THE CLAY DUKE
Created and Directed by Dayna Hanson
with Thomas Graves, Wade Madsen, Peggy Piacenza, Dave Proscia and Sarah Rudinoff
Nooderzon Festival, Holland
On the Boards, Seattle
2013
In December of 2010, a harrowing incident unfolded during a routine meeting of the Bay District School Board in Panama City, FL. An armed individual disrupted the proceedings, leading to a tense standoff that tragically culminated in him firing upon school board members at close range. In a tragic twist, he subsequently took his own life, sparing others from physical harm.
Choreographer and artist Dayna Hanson drew inspiration from this unsettling event, shaping it into the foundation for her full-length dance theater piece, The Clay Duke, which premiered in December 2013 at On the Boards in Seattle. Hanson's creative journey involved collaborative efforts with her ensemble cast, cultivated during residency periods at MANCC and the Grand Theatre in Groningen, Netherlands, where the work was presented in a workshop format as part of the Noorderzon Festival.
The Clay Duke came to fruition with the generous support of several institutions and organizations, including 4Culture, ACT Theatre, ArKtype, the Artist Trust Arts Innovator Award, the Grand Theatre/Groningen, Maggie Allessee National Choreographic Center (MANCC), MAP Fund, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, Noorderzon Festival, Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, Velocity Dance Center, and West of Lenin. Additionally, On the Boards' Performance Production Program played a pivotal role in bringing this artistic endeavor to life.
Reviews
“Even in drag as a Florida school board president, Rudinoff mesmerized every time she took center stage. She rattled out her words like bullets from a rapid fire semi-automatic gun, skittered across the floor pantless in a fox mask, supplicant paws bent in front of her white button-down shirt. These moments, and more from Rudinoff, were like beautiful, unstrung beads on a jeweler’s work bench.”
Marcie Sillman, KUOW
“Sarah Rudinoff is mesmerizing, she’s so brilliant you start to get pissed off at her.”
Richard Lefebvre, Filmmaker
(On the Boards Guest Review)
Gallery
Production Photos By Pierre Borasci and Ben Kasulke
