Happy Friday, DMV! It’s May 22.
We’re going into Memorial Day weekend — a quick note to say that I will take Monday off, so I’ll be back in your inbox Tuesday. Now, onto my Daily Dose…
In March, when I was out at a reader’s Puzzled Pint event, I mentioned to this reader that I’ve lately been seeking out experiential art and theater. He told me about Rorschach Theatre’s Psychogeographies Project. I was intrigued.
I read up on it a little bit, but not too much because I want to be surprised. The gist of it is that I get a box every few weeks or so, then take each box to a specified location in D.C. and experience the box. I bought this year’s project, “American Apparitions,” for $119, and the adventure began yesterday, when my family and I went to Rorschach Theatre’s space in Southwest D.C. to pick up our first box: Chapter 1.
(Alisa Tang)
Randy Baker, co-artistic director of Rorschach Theatre, was sitting behind a table with a stack of boxes, each about the size of a large hardback-covered novel. He handed us ours, then I talked to him about the Psychogeographies Project, which started during the covid shutdown. Here’s what he told me — I’ve edited it lightly for length and clarity.
During the pandemic, we were struggling with what we were gonna do without being able to actually present on stage. A lot of other theaters were doing things like presenting Zoom theater, but a big part of what we do is about the experience of the theater, the environment and the immersion into it all. None of that sort of Zoom theater ever appealed to us, so we decided to use the city as our set.
We created a seven-chapter experience in different locations across the city in the fall of 2020. In each chapter, people would go to these locations, they would open up their box, and inside their box would be objects, diary entries — I think the first chapter had a sprig of lavender — photos, maps, things like that. Those objects would then start to tell a story.
Those seven chapters took people all across the city — all were outdoors when we were in the pandemic. We were thinking, hopefully we'll be able to do an outdoor performance by the end of this, and we were. It was great and magical and a lot of fun.
Every few weeks, subscribers to Rorschach Theatre’s Psychogeographies Project receive a box — or a chapter — that tells a story in a location in D.C. (DJ Corey Photography)
Randy said “American Apparitions” has five chapters, with boxes released every few weeks May through October. Subscribers can pick up the boxes or receive them by mail.
He said in the first year, Rorschach sold more than 500 subscriptions to the project. This year so far they’ve sold about 100 — with each subscription often being for a group of people (for example, my family of three).
The chapters can be done anytime — in the weeks after subscribers receive a box or all in one go after the five chapters have been delivered. Subscriptions can also be ordered after some chapters have been released, and Rorschach will send the previously released chapters.
The idea of psychogeography, Randy explained, is that walking can be a philosophical event, and wandering is an end in itself. Furthermore, he said, a place has layers of stories, history and a person’s experiences there. Rorschach’s project adds a fictional story to each location.
My family and I have been excited about this for weeks. We opened our box together over dinner last night. It held detailed instructions and a red tissue paper pouch, which we were told to unwrap on site at the first location. We plan to go this weekend.
(Alisa Tang)
The journey is about a mile, the instructions say, with a note about what to bring: “Your Chapter 1 Box, Comfortable walking shoes and a belief that anything is possible.”
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📰 News around the DMV
📷 Your joy
(James Speicher)
James Speicher, 74, a resident of Frederick County, Maryland, sent in this photo he took on the evening of May 11.
“Yellow-crowned Night Herons (YCNH) have been breeding in Frederick City’s Carroll Creek Linear Park for several years and may again this year,” James wrote.
“Mostly the YCNH fly under the radar of the strollers, steppers, bikers, skate boarders, and families though they may be mere feet away.”
James has sent me several bird photos over the years. He also spotted this bird on April 15 in Middletown, Maryland, near the Catoctin Creek Nature Center.
(James Speicher)
“Here's a common tho often overlooked species: Horned Lark,” he wrote, adding in a follow-up email, “They prefer open areas/fields.”
According to Cornell Lab of Ornithology, males have the namesake horns, which can be raised or lowered.
Have a great long weekend. I’m taking Monday off, so you’ll see my Daily Dose again on Tuesday.
🎁
