MEDUSA
noc-turne
noun
:a work of art dealing with evening or night
Welcome to noc-turne
For the sake of performers and the audience experience:
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No food or beverage allowed in the theatre.
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Use the restroom before the show starts. It will not be possible to access the restroom during the show.
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Do not move into the performance space.
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Do not touch the performers.
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Please, no filming or photography.
Thank You! Enjoy the Show!
production notes from the stage manager November 2023
As I write these notes, I am sitting on a scuffed dance studio floor in a heavy sweater and slouchy socks. The cold has seeped into the bones of the historic building where we rehearse, but the dancers in the room are not cold. They are in the midst of creating story with their bodies, and that is very warm work. I admire these women and their craft, their awareness of space and shape, their vulnerability. This feeling, the vague chill in the body and the deep warmth of human connection, is how I always know the season of noc-turne has truly begun.
For so many of us, it is difficult to prioritize regularly taking time to acknowledge the passage of life, especially in ceremony. noc-turne is a place for participants to rediscover ritualized celebration of the self. It is a project oriented toward the process of creating emotionally open art, and, perhaps more importantly, toward the process of making oneself and one’s community feel extraordinary.
The intimacy that goes into creating the show is reflected in how we welcome you, our audience, into the space. We envision you as wanderers, lost in a remote landscape, finding yourselves in our clearing. The story is ours, as is the ritual of telling it, and we invite you to sit in and join us.
MEDUSA has been our most ambitious noc-turne project yet. We started in January with an idea, the song “You are the Problem Here” by First Aid Kit, and many, many cups of herbal tea. The team in the beginning was small, with various creative backgrounds, including theatre, visual art, textile and material art, creative writing, and, of course, dance.
It took the better part of a year for the core creative team and the performers to truly meet and understand the characters that will walk on stage in December. I believe that a key part of being a storyteller is allowing yourself to be a conduit to the characters whose story is being told. We were drawn to the idea that Medusa’s story has been told over and over and never really by the character herself.
Together, we did research on the mythology, established where we could—and should—stray from the familiar version of the story, sketched costume, prop, set, and fabrication ideas, and began entering the world of the characters.
Once we had these foundations laid, the cast was invited—as of now, noc-turne does not have open casting calls—and the work began. In an ideal world, many of us would make creating our full-time jobs. We would have a costume shop, a prop shop, and a real crew. We would have a cast that could all meet as a large group several times a week for six months. However, the reality is that we all volunteer our time for noc-turne. As such, much of the work in summer and autumn is done individually or in separate, smaller groups.
We shared videos and photos and met regularly but separately. The full cast and creative team didn’t all get into the same room until November. Those first few rehearsals were dedicated toward stitching together each individual piece. They were intense, made more so by the nature of story and by the fact that we hadn’t really all seen it yet. This year, we didn’t see the full show with every part until mid-November.
Every year, that rehearsal, the one where we can finally see what we’ve made, is steeped in magic. We rehearse and perform in a pole studio, but on those nights, it really feels like the clearing in a lost wood that holds the beating heart of noc-turne. Some of us have been to this clearing many times, and some of us have only known it briefly. The nature of our show is that we all always leave those woods buoyed by each other, by the love we have built, and by the show we’ve cried, bled, and laughed into being.
Our story doesn’t always literally happen in a forest—MEDUSA, for example, takes place in a desert temple and the cistern it decays into—but I choose to believe that all the best tales start somewhere near the middle of the woods.
Welcome, wanderer, to the woods.
Kyra Scrimgeour
NOTE: MEDUSA addresses extreme interpersonal violence. If you or someone you know is experiencing any kind of interpersonal violence, we urge you to contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233. In addition, this year noc-turne is making donations to SafeHouse Denver to support interpersonal violence survivors and their children.
"Dancing was barely tolerated, if at all, so they danced in the forest where no one could see them..."
-Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Women Who Run With the Wolves
Show
CAST
in order of appearance
Wild Woman — Kyra Scrimgeour
Oracle, Stage Snake — Wren Glick
Athena — Christina Hobbs
Priestesses, Medusa’s Hair — Desirée Bärlocher, Jess Jolly, Nicole Musto
Medusa — Savannah Kleyla
Scylla — Cameron Friedman, Callie Lindemeyer, Katie Turner, Katie Butler, Olivia Pare, Stephanie Jackson
Charybdis — Brittany Russell, Ginger Stevens, Tracie McCain
Echidna — Georgia May Wake
Euryale — Octavia Betz
Stheno — Shannon Hickel
CHOREOGRAPHERS
in order of performance
Transitions, Opening, Closing — Greyce Skinner
Priestesses, Medusa’s Hair, Medusa — Savannah Kleyla
Athena — Christina Hobbs
Scylla, Charybdis, Echidna — Georgia May Wake
Euryale, Stheno — Octavia Betz, Shannon Hickel
SHOW PRODUCTION
Producer, Director, Story Development — Greyce Skinner
Stage Manager, Poet, Dramaturg, Story Development — Kyra Scrimgeour
Concept, Costume Design & Fabrication, Story Development — Christina Hobbs
Prop Design & Fabrication, Story Development — Octavia Betz
Sea Monster Costume Design & Fabrication — Tracie McCain
CHAPBOOK PRODUCTION
Editor, Line Artist — Kyra Scrimgeour
Cover Artist — Molly Dang
Production Artist — Mitchell Reinhart
RUN OF SHOW
primary performers listed by character name
Welcome — Wild Woman, Oracle
“Caves”, CLANN — Athena, Oracle
“Atmospheric Ignition”, Ludwig Goransson — Full Cast
“The Opening of the Way (Intro)”, Kerli — Athena, Oracle
“Teardrop”, Massive Attack — Medusa, Priestesses
“Turbine Hall”, Hildur Guonadottir — Medusa
“Frreakout”, GRLwood — Medusa, Priestesses
“You are the Problem Here”, First Aid Kit — Athena, Medusa, Priestesses, Oracle
“Angel”, Massive Attack — Medusa, Medusa’s Snakes, Athena, Athena’s Snake
“Грустная Сука (Sad Bitch)”, IC3PEAK — Scylla, Charybdis, Echidna
“The Devil”, BANKS — Scylla
“RAGE”, Samantha Margaret — Charybdis
“God is She”, In This Moment — Echidna
“Toll”, So Below — Medusa, Scylla, Charybdis, Echidna, Medusa’s Snakes
“Tuleloits”, Kerli — Medusa, Euryale, Stheno, Medusa’s Snakes
“THE SNAKE”, Lana Lubany — Stheno
“Next to the Sun”, KAINA — Euryale
“Always Burning, Always Dark”, A Lot Like Birds — Full Cast
“Simmer”, Hayley Williams — Medusa, Euryale, Stheno, Medusa’s Snakes
“Heads Will Roll”, Yeah Yeah Yeahs — Full Cast
Story
This is a rewriting of the mythology of Medusa.
The story opens at the moment of the beheading. perseus, the vanquisher, arrives as MEDUSA kneels, sleeps, cowers alone in a cemetery of her own creation. The blade swings.
“This is how it always ends. Isn’t it?”
ATHENA stops time and rewinds to before. MEDUSA is a mortal priestess serving in the temple of ATHENA. She is one of many, dancing, living, a part of the ritual, unremarkable, until–
MEDUSA is raped by poseidon.
ATHENA, horrified at what has occurred, expels poseidon. To protect MEDUSA and to ensure this never happens again, ATHENA gifts her a monstrous appearance and a gaze that can turn anyone to stone. ATHENA removes her own cuffs and uses them to transform the other priestesses into snakes to adorn MEDUSA’s head and provide companionship in her isolation.
