Note from the Playwright: Shadow Work is a memory play that follows Trinity Lavata as she ruminates over past impulses in interpersonal relationships. We follow two interconnected stories: Dustin and Trinity who travel backward from the last time they see each other to their first date intermingled with Lyla and Trinity who travel forward through the same time period. Lyla, the Higher Self, and Dustin, the Ego, constantly pull Trinity in two different directions. Will she choose the best one for herself and break through her metaphorical glass ceiling, or fall prey to societal standards? How do senses manipulate our memories into playing masochistic games with nostalgia and why is there so much adrenaline that goes along with it?
We dive into the ‘tortured artist’ archetype with Trinity, a painter and our unreliable narrator, who uses her pain to create great pieces of art. She slowly learns whether or not masochism makes her a good artist or if she just has nowhere else to put her love? Is pain glorified in the creative world as long as you can use it to reach depth and vulnerability? How does society influence our generation, especially our young women, and how do we unlearn our implicit, destructive self-beliefs that have been permeated through pop culture?
Shadow Work started as a five-minute piece in a Writer’s Zoom meeting for The Citadel of Playwrights. I wanted to look at how, as women, we project our deepest fears. I did this by looking at where relationships end and contrasting it to when they begin. The original piece had two scenes: the first scene of this play and the last scene of this play which I creatively named “Driving Scene”. This transformed in my two-month residency with The Citadel into a deeper piece full of symbolism that I’m proud to present to you all.
If you’re ever asking yourself questions like, “Why is this red? What does that represent?” then you’re in the right place. Developed to kickstart your own spiritual shadow work, I recommend asking these questions of yourself as you journey through this play.
Note from the Director: Shadow Work is a play that lives somewhere between memory, fantasy and reality. How fitting it is that we are performing this script over zoom, the space between being online and in person. Told out-of-order and in reverse, this play allows us to see into these characters’ lives only as fleeting moments of human connection and reason. We are left to fill in the time in between with our own experiences and biases. It is because of this, we are able to see our own lives through these characters and through Trinity’s uncertainty of who she is and what she’s doing.
When preparing for a zoom performance, we often think “what can’t we do” rather than asking “what is the most we can do” and that is exactly how this production team approached this piece. From zoom box configuration to screen sharing sound to off-camera comedy, we have pushed the boundaries of zoom. We have actors who are hundreds of miles apart and yet they still feel like they are in the same room, or car, if you will. The Citadel has been a place for artists to gather and collaborate, distance be damned.
New work is my favorite process to be a part of. When I was approached by the Citadel about this production, I thought there was now better way to begin my first production back after the pandemic than to start with work that no one else has done before. The idea of starting something beautiful, with this being Shadow Work’s debut production and the first production of the Citadel, just seemed right. This new work production also gave us the luxury of being able to ask Kristen questions and hear the inspiration behind different scenes. Our cast shared laughs and frustrations that are the same as their characters and we have felt that this show has a timely sense of relevance to the struggles of self-doubt and angst that we feel in our everyday lives and how those around us affect us. It is our hope that by bringing to life this play, the questions of “who am I” and “what am I doing” are the questions you are asking yourself as you leave our audience.
We would also like to extend a huge thank you to our viewers today. It is because of you that new work is being heard, shared and felt as we move towards the future of theatre. So thank you, and enjoy the show!
