Sweat, spit, a heartbeat and me

Faye Driscoll's "Weathering" created a colliding sculpture of bodies for the stage allowing audiences to reflect on their own movements, excretions and connections for a grounding sense of humanity.

Author

Steven Vargas
February 13, 2025

RIP Duo Keyshauna Renee Lingo

Reflecting: ‘Weathering’

“Weathering” by Faye Driscoll (Photo by Maria Baranova. Courtesy of REDCAT)

I’ve refrained from writing too much about “Weathering” in this newsletter because it was an obvious and popular choice to feature. But after seeing the performance, it is hard to not write about it. Choreographer Faye Driscoll’s work is “a multi-sensory flesh sculpture” made up of ten performers atop a mattress. After witnessing the work, I realized it is much more than that. It is a reconnecting to the tenderness of humanity. 

The mattress is center stage. Although it is the pinnacle of comfort and safety, a group of ten performers slowly walk on and off the bedroom piece as if it is the platform of a subway station, looking out at the audience for a second before stepping off. Ironically, this image they created — known for loud, shrieking rails and bustling energy — evolves in silence. 

As the dancers settle into a tableau atop the mattress, the real chaos begins. It comes in waves. The knees begin to buckle. The orange is peeled. The mattress spins. Baby powder billows up into the air. Just when you think that you’ve got a character figured out, they do something unexpected or absurd, whether they let spit slip from the corner of their mouth and onto the mattress or let out a guttural groan. 

They strip down to their undergarments. One performer even strips naked. The sounds of their bodies — the shedding of clothing, the breaths, the groans, the biting, the spitting — turn into an orchestra. The bed spins faster and faster. The performers start to slip off and run onto the mattress one by one as it spins at a dangerously fast pace. The performers take turns breathing, humming and groaning into mics off-stage. Even as the bed spins and derails toward the audience, each jump and stretch up to the sky is precisely executed. It’s a tight performance, but the real performance happens within. 

As the chaos evolves, a deep self-awareness of humanity builds inside the body. I felt myself hold my breath as the performers let one out for me, then vice versa. My heart pounded at the risks taken. Each leap and pounce atop the mattress matched with my thumping heartbeat. As the performance got faster, so did the rhythm in my chest.

When the dust, dirt and sweat settle, a beautiful silence surfaces. The audience is still. The performers are still. There is no sound but our own breathing. The audience becomes part of this flesh sculpture. The senses are at their peak and it feels like the world opens up. 

We spent the past hour witnessing the beauty and grit of the body. We’ve witnessed how it excretes and collides with others. It is hard not to reflect on your own flesh in the process, considering what it feels like to let spit slip from the edge of your mouth or sink your teeth into a freshly peeled orange. As the performers sit with the audience in silence, we are aware of what our bodies can do, and how the simple things — like breathing — connect us. Stepping out of the REDCAT theater, my skin buzzed, and every interaction following felt like returning home. Driscoll reminds us of the beauty of community and humanness.

This Week’s Top Spots

IAMA Theatre Company will continue its 2024/25 season with a workshop production of the final play in the Douglas Lyons comedic trilogy, "Don’t Touch My Hair" February 13-24, 2025. (Photo courtesy of IAMA Theatre Company)

‘Don’t Touch My Hair’ @ Atwater Village Theatre

Iama Theatre Company presents “Don’t Touch My Hair,” a play about a hilarious and sobering bad trip. Lifelong friends Eemani and Jade decompress with a good blunt, but when they realize the weed’s been laced and triggers a series of hallucinations, their smoke sesh takes a turn for the worst. Their plan to relax quickly becomes a confrontation with the oppressors of the past. The workshop production is the last installment of Douglas Lyons’ “The Deep Breath Trilogy: New Plays for Black Women,” which also includes “Chicken and Biscuits” and “Table 17.”  

LOCATION: 3269 Casitas Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90039
DATES: February 13 - 24
TIME: 8 pm
PRICE: $35 
LINK: https://www.iamatheatre.com/dont-touch-my-hair

Carolyn Dunn, Jehnean Washington, Zoey Reyes and Harriette Feliz in "Four Women in Red" by Laura Shamas. (Photo by Tim Sullens)

‘Four Women in Red’ @ The Victory Theatre Center

In Anishinaabe lands, four women seek the help of sheriffs to help find their sisters, daughters and loved ones who have gone missing. They are met with no help. As these First American women seek to take matters into their own hands, they must confront the weight of the truth as news trickles in. The world premiere of Laura Shamas’ new play, “Four Women in Red” reflects on the daunting reality of missing Native American women in the U.S.

LOCATION: 3326 W Victory Blvd., Burbank, CA 91505
DATES: February 8 - March 23
PRICE: $20 - $28 (+ pay-it-forward options)
LINK: https://thevictorytheatrecenter.org/ 

"BLACK HOLE - Trilogy and Triathlon," New York Live Arts. (Photo by The Adeboye Brothers)

‘BLACK HOLE - Trilogy and Triathlon’ @ Glorya Kaufman Dance Theater

In the final installment of Shamel Pitts’ “BLACK Series,” the Brooklyn-based movement and multidisciplinary artist merges dance, sound, video and light to explore tenderness and power. This uninterrupted hour-long performance highlights resilience and elegance with three performers of African heritage taking center stage. 

LOCATION: 120 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90077
DATES: February 15
TIME: 8 pm
PRICE: $38.08
LINK: https://cap.ucla.edu/event/shamel-pitts

Terri Lyne Carrington (Photo by Michael Goldman)

Terri Lyne Carrington, We Insist! 2025 @ BroadStage

“We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite,” released in 1961 in collaboration with Abbey Lincoln and lyricist Oscar Brown, Jr. The musical work reflects on the historical pains and the hopeful potentiality of the Black experience. In honor of Roach’s centennial, Grammy Award-winning Terri Lyne Carrington has recorded the “Freedom Now Suite” to pay homage to the late musical icon, reimagine the seminal work of jazz and reflect on the Black experience today. “Legacy work is important, these are the shoulders we stand on,” Carrington said.

LOCATION: 1310 11th St., Santa Monica, CA 90401
DATES: February 15
TIME: 7:30 pm 
PRICE: $45 - $65 (+ Pay What You Wish Tickets Available)
LINK: https://broadstage.org/tickets-shows/calendar/terri-lyne-carrington-we-insist-2025/

“Adoration,” composed by Mary Kouyoumdjian; libretto by Royce Vavrek. (Photo by Photo by Maria Baranova)

‘Adoration’ @ REDCAT

This contemporary opera is making its West Coast debut at REDCAT in collaboration with LA Opera and Beth Morrison Projects. “Adoration” follows Simon, an orphaned high school student grappling with his family history, racism and intolerance. The opera is an adaptation of Atom Egoyan’s 2008 film of the same name. The story, loosely based on the 1986 Hindawi affair, reflects on hate as a learned behavior and an everyday impact on society. 

LOCATION: 631 W 2nd St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
DATES: February 19 - 23
TIMES: 8 pm Wed., Thurs., and Sat.; 2 pm Sun. 
PRICE: $84
LINK: https://www.redcat.org/events/2025/adoration

Things: Non-Frieze Frieze Fun

Frieze can be overwhelming, expensive, and far. If you resonate with this sentiment, here are a few art exhibitions to still get in the art fair mood without breaking the bank or your spirits. 

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Meme of the Week

Executive decision: no newsletter next week to focus on art fair week. Sorry, but also you’ll definitely hear from me at another publication (or two) 👀