MEDUSA is left alone, safe, but seething with the kind of unproductive rage that boils and bursts and consumes. In her cave, she is visited by three other monsters, SCYLLA, CHARYBDIS, and ECHIDNA, who share with her their stories of wounding, venom, and revenge.
Overwhelmed by the horror that consumes the lives of the monsters, the kind of life they are saying will become hers as well, Medusa turns them all to stone.
MEDUSA’s sisters, the gorgons STHENO and EURYALE, arrive. They take time to meet and witness MEDUSA where she is. They enfold her in the love of sisterhood, but guide her away from unproductive rage. They gift her armor and teach her what productive rage can look like.
MEDUSA, newly covered in her sisters protection, begins her ecdysis. With the priestesses, the monsters, and her sisters, she readies for the arrival of her assasin, who they can hear approaching. She sheds her skin and perseus, believing that this shell is the monster he has come to execute, takes it and flees.
Medusa in her new skin, along with her sisters, the priestesses who have been her serpentine companions, and the monsters, emerges from the cistern into a desert blooming after a lightning storm.
CAST Bios
BIOGRAPHIES
in order of team appearance & last name
Goddess Team
WREN GLICK | ORACLE, STAGE SNAKE
CHRISTINA HOBBS | ATHENA, CONCEPT, COSTUME DESIGN & FABRICATION,
CHOREOGRAPHER
Christina began dancing at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. She embraced it as a way to reconnect with her body and express herself in a way that words don’t allow. She loves the little community she has found in noc-turne and wants to use her dance to tell the stories that were once silenced.
What would the myth of your body be? The myth of my body is that it is imperfect, less-than, and
defective. My body fights against me and I struggle to command it. But I should not fight it. I should love it, and understand that it is perfect because it is. I do not fit in a box, and there is no use trying to shove myself in one. I try to remember to let it guide me, and that I am not defined by my ability or lack-there-of. I try to not let the imagined opinions of others pollute my own peace.
“Rage is a quiet thing
Well, you think that you've tamed it
But it's just lying in wait”
--Hayley Williams, “Simmer”
KYRA SCRIMGEOUR | WILD WOMAN, STAGE MANAGER, POET
Kyra has been telling stories since before she could write. This is her third year participating in
noc-turne.
What would the myth of your body be? The myth of my body right now would be the story of relearning to love a vessel that that is often uncomfortable and exhausting to live inside of. It would be the story of reestablishing a partnership with my body, rather than a rebellion.
“I used to think it was like a light bulb, life, / dangling in the chest, asking to be switched on. / But it’s not the light that’s ever in question, / rather, what’s your brilliant, glaring wattage? / What do you dare to gleam out and reflect?”
--Ada Limon, “The Other Wish”
Medusa Team
DESIRÉE BÄRLOCHER | PRIESTESS, MEDUSA’S HAIR
Desirée has enjoyed dancing ever since she was a little girl and has tried every type of movement expression she’s been able to come across. From ballet to bachata to aerial, she loves exploring what stories her body wants to tell and the different ways it seeks to tell it.
What is a part of you that feels “ugly” or “weird” or “monstrous”? How do you handle it? Jealousy -
when I’m consumed by it, shame envelops me. Inner critic shames me for not rising above it, for not
honoring the happiness of another, for being so self-centered. When I’m able to catch the meta-critic at its game, I try to sit with the monster. It’s helpful to release the anger that comes with it, through movement or yelling in a supportive container. Release allows me to get closer, see the hurt that lies beneath it all and hold the wounded hand. Through acceptance I’m able to release myself from a tight grip and create space for something else.
The way we rise
From every sorrow in life
Is the most gorgeous thing I’ve seen
--rupi kaur
JESS JOLLY | PRIESTESS, MEDUSA’S HAIR
Jess started her dance career at a young age, joining a competitive studio and performing in tap, jazz, and hip hop. She founded her high school dance team and became a captain, and then later was hired on to coach. After a few years hiatus, Jess returned to her roots and started dancing and performing again, this time in the realm of burlesque and contemporary.
