Voices from
a pandemic

Since April 2020, Voices from a Pandemic has been inviting artists and cultural workers to remotely collect testimony from people on the frontlines, to hear their experiences during this worldwide pandemic. This includes anyone continuing to do the in-person work that keeps a country and its people alive and functioning, not only essential employees but also the frontline protesters who have risked their safety and health to fight
for a revolution that uplifts us all.

Story Bank

​This living story bank, where actors recreate verbatim interviews of first-person testimony from individuals on the frontlines of the pandemic and current Civil Rights Movement, creates an artistic time capsule of the real lives lived and lost.
​
Moreover, the Voices story bank segments also function as a library of personal narratives that other theaters can access (for free) to create their own unique Voices productions. The only caveat being that all Voices productions must be free and open to the public. Each time a theatre presents the work, the program's circle of community and creators grows. With no set end date, the story bank will continue to expand in response to our quickly and ever-evolving world.

"it's never​
stopped thriving"

Story Sharer: Mayde
Date: 7/1/20
Interviewer: Portland Thomas
Transcriber: Portland Thomas
Actor: Gabriela Saker

"what really happened" ​

Story Sharer: Anonymous Activist
Date: 8/2/20
Interviewer:  Isabel Pask
​Transcriber: Ashley J. Hicks
Actor: ​​Ash J. Hicks,   Director: Dina Vovsi

"a mass sickness"

Story Sharer: Anonymous CPS Worker
​Date:  7/11/20
Interviewer: Sean Dunnington
​Transcriber: Eric Wiegand
Actor: Kathryn Metzger

"they have lil
anty-bodies"

Story Sharers: Jed & Joclyn
​Date: 4/23/20
Interviewer:  Addie Gorlin-Han
​Transcriber: Rhiannon Ling
Actors: ​​J. Richey Nash & Moira Squier

"write you out
of my will”

Story Sharer: Anonymous Medical Student
​Date:  6/19/20
Interviewer:  Ahmed Ashour
​Transcriber: Elisabeth Yancey
Actor: ​​Lisa Jai

"no options"

Story Sharer: Anonymous Prison Counselor
Date:  6/28/20
Interviewer: Isabel Pask
​Transcriber: Anonymous
Actor: ​​ Lennox T. Duong

"no second chances"

Story Sharer:  Joan / I.C.E. Prison Volunteer
​Date: 6/19/20
Interviewer:  Anna Kinnebrew
​Transcriber: Samantha Fonseca
Actor: ​​ Moira Squier

"also a reality in India"

Story Sharers: Mahima & Saumya
​Date:  6/13/20
Interviewer: Karishma Swarup
​Transcriber: Rhiannon Ling
Actors: ​​Karishma Swarup & Shimali De Silva

"grinds ​my gears" 

Story Sharer: Desta
​Date: 5/23/20
Interviewer: David Samuel
​Transcriber: Samantha Fonseca
Actor:  Portland Thomas

"never learn
from history"

Story Sharer: Anonymous Medical Workers
Date:  5/13/20
Interviewer: David Samuel
​Transcriber: Rhiannon Ling
Actors: Bahni Turpin & Jacques Smith

"never lift that pinky"

Story Sharer: Carlos
​Date: 7/27/20
Interviewer:   Gabriela Saker
​Transcriber:  Anonymous
Actor: ​​​ Victor Anthony

"I am one of you guys"

Story Sharer: Nick
​Date: 6/14/20
Interviewer: Ahmed Ashour
​Transcriber: Anonymous
Actor: ​​Dylan Crow

"I've reignited the fire"

Story Sharer: Kelsey
Date: Unknown
Interviewer: Anna Kinnebrew
​Transcriber: Rachel Schmeling
Actor: ​​ Shimali De Silva

"noble enough to work"

Story Sharer: Karishma
​Date:  5/14/20
Interviewer:  Ashley Teague
​Transcriber: Rhiannon Ling
Actor: ​ Karishma Swarup

"attacking in clusters"

Story Sharer: Anonymous Nurse, Brooklyn
Date:  4/25/20
Interviewer: Ashley Teague 
​Transcriber: Rhiannon Ling
Actor: ​​Iliana Guibert 

"light at the end" 

Story Sharer: Kelsey
Date: Unknown
Interviewer: Anna Kinnebrew
​Transcriber: Rachel Schmeling
Actor: ​​ Shimali De Silva

"do your fuckin'
civic duty."

Story Sharer: Andé Kelli
Date:​ 4/26/20
Interviewer: Ashley Teague
​Transcriber: Rhiannon Ling​
Actor: ​​ Sarah Keyes

"there you were"

Date: January 2021
​Interviewer/Transcriber/Actor: Abigail C Onwunali
Onwunali interviewed individuals who lost someone to COVID-19 and has woven their words into this spoken word poem. 

The program has expanded and shifted in unforeseen ways since its inception, growing to reflect the breadth of experiences from people all over during these many months as the damage from the pandemic continues to compound ongoing and new national (and international) crises. Notch believes it is crucial to archive these experiences in real time, documenting the vast scope of stories that defines this urgent chapter in our cultures and histories. Moreover, Voices strives to subvert and expand our historic archives, and it aims to question what constitutes legitimate documentation by centering community-based stories and by collecting, affirming and amplifying peer-to-peer testimonies that currently may not be being given a platform.

We launched the below digital story bank and presented a two-night, online sharing of a Voices play, featuring actors and community stories from all over the world in an effort to maintain momentum for the current Civil Rights Movement by providing a first-person history of this unprecedented time and strives to remind us of the promises we made to ourselves to disrupt and dismantle racist systems and to rebuild a more just and equitable future for us all in 2021 and beyond. ​

Finally, Voices is a communal creation, owned by all participants and story sharers. It has no one playwright, no singular author or creator and has collaborated with over 100 cultural workers, community members and artists  from all disciplines and from all over the world. 

The Plays

Play One took place the evening of January 29th 2021 and was directed by Christopher Windom** and Nigel Semaj. Play Two, directed by Sanaz Ghajar, took place January 30th 2021.

Producing Partners: Portland Thomas and Jenny Kennedy*
Stage Managers: Emilee Buchheit* and Nikki Hyde,* 
Assistant Stage Managers: Lorraine Fiore* and Ducky Anderson
Costume and Dramaturgy: Elinor T Vanderburg
Video: Bruno-Pierre Houle
Sound: Emma Hasselbach

Cast: Julian Abelskamp, Anthony Adu, Victor Anthony*, Shimali De Silva, Moire Dia, Iliana Guibert, Ashley J. Hicks, Lisa Jai, Sarah Keyes*, Abigail C. Onwunali, Aleca Piper, Gabriela Saker, Anne Scurria*, Karishma Swarup, Portland Thomas*,  Deema Turkomani, Elisabeth Yancey* 


​*AEA Members **SDC Member​

​Voices From A Pandemic is made possible by Amy Aquino and Drew McCoy, Chautauqua Theater Company, Tali Pressman, Shannon Morzov, Moira Squier, Julie and Cotton Nash, and with public funds from Creative Engagement, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the New York State Legislature and administered by LMCC.  LMCC serves, connects, and makes space for artists and community.