FIRST LOOK SERIES
*Necessary Digression Presents
Fault Lines, or thisisnotmystory
written by Matilda Woods
directed by Taylor Valentine
sound design by Leah Wilks
associate produced by Olivia Rose Totaro
starring Matilda Woods and Leah Wilks
About Fault Lines
Seen or not seen? Imagined or remembered? Burnt out or burnt up? Fina, a high functioning overachiever provoked by a chance encounter, grapples with an impossible choice that threatens to destroy everything. Poised, teetering, balancing… in between. What is the cost of liberation?
“That’s the thing about fault lines, sometimes you don’t know you’re living on one…until you do.”
Behind ‘Fault Lines’
Deep beneath the earth, fault lines are born from pressure—places where immense, opposing forces grind against each other in absolute silence until something finally snaps. In geology, this fracture triggers an earthquake. In ‘Fault Lines, or thisisnotmystory’, the fissure exists in the murky space between memory and imagination, where rage, love, shame, and desire collide.
Throughout this process, words tumbled onto the page, seeking shape and story for something that, ultimately, is beyond words. But can, perhaps, be illuminated by sound and tone and vibration. This piece, which is an amalgam of many individual pieces, has evolved over nearly two years and extends the thread from an earlier work called ‘Chasing the Tides,’ which premiered at Theaterlab in 2022. Yes, and…it is an excavation of the present moment, a meditation on what it means to be unexpectedly awakened in the middle of a life. Perhaps it is also a primer for a future in which one learns to take flight…
*Necessary Digression is an itinerant performance collective, a constellation of artists who cultivate intentional & accidental performative experiences that invite audiences to wrestle with difficult and inspiring material. We mine the contradictions of human experience, chase and illuminate the elusive through physical expression and find new ways of reaching spectators through live theatre and performance in traditional and unexpected environments. The collective is committed to inclusivity, community, and supportive strategies to encourage and develop artists and their work. https://necessarydigression.org
PERFORMANCES
Friday, December 18th @ 7:00pm
(followed by an audience Q&A)
Saturday, December 19th @ 2:00pm
Saturday, December 19th @ 7:00pm
Approximately 75 mins (no intermission)
TICKETS
General Admission: $20.00, plus fees
For any questions, please contact taylorvalentine116@gmail.com
MEET THE ARTISTS
MATILDA WOODS [Creator/FINA] (she/her)
Matilda is a multi-hyphenate theatre artist that resides between the experience of the body and the words. Intrigued and provoked by the contradictions of the human experience, her work explores the undercurrent of unexpressed truths, and the pressure of societal norms through the kaleidoscope of memory and fantasy. Matilda has been writing, performing and creating original work in New York, regionally, nationally and internationally for over two decades. Fault Lines is a follow up piece to Chasing the Tides that premiered at Theaterlab in 2022 with Blessed Unrest. Matilda is profoundly grateful for her family- real, imagined and chosen- who have inspired, challenged and guided her through this great wonder-wander of life.
LEAH WILKS [Sound designer/FOLEY] (they/she)
Leah is a choreographer, dancer, teacher, and sound designer currently based out of Brooklyn, originally hailing from North Carolina. Leah has taught and shared their work in a variety of locations nationally and internationally, and holds an MFA in Dance from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. As a performer and collaborator they have worked with artists such as Tommy DeFrantz, Sylvan Esso, Kendra Portier, Okwui Okpokwasili, Tatyana Tenenbaum, Beth Graczyk Productions, and Anna Barker/real.live.people. Leah has been an Artist-in-Residence at MOtiVE Brooklyn, Bergen Dansesenter, Atlantic Center for the Arts, Hambidge, and MacDowell, and currently teaches in the dance department at Montclair State University.
TAYLOR “TV” VALENTINE [Director] (he/him)
One might call Taylor an enthusiastic human. Whatever space he enters, he brings energy and will gladly share it with anyone who would like some. With over 20+ years of professional theatre experience, TV is no stranger to the stage. From children’s theatre tours to Off-Broadway, from regional theatre to fringe festivals, he seeks to tell stories of love and transformation. Last seen as an actor in La Musica Deuxieme with Blessed Unrest in NYC, Taylor finds himself thrilled to be directing adults again after his last stint orchestrating six fairy tale adaptations for 3rd graders! TV finds his joy as a professional learning coach and facilitator in arts education, seeking to unlock possibility and a love for learning for students and grown-ups alike. Fault Lines has been a two-year labor of love and he is overjoyed to see it finally find its way to the boards for its ‘First Look’ with Theaterlab. From floating to flying, as the wind fuels the fire, Taylor finds the way, always balancing and never balanced…
OLIVIA ROSE TOTARO [Associate Producer] (she/her)
Olivia is a recent graduate of Montclair State University with a BFA in Acting. She has been on stage since the age of 2 and in her blooming career is focusing on becoming a multi-hyphenate creative, expanding and exploring her creative endeavors in as many avenues as possible. She is so grateful to be here, her first project in New York, with these incredible artists to begin her burgeoning career.
For more information on how to support new work – CLICK HERE