Commensality

Written and Directed by Dan Shanahan and Melissa Meola 

August 9-11, 16-18, 2024

About Commensality

The August rituals at the silos are early harvest festivals.  They represent what has been metaphorically sown and reaped; familially, locally and globally.  They are also meditations on universal themes.

“Commensality (the act of eating together) is important for social communion, order, health and well-being.” (Johnson et al, 2021).

Torn Space Theater’s performances at the silos were early harvest festivals. Under the cottonwood tree, audiences celebrated the act of eating together to explore ideas of group identity, boundaries and borders in Commensality. An interactive performance, where you were seated created your experience.

What happens during a shared meal that contributes to the intangible bonds that form within a family, group, or nation-state that create a sense of belonging?  While seated together, we immerse ourselves in the experience of group formation, reflecting on our shared history of integration and separation, of borders and boundaries and what it means to cross or protect them.

While there has been some improvement in peacefulness throughout the world, 2023 was the deadliest year for armed conflict in the history of the Global Peace Index founded in 2008.  At the time of this production, there were 92 countries engaged in conflict, the most since World War II. In addition, the likelihood of peaceful resolution had decreased from an average of 24% to less than 4% leading to what is known as “forever wars” (GPI, 2023).This performance hopes that we can continue to commit to the 8 pillars of positive peace that is thought to provide a safer and more prosperous future for all.

In this collaborative performance in partnership with Always Something Farm, the dinner table is the performance. Four courses of tastings bring an intimate audience together in the epic landscape of Silo City.

Not only are these early harvest festivals a ritual performance – they are also a gathering together of the community.  Torn Space offers a space to come back to each year and to be part of an ongoing celebration.  You are the ceremony – this is the ritual.  We create an open space for people to come together, to reflect on the past year: what was gained, what was lost?  What has changed and what needs changing, Who has come into our lives and who has left? A space to prepare for the coming year.  A time in mid-August – with the summer ending but not yet over.  The days are still long and the nights still warm.

If this was your first time joining us, welcome and if you returned, welcome back. We wish you well in the year that lies ahead. 

 

Symbols

  • Stag – continuity, prosperity, longevity, and abundance
  • Serpent – rebirth, transformation, immortality, and healing
  • Hawk – determination, focus, leadership, and clarity
  • Tiger – strength, cunning, majesty, and independence
  • Cottonwood Tree – the sun; afterlife
  • 8 – victory, prosperity and overcoming, the power of infinite possibility
  • 12 – perfection, entirety, or cosmic order
  • 27 – spiritual insight, intuition, and wisdom
  • Fire – Creation, Destruction, Transformation.
  • Heart – Compassion and generosity
  • Labyrinth – A symbol that relates to wholeness. It combines the imagery of the circle and the spiral into a meandering but purposeful path.  The labyrinth sculpture is a vertical representation of the three ritual spaces: The large cottonwood tree, the poison garden and the small cottonwood tree.

Texts used in this performance:

  • Global Peace Index 2023
  • Us News and World Report, Deadliest Conflicts of 2023
  • Jönsson H, Michaud M, Neuman N. What Is Commensality? A Critical Discussion of an Expanding Research Field. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jun 9;18(12):6235. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18126235. PMID: 34207626; PMCID: PMC8295993.

Music used in this performance:

  • Erik Satie; Ogives, Pièces froides, Trois Sarabande
  • Sister Rosetta Tharpe, This Train (is bound for Glory)
  • Pops Staples, Nobody’s Fault But Mine
  • Barbara Harris,  It Don’t Worry Me
  • Ministry, NWO

Performed by:

  • Thea Duskin
  • Justin Leis
  • Nikiya Garza
  • Becky Globus
  • Holly Kirkpatrick
  • Tim McPeek 
  • Matthew Rittler 
  • Carmen Swans
  • Kalub Thompson
  • Christine Turturro
  • Marisa Caruso

Production Team

  • Co-Directors/Co-Writers – Dan Shanahan, Melissa Meola Shanahan
  • Production Manager – Carly Weiser
  • Stage Managers – Sarah Foote, Mary Margaret Keenan- Brown
  • Managing Director – Marisa Caruso
  • Technical Director – Daniel Toner
  • Sound Design – Justin Rowland
  • Prop Designer – Thea Duskin
  • Carpenter – Sean Kulak
  • Costume Designer – Geraldine Duskin
  • T-Shirt Design – Tim Stegner
  • T-Shirt Printing – Positive Approach Press
  • Technical Crew – Marcus Aiello, Brianne Peterson
  • Griller/Bar Manager – Matthew Beck
  • Silo City Management – Kate Gorman
  • Silo City Landscape Ecologist – Josh Smith
  • Box Office/Front of House Manager – Jenn Carter, Salem Browning

Special Thanks: Rick Smith, Always Something Farm, Josh Smith, Kate Gorman and The Adam Mickiewicz Library and Dramatic Circle

 

11 Years of Torn Space Productions at Silo City

Title – Year – Theme

  • Motion Picture – 2013 – Quest
  • Storehouse – 2014 – Identity
  • They Kill Things – 2015 – Slaughter
  • Burden – 2016 – Burden
  • The Gathering – 2017 – Resistance
  • Stations – 2018 – Transcendence
  • Feast – 2019 – Transformation
  • Silence – 2020 – Rumination
  • …And the Sun Sets in Golden Circles – 2021 – Evolution
  • Ages – 2022 – Heterotopia
  • Generation – 2023 – Borders and Boundaries
  • Commensality – 2024 – Commensality
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