioning back to civilian life. Veterans learn about nutrition, …
Continue ReadingWeek three of Spark is here! We are looking forward to a weekend of wonderful discussions with two amazing organizations! Tonight’s performance of Spark we will invite Calvary Women’s Services to participate in our talk-back and talk with our audience about what they do.Calvary Women’s Services offers housing, health, employment and education programs that empower homeless women in Washington, D.C. …
Continue ReadingWe are so excited to Partner with Operation Homefront for tomorrow’s performance of Spark! As we said in our last blog, individual Spark performances are dedicated to different organizations working to address the play’s themes of veterans affairs, women in the military, economic struggle, and the cycle of abandonment. Their representatives will take part in the dialogue following the performance, …
Continue ReadingSeason 12 is here and Caridad Svich’s Spark opens at Theater Alliance this weekend! A beautifully simple story about family, Spark explores some major issues close to the heart of DC: women in the military, veteran reintegration, economic struggle, and the cycle of abandonment. Members of the DMV community work tirelessly each day to address these issues, so we …
Continue ReadingSince the recent decision to eliminate the Tony Award for sound design, the theater world is buzzing about the impact and importance of sound in theatrical productions. Tonight, Theater Alliance closes The Wonderful World of Dissocia, one of the most tech-heavy shows the company has produced in recent years. As it is our mission to engage in active dialogue with …
Continue ReadingHello, all! My name is Karina Hilleard, and I feel incredibly blessed to be working with Theater Alliance on their upcoming production of Anthony Neilson’s The Wonderful World of Dissocia (WWD). Dissocia really is a Wonderful World! And Lisa has discovered it. It’s truly astonishing. It’s a wonderland, an Oz land – a childish, yet adult land full of sensation. …
Continue ReadingDAY 3 We recently spoke to Dr. Richard Chefetz, a psychotherapist and psychopharmacologist who has worked in this field since the eighties. Rich described dissociation as a “feeling regulator” in which people can become very logical while their emotional brain is iced. Through continual icing, DID patients lose context and may place themselves in danger. Dr. Chefetz agrees that dissociation …
Continue ReadingDAY 2 Annie Houston, a DC actor and friend of Theater Alliance, was our second guest. Annie’s sister Maggie lives with schizoaffective disorder. This is not the same as DID, but there are enough similarities that we wanted to hear Annie’s perspective as a family member. Annie described her sister as balancing extreme tenderness and explosive anger. Maggie, a …
Continue ReadingEver arrived at a destination and thought to yourself, “How in the world did I get here?” You may have heard this phenomena referred to as “highway hypnosis” or “hypnotic absorption.” This “lost time experience” is a form of every-day dissociation and happens to all of us. Imagine, for a moment, if you were to spend much of your life …
Continue ReadingWelcome to Season ELEVEN. This marks new decade of growth and change for Theater Alliance with a new re-shaped mission that more accurately reflects our direction forward: To develop, produce and present socially conscious, thought-provoking work that fully engages with our community in active dialogue. We will create and share art that matters. You are going to see over the …
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