Photos by Elizabeth Swider. Performers: Kara McLane Burke, Paige Naylor, Katie Schetlick, Cathy Monnes
Created in 2019, The Near Misses is an experimental electro-pop opera in the form of an all-female band also called “The Near Misses.” This highly collaborative multimedia show contains an original song cycle, sound collages, choreography, and video projections centered around true near-death stories. We’ve curated these diverse survival stories to represent a range of scenarios and power dynamics from the personal to the global.
The performers evoke through music, movement, video projections, and sound recordings true accounts of peril and intersecting trauma. They embody the survivors’ own interpretations of what is beautiful and innately dysfunctional about humanity, and examine the role of personal and collective memory. As we’ve gathered these trauma stories, we see what they share in common are exquisite recollections of beauty, dark humor, and courage, as well as gaps in memory, lasting changes in perspective, and reconfigured identities.
The stories The Near Misses are telling have been gathered from woman-identified women, mostly from our community. Though the stories are personal and specific to their circumstances, we have chosen them because they are archetypal. We are devoted to amplifying voices and stories that are particular to women in some cases.
Producers
Jennifer Hoyt Tidwell
Paige Naylor
Co-Producers
Mark & Doniphan Howland, In Memory of Emily Jane Howland
Ludwig Kuttner
Anonymous
Anonymous
Director/Lyricist
Jennifer Hoyt Tidwell
Composer/Performer
Paige Naylor
Performers
Catherine Monnes
Kara McLane Burke
Katie Schetlick
Paige Naylor
Guest Performer
Nate Rappole
Projections
Mona Kasra
Lighting & Set Design/Build
Chip Staples
Masks
Jeremy Taylor & Allyson Mellberg Taylor
Tech Director & Operation
Opal Lechmanski
Stage Management
Liz Howard
Graphic Design
Jeremy Taylor