TORN LIKE A ROSE

Presented by Ruth Margraff and Wender Collective
at the Nišville Jazz Theatre Festival, Niš, Serbia
August 10, 2024

libretto by Ruth Margraff
directed by Gabriel Thom Pasculli
choreography by Malia’Kekia Nicolini
performed by and co-created with Jeysa de la Caridad, Anirudh Nair, Malia’Kekia Nicolini and Gabriel Thom Pasculli

costume design by Tessa Bourchier
original composition/recordings by Graham Haynes w/ Haleh Abghari
new music by Jeysa de la Caridad and Cooper Forsman
additional sound design by Cooper Forsman
libretto originally commissioned by Peggy Choy Dance Company for the KumbleTheater for the Performing Arts (NYC), and H’Doubler Performance Space (Madison, Wisconsin)

with special thanks to Peggy Myo-Young Choy, Jeysa Martinez, Chicago Dramatists, Art Institute of Chicago, Opre Glasso! and Logan Center (UChicago)

Inspired by Sufi poet Attar’s Conference of the Birds, Torn Like a Rose explores the epic journeys we take looking for the beauty within ourselves. Set to the entrancing music of Graham Hanes and Haleh Abghari, the performers sing, dance, and clown their way through the skies, across deserts, and deep into the valley of love and despair. Sparked by the mystery of the golden feather, will the journey enlighten or consume them?