Final project explores world of childhood imagination

Laureen F. Guenther
Times Contributor

 

Jocelyn Jay, a Rosebud School of the Arts graduating student, will perform her final project, Girl Unspoken Woman Unbroken, July 2-3. Jay is working with Deanne Bertsch and Andrew Cooper to create the show.
“My project is inspired by my own life growing up,” Jay said. “It centers around a girl who always wanted a horse but was never able to have one. So she creates her own horse which becomes a best friend and confidant.
“Whenever the girl has questions about why life is the way it is, she confides in her friend, this horse.”
Girl Unspoken Woman Unbroken leads through some dark places in childhood and adolescence, but eventually, Jay said, the girl learns to live in both the imaginary and real worlds.
“Devised theatre has always been interesting to me,” Jay said, explaining why she chose to create and perform her own story as her final project. “It’s like how I was as a child when I would play games. The stories would just come out of what we were doing, whether we were playing imaginary games like fairies, or transporting ourselves back into ancient Greece.”
She said that while she’s still in the supportive environment of Rosebud School of the Arts (RSA), it is a good time to experiment with it.
Writing, creating and performing her own story builds a foundation for her future, which may include more writing. She’d also like to study circus, especially face-painting, silks and trapeze, and learn how to incorporate those skills into the theatre she loves.
And, of course, creating her own final project is pushing her personal growth.
“I’ve done a lot of self-discovery in the last years here in Rosebud,” she said. “I’ve raised just as many questions, so this [project] is just another tool to get to know myself by remembering who I was and who I want to be.
“I talk about some depression I went through in [high] school and the dark places that took me. I’ve already been quite delighted by my younger self … remembering that that child is still me and that I have total freedom to be that child again. When I can let myself be more creative and more childlike about it, I have much more pleasure and joy.”
Jay hopes Girl Unspoken Woman Unbroken, will give audience members the same joy.
“I hope they take away a freedom, a freedom to let your inner child delight in the world even when you’re an adult,” she said.
She hopes the show will give people courage to explore their own dark places, “the things that are unspoken, that keep us broken.”
“It will be a fun show,” Jay said. “Childlike joy and teenage angst and learning to be your own person, no matter how young or old you are.”
Jay will perform Girl Unspoken, Woman Unbroken July 2-3, in a barn near Rosebud. For location information and to reserve an $8 ticket, see the Girl Unspoken, Woman Unbroken Facebook page or e-mail (faerieheartproductions@gmail.com). Tickets are $10 at the door.