Interstate
Description
The road from trauma to tragedy. Interstate is the story of Olivia and Diane, who shared a childhood in vulnerable, unsafe circumstances before life sent them down different roads. The adult Diane reaches out from her stable life to Olivia, a prostitute in prison for murder. Interstate blends the horror and violence of Olivia’s life with the tenderness of old friendship and the hard questions of accountability.
Artist Statement
“I create, both as a writer and performer, through experience and by constantly observing human interactions. INTERSTATE was born out of a desire to collaborate and is about communication. We all know women who have experienced trauma and sexual violence who have struggled to maintain a place of acceptance in society. We also know people who have struggled with the social dilemma of when to further extend a hand, and when to walk away. Many of us have played both of these roles at one time or another. This piece makes use of opera’s long history of exploiting women and their sexuality and asks really difficult questions about who we judge, who the hero is, and how we can best move this art form forward in a socially conscious way.”
Artist Statement
“I love collaboration in all its forms, and INTERSTATE has been above all a chance to make something with fellow artists I trust and admire. All of us stretched our wings for this film: a pianist sang, a singer wrote, a singer filmed, a writer directed, a composer created a whole new language for this particular story. There’s so much shared authorship in this piece, which touches on a web of shared experiences. We all know people who have experienced sexual violence. We have all struggled with staying steadfast in difficult relationships. We all wonder where the other road might have led. And we all fail to imagine that we might be the small handhold stopping someone else’s fall into the abyss.