What is a part of you that feels “ugly” or “weird” or “monstrous”? How do you handle it? Currently, my
trauma has turned its ugly head and appears monstrous. I’ve let it fester unknown, deep inside of me for years and have had the unpleasant experience as of late to be awoken by it. It’s wrapped around my skin and present at all times, I see it in my day to day life and interactions with others. As uncomfortable and painful as it is to be faced with this monster within me, it’s been empowering to acknowledge all of these wounds and start the healing process. Because what makes a monster? Someone who cannot be saved. I am no monster and my trauma is part of me and gives me strength and resilience, just like Medusa.
“’You aren’t monsters,’ Medusa said. / ‘Neither are you. Who decides what is a monster?’ / ‘I don’t know,’ said Medusa. ‘Men, I suppose.’ / ‘So to mortal men, we are monsters. Because of our teeth, our flight, our strength. They fear us, so they call us monsters.”
- Natalie Haynes, Stone Blind
SAVANNAH KLEYLA | MEDUSA, CHOREOGRAPHER
Savannah has been dancing her whole life. Her stage name, Miss Ida Heaux, is a nod to her roots. She has performed throughout the Western U.S., including on Carnival Cruise Lines and in The Beatles Love. After a career-ending injury in her late 20s, Savannah feels exceptionally humbled to perform for her audiences and is excited to focus on what her body can do and not what it once was.
What would the myth of your body be? I am limited to what only pretty women say and do. When I
open my mouth something unexpected expels.
How do you harness feminine rage productively? My feminine rage presents itself in a stoney glare as my teeming silence and stillness plots cold revenge.
“Everybody has gone through something that has changed them in a way that they could never
go back to the person they once were.”
– Anonymous.
NICOLE MUSTO | PRIESTESS, MEDUSA’S HAIR
In spite of no professional training, dance has been in her repertoire since she was able to walk. What started as physical therapy became a love and passion for the art form of movement. She danced in multiple performances including ballet and jazz. Recent works include burlesque and contemporary.
How do you harness feminine rage productively? I push myself out of darkness through self care and
verbalization by yelling the French word for Seal, Phoque. I turn my feminine negative rage into positive energy. The byproducts are often sweat and a cathartic dance performance. Action releases the rage to the universe and leaves me calm, relaxed, and renewed.
What is a part of you that feels “ugly” or “weird” or “monstrous”? How do you handle it? When I feel
ugly, I dance like no one is watching. You never know who is watching and you might help them come out of their dark moments.
“Sometimes you just have to die a little inside in order to be reborn and rise again as a stronger and wiser version of you..!!”
― Aagam Shah
Gorgons
OCTAVIA BETZ | EURYALE, PROP DESIGN & FABRICATION, CHOREOGRAPHER
Octavia has been a maker since she could draw on her bedroom walls. Digital arts fill her daily life, and by night she runs away to the circus as an aerialist. Octavia fell in love with moving in the air and delved deeper into movement by experimenting with the ground. She sees the visual and the performing arts as tools to tell a story.
What would the myth of your body be? It's a myth that my body can be contained or defined by words or spaces without my consent.
How do you harness feminine rage productively? Rage is the proof that our bodies love us enough to tell us we have been wronged. It's raw and earth shattering but when harnessed, and honed seeks justice for self and for others. In this way rage is fuel to revolution and freedom.
What is a part of you that feels “ugly” or “weird” or “monstrous”? How do you handle it? My anxiety
manifests in the form of multiple demons. There is no use ignoring or shaming them, rather sitting with hem, acknowledging them, listening to them, thanking them, comforting them allows them to relax their hold on me. This allows them to become the sentinels of my emotional well being that they were always meant to be. I have learned how to coexist with my anxieties.
“You can be both compassionate and filled with rightful rage at the same time.”
