The Silk Moth Stage in Dayton is highlighting new theater techniques in their current show "The Wanting Forest." WMRA’s Kate Bean reports.
[sound of Aili Huber conducting rehearsal]
Silk Moth transforms their rural outdoor stage into a world of adventure with their newest production "The Wanting Forest." Founder Aili Huber describes this coming-of-age tale as a “lyrical quest" about a mother and daughter on a journey to connect with their dreams and ambitions. "The Wanting Forest" is built around place-based theatre and environmental devising techniques. Environmental devising is taking a minimalist approach to creating visuals by using what's around you and relying on movement.
AILI HUBER: Starting with, what do we have? We have our bodies. We have the physical landscape — that is the literal, real landscape — where we are. We have each other.
Silk Moth will also partner with local primary and secondary schools, as well as Bridgewater College and Massanutten Regional Library, to host workshops on environmental devising for local students. The workshops will use settings from "The Wanting Forest" such as oceans, woods, and mountains to practice the technique.
HUBER: It’s partly about looking at, especially for those high schools, hey, here’s a tool, here’s a thing you might not know about that is entirely a normal and legitimate way to do professional theater. But, for this play, first of all it is a play that we think will be appealing to people of all ages and so we wanted a chance to connect with younger people.
"The Wanting Forest" will run for two consecutive weekends. An American Sign Language interpreter and virtual captioning will be available for select showings. Patrons who choose to stick around after the show will be welcomed to conversations and s'mores around the fire pit.