Meet Balloonacy Director, Dana Legawiec!
“As audiences, we listen with our whole bodies, with our breath, and every moment has the potential for discovery and reinvention.”
Dana Legawiec, Director of Balloonacy
BALLOONACY is our very first production in Maddy's Theatre! Can you tell us about your experience in bringing this inaugural show to life?
It was so exciting to be the first production in Maddy’s Theatre! It was a big responsibility, to design a process that felt not only right for this show, but worthy of the honor of being the first show in the new performance space. My intention was to make space for joy, playfulness, whimsy and discovery – qualities inherent to the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine – so that our rehearsal process could resonate through the work and reverberate to the audience.
What is special about performing a wordless play?
Movement-based theatre obviously transcends language, but I also feel that stories told through the body, without words, invites the audience in - as collaborators and co-conspirators - like no other form. As audiences, we listen with our whole bodies, with our breath, and every moment has the potential for discovery and reinvention.
Why is this an important play to debut Maddy's Theatre?
I’m so happy BALLOONACY is the first play to open Maddy’s Theatre. BALLOONACY is an accessible, playful, welcoming and joyous story for the youngest theatre-goers. It’s ultimately a play about connection, creativity and friendship.
Erica Murphy stars in Balloonacy
Production photo by Katie Day
“Clowning and physical theatre closely resemble the experience of being a child, living in and through the body in the most present way... immediacy, spontaneity, intuition, specificity, play, raw emotion, risk, reward – are also part of the vocabulary of childhood.”
You have extensive experience in physical theatre and clowning. Can you describe your background and training?
I first experienced intensive movement training during a study abroad program in London. My first professional job after college was acting in a touring children’s theatre company, the Shoestring Players - eight actors and a live percussionist, driving all over New York and New Jersey, creating worlds through rhythms and ensemble movement. This led me to the Dell’Arte School, where I trained in corporeal mime, mask, melodrama, commedia dell’arte and clowning. Most of my acting career has been dedicated to the development of new work through movement-based creative processes, including works with my own company, Ziggurat Theatre Ensemble.
How is the tradition of clowning and physical theatre important to the theatre world and for young audiences?
Clowning and physical theatre closely resemble the experience of being a child, living in and through the body in the most present way. The building blocks of physical theatre - immediacy, spontaneity, intuition, specificity, play, raw emotion, risk, reward – are also part of the vocabulary of childhood.
Any final words about Balloonacy?
It’s never the same show twice – so please come back to see it again if you can.
Balloonacy runs through July 25th with tickets starting at $10 each, Members receive a 10% discount. Admission to Maddy’s Theatre is separate from Museum play sessions, and Maddy’s Theatre welcomes actors and audience members of all ages and abilities. kitetails.org/balloonacy