Maggie's Brain

Created by Jennifer Ilse & Paul Herwig
developed with Sears Eldredge & Gerry Girouard, and the cast
Original production 2006, workshopped in 2005

Sound Composition - Ben Seims
Costumes & Make up - Kym Longhi
Lighting - Paul Epton
Text - Dominic Orlando with the cast
Choreography - Jennifer Ilse
Set - Paul Herwig

Performed by: Taja Will, Karla Grotting, Paul Herwig, Taous Claire Khazem, Morgen Chang, Kym Longhi, Jim Lieberthal, Zeb Henderson Shreve, Ashleigh Penrod, James Kennedy, and Jesse Schmitz Boyd.

Original Cast: Jennifer Ilse, Judith Howard, Paul Herwig, Diane Aldis, Heather Bunch, Katie Kaufmann, Taous Claire Khazem, Jim Lieberthal, Zeb Henderson Shreve, Jodi Hodgeson, Megan O'Dell

In Off-Leash Area's dance and theater fusion, the audience wades into the world of schizophrenia. Here a family is lost in a sea of confusion, anxiety, and guilt as they watch their dear Maggie being swept away by a torrent of hallucinations into an alternate reality. It is a heartfelt exploration of the effects of mental illness on a young woman and her loving family who have not yet discovered the tools to deal with a situation over which they seem to have no control.
Using a vocabulary of frenetic gestures, sinuous acrobatics, and a visual landscape drawn from artists Dan Flavin and Francis Bacon, Maggie's Brain brings an intense focus on the human behind the illness with the hope of shattering the stigma and prejudice of the mentally ill through a performance experience that is both emotionally powerful and transforming.

Photos by Aleutian Calabay