George Mason University’s Theater of the First Amendment is about to present the world premiere of “Stay,” an innovative collaborative work that deals with impermanence. “Stay” has been created by two women who teach at George Mason, playwright Heather McDonald and choreographer Susan Shields. “Heather and I had both been at GMU for years and we knew of each other’s work, but we had never met,” says Shields. “When we finally did meet it turned out we had both been through some similar experiences.”
“We were women of a certain age trying to balance our creative work and our jobs and our families,” adds McDonald.
| Onstage |
| ‘Stay’ |
| Where: Lansburgh Theatre, 450 Seventh St. NW |
| When: Friday through Nov. 27 |
| Info: $45 to $55; 202-547-1122; shakespearetheatre.org |
The title for this production comes from a memory Shields had of putting her young son to bed. “I was about to leave the room,” says Shields. “I said ‘good night’ and he said, ‘Stay!’ For some reason it just resonated with me. I realized that his childhood was not going to last forever. In talking with Heather, she had had similar kinds of experiences. And that word just stuck.”
“The work deals a lot with how loss defines us and how people move through it,” adds McDonald. “‘Stay’ is a loose family portrait of individuals who live together. It’s about people you try to hold on to.”
Once Shields and McDonald decided to work together, they needed to devise a way of collaborating. “We’d talk or listen to music, we looked at lots of images, we had notes and ideas, but the way choreographers and writers work is very different,” explains McDonald.
“Susan can think about things but she can’t really create until she gets into a rehearsal room with bodies. A playwright sits alone in a room and writes a play. We decided to plan a workshop and go in unprepared, which is horrifying to me.”
“We didn’t want Heather to write a play for me to choreograph,” adds Susan. “We wanted a new model. And that’s what’s so wonderful about this piece. To Heather’s credit, she walked into the first rehearsal without a word written. In essence, she worked like a choreographer does. Later in the process, we would spend the day together and Heather would go home at night and write.”
“What I needed was characters,” explains McDonald, who is directing “Stay.” “Gradually, a place emerged — a Scottish island — along with a sense of who these people are and what their stories are.”
“I hope what comes through is that this isn’t a dance, it’s not a play, it’s in no way a musical,” says Shields.”It’s really hard to describe ‘Stay.’ It’s best to call it a non-linear poetic experience.”
