Lyam B. Gabel, the dance floor, the hospital room, and the kitchen table
KST Presents
Thursday, June 16
9:00pm
Kelly Strayhorn Theater | 5941 Penn Ave.
Pay What Moves You: $15-30
For the occasion of the national Theater Communications Group Conference visiting Pittsburgh, KST is delighted to bring back Lyam B. Gabel’s recently premiered the dance floor, the hospital room, and the kitchen table for an encore one night only performance. Don’t miss this poignant and touching work that slips between the past and present, becoming, interacting with and learning from a chorus of voices from a critical moment in the queer liberation moment. Also experience An Archive of Queer Care, Gabel’s interactive installation created with Joseph Amodei in the KST Lobby. After the show stick around for a party with TQ Live! featuring performances from Remy Black, SUPA’ NxC, and Jesse Factor and a DJ set from HUNY!
THEN STAY FOR…
TQ Live!
with Remy Black, SUPA’ NxC, Jesse Factor, and huny
Thursday, June 16
10:30pm
Kelly Strayhorn Theater | 5941 Penn Ave.
FREE
Pittsburgh’s annual queer performance celebration TQ Live! takes over the KST lobby with a satellite event to close out the evening! Organized by Scott Andrew, the evening will culminate with sizzling performances from SUPA’ NxC, Remy Black, and Jesse Factor, while the burgh’s favorite DJ HUNY spins the beats. Also check out huny’s photo exhibition PEACHES on view in the KST Lobby.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Three queer researchers slip between the present and the past, becoming, interacting with, and learning from a chorus of voices from a critical moment in the queer liberation movement. the dance floor, the hospital room, and the kitchen table is a performance, immersive media project, and archive of queer care that stitches together stories from the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The script draws from interviews with caretakers, activists, organizers, and long-term survivors, and audience can access An Archive of Queer Care, Gabel’s installation with Joseph Amodei.
Content advisory: the dance floor, the hospital room, and the kitchen table includes references to sex and sexuality, depression and suicide, drinking and drug use, illness, death and dying, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia. The production includes images of full nudity, onstage partial nudity, and the use of haze & strobe effects. There will be no late seating for these performances.
the dance floor, the hospital room, and the kitchen table is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, Chatham University, Contemporary Arts Center, and NPN. For more information www.npnweb.org. the dance floor, the hospital room, and the kitchen table by Lyam B. Gabel received developmental support as part of the 2021 Director Residency Program of The Drama League of New York. (Gabriel Stelian-Shanks, Artistic Director; Bevin Ross, Executive Director). A version was workshopped at Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama in November 2019 and received additional support from the Carnegie Mellon University GSA/Provost GuSH Grant.
Photo by Beth Barbis (pictured Hannah Cornish, Frank Davis, and Owen Ever)
- ABOUT THE ARTIST
- CREDITS
Lyam B. Gabel (they/he) is a trans* director, performance-maker, and community organizer who creates containers for collective remembering and radical celebration. He is obsessed with archives and his ever-evolving process combines extensive research, emerging technology, and embodied improvisation. He worked for eight years in New Orleans where they founded LAST CALL, a collective that documents and interprets neglected queer history. With LAST CALL they co-created and co-directed Alleged Lesbian Activities, a nationally touring musical about the history of lesbian bars. They are a member of New Orleans physical theater ensemble NEW NOISE where they directed Jubilee, a dinner and performance that asks white audiences to interrupt familial patterns of racism. Now they are exploring queer care from 1980s-present with the dance floor, the hospital room, and the kitchen table which received a NPN Creation Fund commission. They regularly collaborate with playwrights and solo performers and have developed work at Ars Nova, Judson Church, Pipeline, Ashland New Plays Festival, The Theater Offensive, and The New Orleans CAC among others. Lyam teaches acting and directing at Lehigh University. Drama League Resident 2021, Drama League Fellow 2017, Distillery Artist New Orleans CAC 2016. BFA Virginia Commonwealth University, MFA Carnegie Mellon University. photo by Beth Barbis.
Conceived and Directed by Lyam B. Gabel
Media and additional research by Joseph Amodei
Clothing by Jean-Luc Raimond
Set by Sasha Schwartz
Music by Kei Slaughter
sound by Eben Hoffer
Lighting by André Segar
Dramaturgy by Sammie Paul
Performed by and developed with Hannah Cornish, Frank Davis, and Owen Ever