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AMP
The Electrifying Story of Mary Shelley
Written, Performed and Directed by Jody Christopherson
with additional text from the writings of
Mary Shelley, Percy Shelly, Lord Byron, William Godwin, Mary Wollstonecraft and Luigi Galvani
Assistant Directed/ Lighting Design by K8 August
Sound Design by Kodi Lynn Milburn
Movement Consultant: Natalie Deryn Johnson
Dialect Coach: Chloe Dirksen
with Voice Overs by Adam Belvo, J. Stephen Brantley, Jody Christopherson, Nico Grelli, Chloe Dirksen, KT Thomas, and Jonathan West
developed at The New York Society Library, All for One Theater's So-Co residency at The Bushwick Starr and in collaborations with Emma Rosa Went, Finn Kilgore, Martha Goode, Stacey Boggs, Amy Marin, Kristine Schlachter, Kate August, and Isaac Byrne
AMP: an electrical current, A Modern Prometheus, the story of Mary Shelley's creation of Frankenstein.
Before Mary Shelley became one of the greatest writers in the canon, she was the unconventional daughter of anarchist philosophers William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft. Outcast and isolated, Mary created a genre that celebrated revolting in both senses of the word. Scientist Luigi Galvani's discovery of "animal electricity" acts as an electric undercurrent for suppressed creative narratives, accompanied by stylized movement, period costumes, props, and the philosophy that allowed women to become published as creators of their own stories . . . however horrifying they might be.
AMP was a nominee for the 2017 Innovative Theater Award for Outstanding Performance Art Production. It received its world premiere at HERE Arts Center in New York in 2017, produced by Goode Productions and its Canadian premiere presented by Workshop West Playwright’s Theatre in Canoe, part of the CHINOOK Festival in Edmonton, Alberta Feb 2018. AMP has been developed at: New York Society Library, (as the recipient of a New York Society Library Grant, underwritten by Alexander Sanger) and All For One Theater's So-Co Lab at The Bushwick Starr. AMP has been developed with Stacey Boggs (Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Lighting Design for the HERE Arts Center Production), Martha Goode, Amy Marin (Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Stage Management for the HERE Arts Center Production) and Kristine Schlachter.
PRESS for AMP
"a fierce burst of inspiration and madness."- Theasy.com
"fiercely intelligent and rebellious"- Minnesota Playlist
"a finely-tuned ballet of sight, sound and graphic horror."- Stage Buddy
“ELECTRIFYING . . . A MUST-SEE .” - Culture Catch
"Unforgettable, electrifying characters . . . sheer majesty. . . a triumph. Scary and enjoyable . . . brings back a sense of wonder about monsters." - Theater in the Now
"Primal and tantalizing. " -Exeunt
Developed at AFO's SoCo Lab / Bushwick Starr 2017
New York Society Library Grant 2017
HERE Arts Center, Presented by Goode Productions, Dec 2017
Chinook Festival, Presented by Workshop West Playwright's Theatre,
The Southern Theater, Minneapolis MN, Oct 2019
CREATIVE TEAM BIOS
K8 AUGUST (they/them) Lighting Design, Assistant Directio- has hidden out in downtown theater spaces, turning things on and off for the past decade. When not turning lights on and off, they’re often found in tech closets muttering. Past Lighting projects include but are not limited to Devil in a Box, a sex thing (or, a bunch of liberals getting uptight about the sociopolitical implications of their desires), Basil Twist’s Puppet Parlor. They have a profound enjoyment of french toast.
JODY CHRISTOPHERSON (she/her) Writer/ Performer/Dir- has been called "a visionary in the theater world and legendary story-teller" (The Theater Times) “a talent to watch, not to mention a pleasure to hear” (Time Out NY) “the ANTITHESIS of the manic pixie dream girl” (Zouch Magazine) and a “Rock Monster” (Brooklyn Rail). Her work has been performed in 28 cities in 6 countries, including Canada, Detroit MI, New Orleans, Key West FL, Miami, Amsterdam, Germany, Lithuania, Australia, New York and has been compared to Margaret Atwood’s writing and Laurie Anderson's music. Her productions have been nominated for 7 Innovative Theater Awards. She is the Artistic Director of New York's so-fi festival. She is originally from Nebraska.
NATALIE DERYN JOHNSON (she/her) Movement Consultant- is an improvisational movement artist, poet, photographer based in New York City. In 2018 she was chosen to partake in the Once Upon Water Residency in Toronto and was in residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts for her solo work. Patient History, a story exploring chronic illness and elevation, premiered at Mister Rogers as her first movement memoire. She has worked with famed dance photographer Lois Greenfield and regularly performs with Christina Noel and the Creature. Her work with Albert A. Garcia premiered at BAM, Dixon Place and Bowery Poetry Club. She holds a Scholastic National Gold Key in Photography and received her BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from UC Irvine. She dances in the rain and can be found collaborating with a variety of artists in a variety of contexts, from galleries to basements, from stage to film.
CHLOE DIRKSEN (she /her) (Dialect Coach/ Voice of Mary Wollstonecraft) holds a BA in Literature and Linguistics from the University of Toronto and studied acting at Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York. Chloë works as an actor and private dialect coach, in person.
KODI LYNN MILBURN (she/her) Sound Designer/ Composer- is a mixed-indigenous American performer, writer, and designer from Nebraska, based in Brooklyn. Cross-discipline credits include: Sylvia Milo’s The Other Mozart (Hong Kong, Players Theatre NYC, U.S. Tour), Jody Christopherson’s AMP (HERE arts center), My Onliness (The New Ohio), Chess (American Theater for Actors), Uta Hagen Centennial Salon (Lincoln Center Library), I am the utterance of my name (Baryshnikov Arts Center), Sparkle Spa (Jill Santopolo, BMI World Trade Center), Obsessions (Brooklyn Arts Exchange), Ewalt & Walker (54 Below), Mary & Max (Bobby Cronin & Crystal Skillman), Jean Brassard’s Voyage en Chanson (National Sawdust), Till Soon, Anne, Of Trains and Heroes (NYU Casa Italiano), L’autre Mozart (Fringe North, Halifax Fringe), Joni, Je L’aime a Mourir (Dir. Patrick Karambizi), The Resurrection of (original piece, Plains Theater), The Making of Madeline Moore, Anne of Green Gables, Urinetown (under D.W. Costumes), Seeking Alice (Best musical NOVA film fest ’17), Chrysalis (original piece, 100 Bogart st.), Could you dance in my shoes? (Dir. Deidre Goodwin), 4 women, Oddville, Requiem for a Butterfly (The Delancey, Bar Nine), Midnight Ramblings, Morning Revelations, Modern Renaissance, and Pine now available on Spotify & iTunes. kodilynnmilburn.com
ADAM BELVO (he/him) (Voice of Critic 1)
J. STEPHEN BRANTLEY (he/him) ( Voice of William Godwin)
NICO GRELLI (they them) (Voice of Percy Shelley)
KT THOMAS (she/her) (Voice of Critic 2)
JONATHAN WEST (he/him) ( Voice of Lord Byron)
MARY SHELLEY
Mary Shelley was born on August 30, 1797, in London, England to philosophers Mary Wollstonecraft and Willam Godwin. She married poet Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1816. Two years later, she published her most famous novel, Frankenstein. She wrote several other books, including Valperga (1823), The Last Man (1826), the autobiographical Lodore (1835) and the posthumously published Mathilde. Shelley died of brain cancer on February 1, 1851, in London, England. Detailed Biography: https://www.biography.com/writer/mary-shelley