Staging Your Family’s Dark Secret — TDF STAGES: A THEATRE MAGAZINE:
From the start, Marcella Goheen knew it would be a solo performance. The Maria Project tells the story of her investigation into a murder within her own family—a journey that spanned eight years and produced 140 hours of video footage. Though colleagues suggested she create a documentary, Goheen, a self-professed “storyteller,” knew the story would resonate most powerfully before a live audience.
Making its Off-
Broadway debut this week at
59E59 Theaters,
The Maria Project
balances theatre and
performance art. Goheen plays herself as well as
seven other characters who help uncover the secrets of Maria, a family
member whose identity is revealed in the show. She also interacts with
projected photographs and videos, many of which depict the people,
relatives mostly, whom Goheen sought out to learn about her past. As her
characters interact with these flickering images, she builds the
investigation toward an ultimate revelation of the murder. “My job every
night is to discover it for the first time with the audience,” she
says.
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