A Letter From Stacy and Carlos
FRIENDS
I am writing on behalf of Carlos and I to share some wonderful news, for Double Edge, and for the future.
As of the reading of this letter, Carlos and I will step aside from our roles as Artistic Directors of the theatre, and our work will be focused on art making and continuing the vision of DE’s future. I will formally be known as Founder, Artistic Director Emerita, and Carlos will be the Cultural Strategist.
For me it is such an enormously exciting time where I can refocus on my directing and devising performances after many years of combining that with the daily running of the theatre. I will also have the opportunity to work more with our partner organizations, and with the growth of our survival, in terms of continuing the vision of our full site in Ashfield and the economy of that vision. Carlos will focus on the national and international vision of his grassroots work that has brought so many, many people to DE since he came to the theatre in 1996, as well as continue to develop local connections and resources. And of course he is already in process on three artistic projects and the mentorships which he has grown over the course of his life’s work.
What we will not be doing is ‘running the theatre’ which has become a huge responsibility with our twelve ensemble members and twenty other staff, fifteen buildings, year-round performances, and festivals, partner organizations and residencies. Since its founding in 1982, DE has been a multigenerational ensemble and over the course of moving to Ashfield 29 years ago started on its course as a collective, and finally a collective of collectives with our four partners running their own distinct organizations. I am happy to say that in the past several years I have witnessed the DE Co-Artistic Directors Jennifer Johnson, Milena Dabova, and Travis Coe taking over the daily artistic leadership of Double Edge as they each establish and grow their own amazing creative processes. Alongside of our Producing Executive Director Adam Bright, my dear partner heading DE’s business for the past five years, Co-Producer Cariel Klein, and Director of Artist and Community Engagement Hannah Jarrell, the team leading the theatre is not only solid, but has the means and energy to carry the theatre into its next forty years.
These above 6 people are held, as Carlos and I have been, by the other four members of the Ensemble who share in shaping and visioning what DE is and will become. They are Jeremy Louise Eaton, John Peitso, Amanda Miller, and Tomantha Sylvester.
In celebrating my 40th and 41st anniversary performance The Hidden Territories, I had the pleasure of working with one of the founders of DE, Daina Robins, which brought me full circle to the meaning of Ensemble. All of us have worked, whether 41 years, or 30 years, or 18 years, or 7 years, on trying to identify ourselves as artists and as human beings in the context of the other people who are struggling, sometimes joyfully, sometimes not, to do the same. It is an artistic home we have built, a family, not just for ourselves but for all of you who participate with us. These things have lost value in our culture — — longterm, artistic path, ensemble creation, and even the word legacy has become fraught, but, especially in these deeply disturbing times, they are a singular process of healing and of creation.
I am proud of what we have accomplished and prouder still of those who will take the lead on accomplishing more. I look forward mostly to spending my time in the inside of Double Edge’s incredible barn, making ensemble performances, finally separated from my constant organizational companion, my smartphone, devising and dreaming up the next layer of essential imagination.
Carlos, as always, wants to share some words borrowed from the Uruguayan poet Don Mario Benedetti, offered to continue walking the path together.
Te Quiero
Si te quiero es porque sos
Mi amor, mi complice y todo
Y en la calle codo a codo
Somos mucho mas que dos.
Tus ojos son mi conjuro
Contra la mala jornada
Te quiero por tu mirada
Que mira y siembra futuro
Tu boca que es tuya y mía
Tu boca no se equivoca
Te quiero porque tu boca
Sabe gritar rebeldia
I Love You
If I love you it is because you are
My love, my accomplice and my everything
And in the streets locking elbows
We are much more than just us two.
Your eyes are my magic spell
Against the terrible days
I love you because your gaze
When looking is sowing futures.
Your mouth that is yours and mine
Your mouth is never mistaken
I love you because your mouth
Knows how to scream rebellion.
With so much love,
Stacy and Carlos
