The 7-Person Chair Pyramid High Wire Act
Written by Donna Oblongata
Created and performed by Donna Oblongata and Patrick Costello
Directed by Sarah Lowry
The 7-Person Chair Pyramid High Wire Act is a two-person, multi-character play performed on a 3' x 6' stage, 3' off the ground. It centers around Charles Darwin's (fictional) search for the Yeti. On that quest, he's accompanied by his pet bat. Along the way, he meets a lonely ropemaker who lives in a cave. All of this is narrated by the electromagnetic spectrum, who is the target of the bat's unrequited affections.
The 7-Person Chair Pyramid High Wire Act has toured the US, Europe, and New Zealand. It has been included in Ars Nova's ANT Fest (NYC), the Flint Public Art Project, and CAMP (Wellington, NZ). It also toured to basements, activist camps, bedrooms, record stores, squats, art galleries, and universities for a few years.
The initial production was made possible by funding from the Puffin Foundation and a residency at the Beehive Collective.
"Creates a kind of emotional/intellectual 3D effect. Performed with naive charm and the virtuosity that comes from touring. The story defies synopsis, but...rings with emotional truths that like ripples in a pond, seem to expand out into the universe…One of the best productions of the year."
--Milwaukee Examiner
"Whip smart and dirt poor."
– Broward New Times
"A welcome oasis of imagination."
– DCMetro Arts
"A paean to seekers of love and adventure…At the end, one of our electromagnetic narrators posits that miracles may not be possible, but this lo-fi, rickety cart-stage and its ingenious human operators offer a small exhibit to the contrary."
–ThinkingDance
"Impressive puppeteers who can make a trapdoor-laden, MacGyver-esque set seem larger than its 6’-by-3’ with their multi-character antics. But it’s hard to describe what play is actually about...Maybe that doesn’t matter. At the play’s end, warm fuzzies abound."
--Phindie
