Family Threads (2020)

Family Threads is a collaborative piece of experimental theatre about the connections found in communal loss. 

Choreographer Glenn Morgan composed 3 pieces of dance inspired by the 7 stages of grief. With an individual artist grant from The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville Glenn was able to train (and pay) a group of 6 dancers to perform the work of G Morgan Choreography. Recognizing both that he wanted to build something different than a typical dance performance and that he needed collaborators in different mediums to do so, Glenn approached me about building out his idea. I asked more general questions about what he was looking for, about the theme of the work and what had happened for him personally that drove him to make it. He told me about the losses he endured all at once, a separation and divorce amidst the passing of his mother. He said he wanted to build something personal but not only about himself. He was very willing to collaborate with additional artists in other mediums to craft a multi-narrative work. I believe it was this openness I was attracted to. Openness allows us to grow into something bigger than ourselves, to tell a story both singular and universal. 

Kevin Mahoney is a multi-hyphenated artist with roots in sculpture and painting currently working on a series of country albums and a collection of poems. I knew of the writing he was doing about his father’s passing and was eerily struck by the serendipitous quality of these two artists sharing their grief work with me. Glenn knew Kevin’s past work and was excited at the prospect of building the show around 2 narrative threads in 2 separate mediums around 1 central theme. We got together and agreed we needed that third component, the entirely separate and yet unifying form of expression, music. It just so happens I was helping John Touchton record his next Severed + Said EP with Richard Dudley at Long Jump Records. The Lynchian quality of his work and his general enthusiasm for theatrical score made him the perfect fit to fill out the audio visual narrative. 

We got together sparingly throughout the Summer, always masked, outdoors when possible. Kevin and John recorded demo material at Long Jump Records for the dancers to practice with at Barbara Thompson School of Dance. Glenn sent video correspondence back about the progress of the choreography. We applied for a program grant from The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville through Avant Arts, received matching contributions from The Driscoll Group and Long Road Projects. We were able to present the hour long collaborative performance in its entirety 3 times to a sold out, masked and distanced, outdoor audience of 30 people per night, September 18th-20th at Long Jump Records. We filmed and photographed the performance for posterity. 

Over twenty people came together to make Family Threads including performers; Hillary “Hilly” Bodin, Robert Rimmer, Marco Tacandong, Ashley Mercado, Kaleb Sims, Karolina Malota, Glenn Morgan, Photographer, Trib LaPrade, Filmmakers; Zane Hall, Nicholas Lorini, Jaron Wallace, Bailee Ingersoll, Printmaker, Katrina Fernandez, illustrator Jamie Jordan Emanuelli, Production Assistant, MK Thyfault.

- Cory Driscoll, Producer