OTHER WORK
THE ISLAND
Archway Hospital Campus
London, UK
2023
A workshop based on the myth of Circe and Odysseus and medical PTSD research, The Island ran at a disused hospital complex in London. Audiences were invited to follow the daily routine in a veterans’ clinic with its patients stuck in limbo, dutifully obeying their posted schedule day-in and day-out. As flickers of the patients’ memories return, however, they begin to push against the boundaries of the clinic - and of reality itself.
Written and Directed by Michael Bontatibus
Stage Managers: Amy Ashcroft & Olivia Wolfenden
Sound Design: Trey McGee
Lighting Design: Ben Edwards
Dance Choreography: Bonny Rose
Fight Choreography: Marcello Marascalchi
Intimacy Coordinator: Steve Brownlee
Video Editing: Jimmy Bontatibus & Nate Lessler
Cast: Beckett Gray, Rufus Love, Jay Reum, Alexandra Scott, Leon Vien, Michael Stafford Wells, Arden Winant, Chelsey Ng, and Daniel Harray
Photos by Steve Gregson
THE VEIL
A parked U-Haul on the street
Brooklyn, USA
2021
Made as part of our our fifth anniversary party, guests were led in small groups out onto the street and faced the back of a U-Haul van, where an inviting parlor was revealed within. A tea-leaf reading gave way to a dark interlude, inspired by Arthurian mythology.
Written by Michael Bontatibus
Directed by Charlotte Murray
Cast: Nik Duggan, Kendall Kemp
Photos by Sarina Solem
FOUND FOOTAGE
Colonels Row on Governors Island
New York, USA
2018
Staged in abandoned military housing on Governors Island over Halloween, Found Footage told the story of the missing crew of a paranormal TV show. Visitors were free to wander the first floor of the house, piecing together details from disparate bits of looping footage, before ascending to upper levels and discovering the shocking truth behind the crew’s disappearance.
Written and Directed by Michael Bontatibus
Director of Photography: Andy Zou
Assistant Director: Enzo Gattuccio
Video Editing: Nate Lessler
Cast: Nik Duggan, Savvy Jones, Chelsey Ng, Tirosh Schneider, Nathan Simpson, and Brian Lore Evans
Photos by Cara Salvatore