--Unknown
SHANNON HICKEL | STHENO, CHOREOGRAPHER
Sea Monsters
KATIE BUTLER | SCYLLA
Katie has been dancing since high school. She has choreographed and performed in a variety of styles
including ballet, modern, ballroom, and burlesque. She currently resides in Denver, CO with her husband and three other fluffy critters.
What is a part of you that feels “ugly” or “weird” or “monstrous”? How do you handle it? I think
there are always parts of yourself that feel ugly or monstrous. Sometimes your skin doesn't look great or you've gained some weight. You say or do something that you can't stop obsessing over. You assume how others feel about you. You just can't seem to get it together. I'm constantly feeling that way about myself in one way or another. Sometimes I can handle it, sometimes I can't. Living and being with yourself is a process, but practicing being kind to yourself, while difficult, is the best way I can think of to help accept the being that you are.
"A thinking woman sleeps with monsters. The beak that grips her she becomes."
- Adrienne Rich
CAMERON FRIEDMAN | SCYLLA
STEPHANIE JACKSON | SCYLLA
CALLIE LINDERMEYER | SCYLLA
Callie has been dancing at Tease Studio for over two years and just recently started taking Jazz with Georgia. This is her first-ever performance on-stage for dance!
How do you harness feminine rage productively? When I feel overwhelmed with anger, it's best for me to release it somatically. Dance, exercise, and breath work help me listen to my body and relieve negative emotions. Volunteering in the community and advocating for human rights also helps me channel my rage into the greater good.
“It is true, we shall be monsters, cut off from all the world; but on that account we shall be more attached to one another.”
- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
TRACIE McCAIN | CHARYBDIS, SEA MONSTER COSTUME DESIGN & FABRICATION
OLIVIA PARE | SCYLLA
Olivia Pare (stage name LuLu Bell) has been dancing since the age of 3. Her most advanced trained styles are Jazz and lyrical/contemporary. She was a competitive dancer through the age of 18. She went to Baylor for her Nursing degree with minor in dance. Now she is full time ICU nurse and recently started training in Burlesque and dance with Denver's The Rhinettes.
BRITTANY RUSSEL | CHARYBDIS
GINGER STEVENS | CHARYBDIS
KATIE TURNER | SCYLLA
GEORGIA MAY WAKE | ECHIDNA, CHOREOGRAPHER
Georgia May Wake is the pseudonym for Holly Herrin. She is a choreographer and teacher who desires most for her work to tell a story. From Burlesque to Contemporary dance styles, she hopes to portray a message that makes audiences feel whole, while also wanting more. She has been a dance performer and teacher for many years, but has been teaching at Tease Studio for just over 2 years.
GREYCE SKINNER | PRODUCER, DIRECTOR
Greyce is an actor, aerialist, movement teacher, and producer with over 20 years of focused performing arts experience.
How do you harness feminine rage productively? First, by feeling it. Then by allowing it to focus you.
Once you are feeling and focused you will know what you need to do.
What is a myth of a body?
An original poem:
She could skin them down to soul and they knew it. In her gaze there was nowhere to hide, most especially
from oneself.
And what could be scarier than all the things one hid from oneself?
This made her the scariest kind of monster. Or no monster at all.
There was no malice in it. It was simply what she was.
A steady gaze that dared them to face the shadow.
Exposed.
Wild.
Impossibly graceful.
And as their eyes grew wide with horror, she peeled back her own skin and let it fall.
She offered no apology.
No explanation.
She simply stepped from the tatters of all that no longer served her and perched on the arm of the nearest chair.
She was an imperfect apocalypse and she needed no horsemen.
-Greyce Skinner
“scream
so that one day
a hundred years from now
another sister will not have to
dry her tears wondering
where in history
she lost her voice.”
-jasmin kaur
"Art is not just for oneself, not just the marker of one's own understanding. It is also a map for those who follow after us."
-Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Women Who Run With the Wolves
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Contributions are not tax deductible, but earn the UNENDING gratitude of WILD Productions LLC and all involved in noc-turne.