After gathering the generated material, the ensemble pieced together a thirty-five-minute performance, guiding the audience through monologues, dances, and a history of the cove. The event was free and even included a delicious smoothie afterwards. The performance itself was an ephemeral, interdisciplinary mirage. The performers, dressed in all white, assembled themselves along the beach as they alternated between poetic dancing and punctuated monologues. During the performance, I overheard two members of the community speaking. One asked, “What is this?” and the other replied, “It’s like a collage, except it is in real life, not on paper. A collection of this group and the community’s thoughts and experiences with the cove.”
The performance began with a movement phrase and various statements about the Cove such as “Is the water safe?” and “If you think you can come here and see the same thing, then I have nothing left to teach you.” There were several monologues throughout: Masciana delivered one about her experience with the cove and discovering performance and one about the perspective of a dog, “Toy Wolf”; Genao comically represents what it might be like for a squash coming from the grocery store to be thrown into the cove; Ulloa narrated the feelings of the cove in a sarcastic yet compelling tone; and Bisram performed two monologues including concluding monologue about losing his mother and how the water connects them to her. Interspersed between these monologues were movement phrases that evoked various aspects of the cove like waves or searching for items on the beach. Sometimes, monologue and movement occurred together, like when the team stood in V-formation around Peritz as she monologued and repeated a movement phrase in the water with a shell. The performance ended with an audio compilation of the interviews with community members. The ensemble watched the water, backs to the audience, signifying looking to the future of the cove.
In an era of disconnection, artistic projects that pivot to new methods of creativity and communication become more engaged with and more accessible to communities.
The “History” portion of the performance questioned the controversial story of the cove. Its formal name is Hallet’s Cove, but there has been a conscious shift to call it “the cove.” The Hallett family, the primary settlers of Queens, were enmeshed in scandal. In the mid-1600s, the first William Hallet ran away to Astoria. He fell in love with Elizabeth Winthrop who was chased out of Greenwich, Connecticut because she had been betrothed to someone else. Two generations later, the family was murdered: William Hallet III, his wife, and their five children. The murderers were supposedly two people who had been enslaved by Hallet, an Indigenous man named Sam and a Black woman. Archives indicate that they reported the murder and were immediately accused of the crime. Sam was hung, and the Black woman was burned at the stake. In We Are All Kin to the Cove, Bisram and Jakobson prompted audience members to read aloud note cards that contained these historical facts about the Cove. Not only did they discuss the Hallet family, but they also called attention to Big Allis, Con Edison’s big generator and neighbor to the Cove. This generator is a contributing factor to the East River’s pollution. Today, residents of Astoria are still affected by this pollution as well as the historical legacy of the area’s colonization. After sharing all this information, Jakobson and Bisram had to reckon with the history of Queens and its future. They were searching to make sense of these conflicting and disturbing facts, and, ultimately, ended up deciding it’s impossible because “history is written by the victor”—and in this case that means both colonizers and big business.
This performance and overall project highlights the capacity performance has to engage with the public and empower communities to make their own art. Aron addressed this in a conversation with me, saying that it was important to have this initiative led by members of the Astoria community. In an era of disconnection, artistic projects that pivot to new methods of creativity and communication become more engaged with and more accessible to communities.
We Are All Kin to the Cove is just one part of 36. 5’s continuing engagement with the cove. On September 14th, Sunde performed her durational water stand, and she called for anyone who wanted to visit her during the process, and even stand with her for some portion. She also involved Project Ambassadors, people who are knowledgeable about Sunde’s project who could participate and explain the project during her performance. An important part of 36.5 is this commitment to opening as many doors as possible for the community to engage.
We need theatre to help us reconnect with each other and reconnect with the earth. Community engagement, social practice, and a climate focus must be at the forefront of theatre work because theatre is a space to connect and to inspire. Like We Are All Kin to the Cove, this kind of work can fruitfully be inspired by its site and driven by community members. Processes like We Are All Kin to the Cove show that art and beauty can be found everywhere, especially at a little beach on the East River in Astoria, Queens.
