Breathing Myth & Marrow

Production is Officially Underway!

It’s been a minute since I’ve sat down to write an update. To be completely honest, every time I’ve opened up a blank page recently, the cursor has just blinked back at me. But it’s not for a lack of things to say. It’s because I have been living deep in my own head lately, figuring out how to build something massive—and I low-key love it.

I am beyond thrilled to finally say it out loud: Production for Myth & Marrow is officially underway! Things are moving fast, and while I’ll be able to announce our incredible performers and collaborators very soon, right now my days look a little different from what you might expect. If you had told me a year ago that my days would consist of researching construction materials, industrial piping, and fabrics, I would have laughed. But pulling off a high-quality show means getting into the literal nuts and bolts.

Right now, I’m deep in the specs for outdoor lighting options and purchasing tents. The vision is to make this show completely portable and tourable so that we can perform it in any outdoor location. We are building this to move, so we can bring these stories directly to the community.

Next up on my docket is figuring out the specifics of mounting the body maps, which has been a journey all its own. I’ve played around with so many methods to get this right—starting with paper, moving to cardboard, experimenting with wire, and even exploring 3D printing. Ultimately, I’ve settled on mixed media, with the materials chosen specifically based on the woman whose story we are telling.

Take Harriet Tubman’s body map, for example. It is comprised entirely of different fabrics, with each textile representing a specific role she played in her life and the weight of her labor. It’s incredibly tactile. Compare that to our modern body maps, where we are using things like photographs, scans, and physical artifacts to build depth and texture into their modern labor and stories.

It is all so new, fascinating, and deeply consuming. Taking the invisible labor of Black women and figuring out how to construct it into something physical you can see, touch, and walk around is a beautiful challenge.

I’m so excited to bring you all along for the ride as this comes to life. But I can’t do this work without you in the room.

Here is how you can support the vision right now:

• Sign up for Jury Duty: We need your voice. Head over to rethinklabor.org/juryduty to get involved.
• Go, Team Go!: Catch the behind-the-scenes production process (and see some of these body maps take shape) on Instagram at @laborpainsproject.

Thank you for your patience while I was quiet, and thank you for being part of this village. Let’s get to work.