COMPASS

How do systems of power in this country fail us? How can we envision them anew? And Who are the voices of people paving the way for this new vision?

Compass is A gathering. A celebration of collective action centering the minds and bodies of those modeling leadership through empathy, listening and proactive community-based action.

After our World premiere at ASU Gammage’s Beyond Series in April 2023 we look forward to touring Compass nationally and internationally with ALC Management.

The piece visualizes - through the lived experience of our interviewees and the systems each has battled with - the physical effort and action to envision the NEXT world. Change makers featured include BIPOC womxn and other advocates not invited to the table of today's systems of power. The piece foregrounds the struggle for Indigenous Tribal Sovereignty, Climate action, Reproductive Freedom, and Gun Safety while not shying away from looking at the human strength (and personal cost) required to create change. Through devised physical scores, immersive projection and visceral, spoken narratives, the piece creates shared experiences to incite action to change the broken systems and broken leadership structures of our time.

Conceived, Directed and co-written by Rachel Dickstein

Lead Writer: Delanna Studi

Original score composed by Kamala Sankaram

Movement Direction by nicHi douglas

Scenic and Co-projection Design by Anna Kiraly

Costume Design by Mika Eubanks

Lighting Design by Yuki Link Nakase

Co-Projection Design by Brian Freeland

Sound Design by Sam Kusnetz; Original Sound Design by Matt Stine

Contributing writers include: DeLanna Studi (Lead Writer), Aisha Zia, Rachel Dickstein, Alia Tejeda, and members of the ensemble. Text includes verbatim interviews conducted by the company, original monologues and found text from speeches and stories told by the activists’ themselves.

Co-Created by the Ensemble:  

Elizabeth Cook:  The Searcher  (voicing Kim Jackson, Shirley Chisholm, Mauree Turner, self)

Miranda Hall Jiménez: The Activist (voicing Rigoberta Menchu, X Gonzalez, Alia Tejeda, Grace McClean, self)

Paula McGonagle: The Teacher (voicing Suzanne Simard, Mahayana Landowne, Lisa Jean Moore, Anonymous, self)

Emily Preis: The Changemaker (voicing Debbie Nez Manuel, Wilma Mankiller, DeLanna Studi, self)

Calliope Pina Parker: The Advocate (voicing Jessica Fleisher-Black, X Gonzalez, Anonymous, self)

Yasmin Sophia: Ensemble understudy

Production Stage Manager: Lisa McGinn Assistant Director: Milan Castro Production Manager: Brian Freeland

Producer: Amanda Cooper/ALC Management

Commissioned by ASU Cultural Affairs and its division of ASU Gammage, world premiere April, 2023.
Compass is supported by the Jerome Robbins Foundation, the New England Foundation for the Arts Theatre Touring Program, The New York State Council on the Arts, NYFA’s City Artist Corps and generous individual donors.

why now?

Ripe Time has focused for decades on stories of womxn’s lives, often through the lens of radical novels and stories adapted to the stage. Compass is inspired by the womxn (cisgender, trans and gender non-conforming folx) engaging in grass roots politics in America who have found a voice rallying for change in the face of gender discrimination, racial bias, and sexual harassment. How do we subvert biased assumptions about who can lead to re-discover other models of leadership for our future?

We position ourselves in the feminist movement as 1) amplifiers of the stories, perspectives, and call-to-action(s) of womxn 2) an intersectional cast and creative team that models social justice feminism. It’s no longer enough to simply expose the harm of the patriarchal waters we swim in. We need to model different possibilities for future power structures- ones that are regenerative, not transactional.

Our interviews questions are rooted in personal history. We ask: What is your earliest memory of a person in your life taking charge? What’s the angriest you’ve ever been and why? If you had one dream for this world, what would it look like?  True advocates defy easy categorization, lead from the heart, and define their own rules. While the American electorate does not always champion these leaders, Compass does.

the people

Compass advocates for marginalized voices through their own words, thoughts and dreams. Those are the stories that will bring us forward in the fight against the deeply ingrained gender bias in our country.

As we tour this project, we will be adding voices local to each location. If you are interested in bringing the project to your city and know a kickass BIPOC leader (could be a person running for office, the head of a community board, your mom) tell us about them! Advocates lead from the heart, and define their own rules. So do the makers and the do-ers reading this page! Contact us at rachel@ripetime.org to check out ways you can help share Compass with your community and help our grassroots effort.

After residencies with the Civilians R & D group, the Watermill Center and the Drama League as part of the Impact Residency with LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, and Lumberyard, we premiered the work in April 2023 at ASU Gammage and will tour the work in 2024 and 2025.