This weekend marks the opening of Julius Caesar at American University: a senior capstone project for many of my classmates and a major milestone for me. In collaboration with another student, this is my first production as costume designer! After taking classes with Meghan Raham and Sarah Beth Hall, I've fallen back in love with the visual arts as they pertain to theatre.

This piece posed a unique challenge for creating a world through design. Despite still being set in Rome, this adaptation of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar took place in an ambiguously modern world rather than an ancient or historical one. Color motifs and carefully selected materials distinguished our well-to-do senators from the scrappy plebeian ensemble. Our costumes explored the show's themes of status, good versus evil, and varying forms of femininity. 

To view my full design statement, costume renderings, and production photos, click this link!

Much of popular theatre is built on the assumption that storytelling necessitates verbal language...but what can performance look like when we transcend these bounds? Pilobolus, the famed collaborative dance company, seeks to address this unanswerable question.

​This month, I took part in an intensive workshop led by Matt Kent and Renee Jaworski of Pilobolus in conjunction with AU professor Aaron Posner. Utilizing texts from Shakespeare's The Tempest and A Midsummer Night's Dream, we spent the weekend unearthing that way famous stories resonate in our bodies and imaginations. There was no final performance in mind—guided by the text, we explored physical theatre concepts like weight sharing, flocking, and improvisation.​

I am so grateful for this opportunity to play and explore with my classmates in a process-over-product setting! I discovered a passion for physical theatre during my time studying abroad, and was thrilled to be able to revisit it on my own campus.  Discovery and collaboration are at the heart of Pilobolus's mission, and I can't wait to bring what I learned into my future projects. The workshop was an excellent reminder that every member of a company has something unique to contribute to the stories we tell onstage. ​

Major thanks to Aaron, Matt, and Renee for this experience!

Pictured: "Young Kind of Love", photographed by Elena Zimmerman.

​This October, I was fortunate enough to play the role of River in American University's production of In Pieces. The song cycle, featuring a pop-rock score by Joey Contreras, provides a glimpse into hyper-specific yet universal moments in young love and loss. 

​Without a unified plot or straightforward characters, creating a cohesive style and story was a daunting challenge. Luckily our cast was an incredibly thoughtful and determined group, always willing to play and push the bounds of the material. Making these songs my own was such an honor, and I must extend a special thank you to our music director Deborah Jacobson. Working with her throughout this process allowed me to bridge the gap between "singer" and "musician" in a new way. 
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​Read the D.C. Theater Arts Review Here!