RESIDENCY CONCLUDES WITH READING OF EXIT RIGHT

Aggregate Collective presented a reading of the new musical EXIT RIGHT to an in person and online audience as a culmination event of its first artist cohort residency.

During the week-long residency, theatre artists from around the country congregated in Southern Oregon to develop a musical written by the Collective’s first artist cohort which included Ian Brandon, Anne-Marie Thompson, and Matthew Buckley-Smith. Prior to meeting in Oregon, the creative team met with the Aggregate Collective collaborators via Zoom on multiple occasions to provide feedback on each iteration of the musical. Using the Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process, these feedback discussions provided valuable responses that informed character development and story structure.

Using Aggregate Collective’s core values - radical hospitality and shared learning - as a driving force to determine the residency’s goals, the artist cohort requested time and space to collaborate on their musical. Up to that point, the creative team had not been able to meet in person due to Covid lockdown and other challenges. In response to this request, the residency included a community building day with all invited artists and a venue to collaborate in person. The residency concluded with a staged reading of the musical for an invited audience and included a feedback session following the Critical Response Process structure.