a performance blending music, theater and participatory art
Wig Wag premieres at Curated Fringe, Sept 2023
World Premiere as part of the Curated Fringe in the Fringe Festival, Philadelphia
Wig Wag is a hybrid music-theater piece, performed by a cast of four in collaboration with the entire audience. In Wig Wag, singing together transforms everyone present into one collective body, as we explore the tensions and pleasures found in the thick tangle of our interdependence.
Wig Wag is inspired by scientists, philosophers and artists like Anna Tsing, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Donna Haraway, Gary Snyder, Tyson Yunkaporta and Andreas Weber, who all insist there is no split between humans and the rest of nature, and no discrete boundary around the self. Each “self” is actually a network of relationships.
Creator Emily Bate uses communal singing to make that idea come alive in Wig Wag. Emily draws on her work as a composer, community songleader, and choir conductor to blend deeply accessible, participatory music with stunning vocal acrobatics performed by the cast.
It’s a show for people who love to sing, people who “can’t sing” and those for whom both apply. Wig Wag is about collectively experiencing the impact we have on each other, and singing our way through it. (Good and bad attitudes welcome.)
Performed by: Emily Bate, Sally Louise Polk, Samantha Rise, and Jackie Soro
Directed by: Becky Wright
Written by: Emily Bate, with additional lyrics by the cast + director
The Wig Wag Album + Song Book Zine
Show history:
2023: World Premiere as part of the Curated Fringe in the Fringe Festival, Philadelphia
2022: Work-in-process shows at Trade School Festival; Emily talks about the festival & show on WHYY; supported residency October 2022 at Bethany Arts Center.
2021: Virtual showing, The Philadelphia Thing
2020: Wig Wag workshops, part of FringeArts’ High Pressure Fire Service season
2019: Supported development residencies at FringeArts (Philadelphia) and Glen Arbor Arts Center (Michigan).
Credits:
Composed and written by: Emily Bate
In collaboration with: Samantha Rise, Sally Louise Polk, Jackie Soro and Rebecca Wright*
Directed by Rebecca Wright
Emily Schreiner, Producer
Elizabeth Braden, Music Director
Patrick Costello, Set, Costume and Props Designer
Damien Figueras, Sound Designer
Krista Smith, Lighting Designer
Chloe Kincade, Stage & Production Manager
Rachael Cohen, Signage Designer
Sarah Bishop-Stone, Associate Producer & Outreach Coordinator
Dorie Byrne, Score Supervisor
Cullen Parr, Animator
Jackie Soro, Choreographer
Rita Burkholder, Lou Hemler, Taryn Jones and Lizzie Hurst, Fabricators
Niki Cousineau, Financial Manager