Open Studio, Workshop. and Tour All Part of Watermill's Weekend
Sophia Brous and Carlos Soto, performance artists, will each share works in progress with the public on Saturday at the Watermill Center. Ms. Brous, an Australian performer who will be in residence at the center in January, will be gathering material from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for “Lullaby Movement,” a project exploring lullaby rituals from around the world that she is developing with David Coulter and Leo Abrahams, British musicians.
The project focuses on the ancient and contemporary lullaby repertoire in a work that is part song cycle, part interdisciplinary theater. In preparation, Ms. Brous is asking East End residents to contribute their own family or community lullabies in either one-on-one or group sessions on Saturday. She will return to the center in January with her musician-partners to develop the work into a full-length piece incorporating choreography, staging, and production design.
Mr. Soto, who is now in residence at the center, will open his studio from 7 to 8:30 p.m. to present “Everything Alright,” a musical theater work in progress for five performers, written with D.M. Stith, a singer-songwriter. The piece “revolves around the seemingly infinite variations of view and values centered on a traumatic event as perceived by a group of people” — in this case a community faced with the intrusion of a stranger.
As part of its intention to develop a vocabulary of indefinite subjectivity, its characters rotate among a group of performers, with no single person playing the same role throughout.
At 5 p.m., prior to Mr. Soto’s open studio, there will be a tour of the center’s grounds, library, study, and collection. All three events are free, but advance reservations are required.
As part of the celebration of its 10th anniversary, the center will also launch the “reAct” series, which will feature former residents in performance, with “Trisha Brown: In Plain Sight” on May 28. Other participants will include Jack Ferver and Paola Prestini.