Mass Live Arts - Film 'Rumstick Road'

Rumstick Road premiered in 1977 as part of the theatrical trilogy “Three Places in Rhode Island.” Composed by Spalding Gray and Elizabeth LeCompte in response to the suicide of Gray’s mother, Rumstick Road combines recorded conversations, family letters, the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, 35mm slides, music, and dance. It was created and performed by Wooster Group members Elizabeth LeCompte, Spalding Gray, Libby Howes, Bruce Porter, and Ron Vawter. This video re-construction keeps faith with the theater piece by registering, in a new composite, the vivid texture of time and memory that shaped the original production. LeCompte and filmmaker Ken Kobland have layered, juxtaposed, and blended together numerous archival fragments - including U-Matic video, Super 8 film, reel-to-reel audio tapes, photographs, and slides in order to reconstruct that lost performance. Wooster Group company member and archivist Clay Hapaz joins us to introduce the piece and take questions afterward.