My directing credits of late are largely staged readings with companies like 3Girls Theatre, PianoFight, and Amios West. Some of my favorite projects from yesteryear include...
MathFest
In Collaboration with Guerilla Science
As part of the first annual Math Festival at the Smithsonian Castle in Washington DC, we created three separate interactive performance events to demonstrate that math is everywhere and not as scary or boring as your high school teachers may have led you to believe. Cash Prizes for Everyone explored the mathematics of Game Theory by pitting audience members against our troupe of creepy carnies in familiar Solved Games. The Oobleck Olympics invited the audience to experiment with Fluid Dynamics with their bare hands, by way of an obstacle course complete with vortex cannons, dancing oobleck, and color commentators. Escape from DC used magic and illusion to demonstrate principles of Knot Theory with the help of a few bumbling clowns and mimes. I collaborated with mathematicians to develop the games and stakes, artists to design a cohesive aesthetic, and actors to navigate performing in public interactive spaces efficiently and safely.
As part of the first annual Math Festival at the Smithsonian Castle in Washington DC, we created three separate interactive performance events to demonstrate that math is everywhere and not as scary or boring as your high school teachers may have led you to believe. Cash Prizes for Everyone explored the mathematics of Game Theory by pitting audience members against our troupe of creepy carnies in familiar Solved Games. The Oobleck Olympics invited the audience to experiment with Fluid Dynamics with their bare hands, by way of an obstacle course complete with vortex cannons, dancing oobleck, and color commentators. Escape from DC used magic and illusion to demonstrate principles of Knot Theory with the help of a few bumbling clowns and mimes. I collaborated with mathematicians to develop the games and stakes, artists to design a cohesive aesthetic, and actors to navigate performing in public interactive spaces efficiently and safely.
photos courtesy of Victoria Louise
The Intergalactic Travel Bureau
In Collaboration with Guerilla Science
The Intergalactic Travel Bureau (ITB) is a live pop-up project that allows people to plan their dream vacation among the stars. "Enjoy skiing? Pluto is gorgeous this time of year." "Need to unwind? 4000 hours of uninterrupted sunlight a day makes Mercury a most relaxing destination." Through interaction with various technologies, actors, and actual astronomers, audiences (or “customers”) are be able to learn about the incredible features of our Solar System as well as the realities and practicalities of crewed space travel. ITB pop-ups across the globe continue to use the my aesthetic and UX designs, including the pink envelope caps, astronaut treat samples, and interactive intake form.
The Intergalactic Travel Bureau (ITB) is a live pop-up project that allows people to plan their dream vacation among the stars. "Enjoy skiing? Pluto is gorgeous this time of year." "Need to unwind? 4000 hours of uninterrupted sunlight a day makes Mercury a most relaxing destination." Through interaction with various technologies, actors, and actual astronomers, audiences (or “customers”) are be able to learn about the incredible features of our Solar System as well as the realities and practicalities of crewed space travel. ITB pop-ups across the globe continue to use the my aesthetic and UX designs, including the pink envelope caps, astronaut treat samples, and interactive intake form.
photos courtesy of Olivia Koski and Ryan Johnson
Shakespeare's R&J [Urinals, Swordfights, and Dildos]
By William Shakespeare
Adapted by Joe Calarco
Re-Adapted and Directed by Zach Kopciak
Adapted by Joe Calarco
Re-Adapted and Directed by Zach Kopciak
photos courtesy of Steve Ross
"A four-woman production of a four-man adaptation of a play comprised of 16 male and female characters."
Calarco's adaptation centers on four Catholic schoolboys as they perform Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet". The dramatic tension in the play arises from the parallels that emerge between the forbidden love of Romeo and Juliet and the romance that develops between the two male students who take up the roles of the iconic characters.
My adaptation attempted to further confuse the gendered binaries which dominate the various landscapes in which the play, and this production in particular existed. The project was an experiment for the actors and me; an opportunity to learn about ourselves and the way people perform and consume gender. So, I chose a chemistry laboratory as the venue for the performance, inviting the audience to experiment and learn with us. I rearranged the order of scenes in Shakespeare’s text, re-contextualizing seminal moments and giving new meaning to well-remembered words. I used conventions like an invisible urinal to bring contemporary and relevant conversations into the performance space, and props like large silicon dildos to remind the audience of the constructed nature of the many performances they were witnessing. ‘Tracking’ shifts in gender labels is difficult when four women are playing four teenage boys who play 16 classical characters, which allowed us boundless possibilities. As one audience member remarked, remembering the consummation of Romeo and Juliet's marriage, the scene was "simultaneously heterosexual (Romeo and Juliet), gay male (Chase and Ethan), and lesbian (the actresses)."
Calarco's adaptation centers on four Catholic schoolboys as they perform Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet". The dramatic tension in the play arises from the parallels that emerge between the forbidden love of Romeo and Juliet and the romance that develops between the two male students who take up the roles of the iconic characters.
My adaptation attempted to further confuse the gendered binaries which dominate the various landscapes in which the play, and this production in particular existed. The project was an experiment for the actors and me; an opportunity to learn about ourselves and the way people perform and consume gender. So, I chose a chemistry laboratory as the venue for the performance, inviting the audience to experiment and learn with us. I rearranged the order of scenes in Shakespeare’s text, re-contextualizing seminal moments and giving new meaning to well-remembered words. I used conventions like an invisible urinal to bring contemporary and relevant conversations into the performance space, and props like large silicon dildos to remind the audience of the constructed nature of the many performances they were witnessing. ‘Tracking’ shifts in gender labels is difficult when four women are playing four teenage boys who play 16 classical characters, which allowed us boundless possibilities. As one audience member remarked, remembering the consummation of Romeo and Juliet's marriage, the scene was "simultaneously heterosexual (Romeo and Juliet), gay male (Chase and Ethan), and lesbian (the actresses)."