This November, the Illinois State University School of Theatre and Dance is presenting a new play by j chavez. how to clean your room (and remember all your trauma), directed by MFA in directing candidate Al Oltmanns, is a witty and heartfelt exploration of how we reconcile the less than pleasant moments in our lives.
chavez wrote how to clean your room (and remember all your trauma) in 2019. Since then, the play has won multiple awards including the 2020 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival National Undergraduate Playwriting Award and the 2021 David Mark Cohen National Award. The play tells the story of Spencer, a young poet who attempts to clean their absolute mess of a bedroom and, in doing so, begins the process of “unpacking” the compartmentalized memories of the friends who have come and gone during their time in college.
The play experiments with several abstract production elements to unveil the story in an engaging way. Most of the actors portray their characters through hand puppets, paying homage to techniques of using puppetry in therapy. According to the Cognitive Behavioral Play Therapy Research Center, puppets allow us to “communicate (our) distress without having to directly claim traumatic experiences.” In the play, Spencer takes advantage of this in order to process their emotionally charged memories.
The puppets are brought to life by a talented ensemble that forms an ever-present chorus on stage. When not in the memories, they lurk on the sides like shadows of Spencer’s past, haunting them and lying in wait for each figure to be confronted one by one.
Finally, the individual stories of Spencer’s past relationships are told in a nonlinear style. They are fragmented, revealed piece by piece, and out of order, much in the way our own memories play out in our minds when we try to recall them. The audience will also watch as the contents of Spencer’s room provoke long-buried memories to resurface.
how to clean your room (and remember all your trauma) will be performed at the Westhoff Theatre on November 10-11 and November 14-16 at 7:30 p.m. as well as on November 12 at 2 p.m. The performance run time is approximately 2 hours, with one 15-minute intermission.
Tickets can be purchased in person at the Center for the Performing Arts Box Office on the campus of Illinois State University, by calling (309) 438-2535, or on the box office website.
If you need accommodations to fully participate in this program, please contact the Center for the Performing Arts Box Office at (309) 438-2535. Please allow sufficient time to arrange the accommodation.
