Origami Night at Plaza Blackbox Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts

Origami Night is a new multi-disciplinary choreopoem utilizing spoken word, dance, and sensory design to trace a woman’s life from working class navy brat to radical feminist to mother, and explore aging, love, loneliness, and the queer act of self-examination. The third collaboration between multimedia artist Christopher Annas-Lee and choreographer Graham Cole, the piece will premiere in Boston on July 25 at the Plaza Blackbox Theatre with Boston Center for the Arts.

The workshop performance of Origami Night opened in December 2023 in Portland, OR. Noting the tight integration between movement and design, which Cole and Annas-Lee hope is a signature of their work, The Portland Tribune wrote: “The dancer performs in the round, constantly dividing her attention between the single ring of spectators. Her face is expressive, at times connecting with the audience one-on-one, but her body barely stops moving. If the octagon has become a place of violence in popular culture, [the production has] detoxified that shape and rendered it a sacred space. The dancer never seems trapped, because she is always moving, and with such grace and elegance that her form matches the poetry which is spoken over the sound system.”

The driving force behind the piece is the poetry of Pamela Annas, a Boston-based poet and Professor Emerita of UMASS Boston known for her roles in radical pedagogy, feminist writing, and working-class literature. If Christopher is known in Boston, it is as the co-founder of The Circuit Theatre Company, which produced twenty-one works in the city from 2010 to 2014 including the seven-hour rock opera The Valentine Trilogy! and John Kuntz’s world premiere The Annotated History of the North American Muskrat at the BCA. Since 2019, Christopher has also been a Resident Designer & Lighting Supervisor with Boston Dance Theater.

Tickets for Origami Night are available via www.origami-night.com. All tickets for this run of performances are pay-what-you-wish. The performance runs approximately 50 minutes with no intermission, contains flashing lights, references to assault, and is recommended for audiences 13+.
 

Origami Night will be performed live by Elenaluisa Alvarez, current Company Performer and Director of Youth Programming with Portland, OR dance company BodyVox. Washington D.C.-based actress Luz Nicolas will voice the poetry of Pamela Annas. The creative team is composed of Pamela Annas (Author), Graham Cole (Choreographer), Christopher Annas-Lee (Lighting, Sound, & Scenic Designer; Librettist), and Virginia Belt (Costumes Designer).

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What: Annas-Lee Design Group and Graham Cole/Performance present Origami Night at Boston Center for the Arts’ Plaza Blackbox Theatre

When:
Thursday, July 25 @ 7:30pm
Friday, July 26 @ 8pm
Saturday, July 27 @ 8pm
Sunday, July 28 @ 2pm, followed by a talkback with the artists
Thursday, August 1 @ 7:30pm
Friday, August 2 @ 8pm
Saturday, August 3 @ 2pm & 8pm
Sunday, August 4 @ 2pm

Where:
The Plaza Black Box Theatre,
Boston Center for the Arts
539 Tremont St, Boston, MA 02116
Tickets: www.origami-night.com
General admission, pay-what-you-wish