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public / private

Brandon Powers' immersive theatrical audio journey through Ace Hotel Brooklyn

public / private steers the choreography of movement through space. With nothing but a set of headphones and each other, guests will navigate Ace Hotel Brooklyn in small groups with audio as their guide. A clandestine hotel room encounter. A delicate discovery. And a reimagination of the relationships and physical environment that have been formed await within.

Emerging from months in our homes, distanced from each other, we now have to renegotiate and reimagine how we gather as bodies in physical space. Further, the dichotomy of public vs private has grown starker, shaping how we hold and move our bodies. We’ve gone from conforming to certain postures in private space to re-entering public space with these new physical memories. A hotel offers a nuanced place to investigate these shifts as it is a convergence of the public and private. 

In groups of 8 every 30 minutes, guests explore private and public space at the Ace Hotel Brooklyn. First, they explore public, by donning headphones, immersing them in an audio journey through the Garden and Lobby that choreographs their movement through the space. Then, the group splits, and each half of the group will discover a performer they are invited to follow up to a hotel room for an intimate theatrical scene, illuminating how we act in private. Lastly, guest return to the Lobby Bar where they receive prompts to discuss with guests from the other room, unpacking the experience together.

Created by Brandon Powers
Sound Design by Sadah Espii Proctor

Performances by Kevin Laibson & Ella Pennington

Stage Manager: Talia Feldberg
Presented by NEW INC & Ace Hotel Brooklyn

This portfolio focuses on projects I feel I contributed significantly to as an artist or created whole cloth. Much of my experience includes developing and platforming others' work as a producer, teacher, and coach. For more about that, please visit kevinlaibson.com.
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this is my favorite joke:

A dog walks in to a telegrapher's office and says "I'd like to send a telegram to my sister, please."

 

The telegrapher, surprised by the situation, says "Well, um, okay - what would you like it to say?"
 

"Woof, woof woof, woof woof woof woof, woof, woof."
 

The telegrapher puts down his pencil and lowers his glasses a little, "You know, that's just nine 'woof's. I could throw in a tenth and it would be the same price."
 

The dog cocks his head to the side and says, "But...then it wouldn't make any sense."

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