Polaroid Stories, spring 2017. Live performance.
This production of Polaroid Stories by Naomi Iizuka was directed by Margo Hall at UC Berkeley in the spring of 2017. The play blends Ovid’s Metamorphoses with the stories of contemporary homeless youth. It was a piece informed by actual interviews with young prostitutes and homeless teens. The text combines poetry and profanity in a way that makes it a great theatrical force. It speaks to the power of storytelling to transform reality. As Margo Hall told us, these are stories of survival. I played d (dionysus) in this production. d is a drug dealer who demands to be worshipped. As Naomi Iizuka explains, d is wild. She told me, “If there is a pulse in this show, d is it.”
Joe
Ayers
B.A. Theater and Performance Studies; Dance and Performance Studies; and English, 2018
| UC Berkeley
Performing Arts
|
Joe Ayers is an actor, dancer, choreographer, director, and teaching artist originally from Southern California. His theater credits include productions of Metamorphoses, Polaroid Stories, Reentry: The Process of Resilience, and Grease. His choreography credits include Heathers: The Musical, Bat Boy: The Musical, The Dream of Kitamura, and Cabaret. He holds three B.A. degrees from UC Berkeley in Theater and Performance Studies; Dance and Performance Studies; and English.