the past couple of months

hi there!

I’m going to try to be better about updating this whenever big things are happening. here’s what’s been going on the past couple of months:

in September, after the show I was in during the fringe festival [This Is A Play About Buttons], I was in a workshop for a theatre/film hybrid piece called a flower hanging upside down, curated by Joseph mx. McAndrew with film by Kyrie Clemmer. the piece included my poetry as a part of the script in addition to my acting in both the film and in the live theatre part as the patient. This was so fun, and it was so wonderful to have my own writing be an integral part of the piece.

after that, in October, I was in a show called bloodmaster, which comprised of two different one act plays: blood, hate, and other gruesome things by Joseph mx. McAndrew, and The Headmaster by Hannah Sandler. each of the playwrights directed the other’s piece. I played Madeline in the cast of The Headmaster, which marked my first time playing a nonbinary character on stage (and during the French Revolution no less!). it was a short rehearsal process, but I gained so much from it.

next up was a workshop of a musical called Since They Left: a Pied Piper Musical by Sarah Hough, directed by Nick Hatcher. we worked on act one, developing the script, music, and the world of the play. at the end of our workshop, we had a staged reading of the show, where I played Amara. [there’s another workshop for this piece happening in March that I will also fortunately get to be a part of!] I fell in love with this piece- I love fairytales, and getting to be part of one felt magical.

Christmas break, I got to relax a bit. early January, I went to London for 10 days. it was part of a theatre trip through my school, and I got to see so much theatre over there, including Company, The Cane, Hadestown, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Antony and Cleopatra, and The Comedy About A Bank Robbery. this time was very stressful for me because of personal reasons; however, I fell in love with London despite all of that. the theatre scene was incredible. I got to take workshops, go to talk backs with the casts of some shows, do tours of amazing theatres (ahem, The Royal Court Theatre, The Royal Opera House, AND Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre), and explore a new city that I would never have been to otherwise. I’m really thankful this experience was my first time out of the country, including all of the good and the bad.

immediately when I got back from London, I started rehearsals for Antihistamine by Eli Melmon, directed by Joshua Davis Farner. it was part of The Equinox Play Festival, which is held at my university, The University of the Arts, and is dedicated to putting on four one act plays. this festival’s theme was plays inspired by Diane Arbus’s work. in this show, I got to play another nonbinary character, Charlie. it’s so affirming and wonderful to play a character with your own gender and to help the script develop to be more accurate to this experience.

currently, I am working on a docuseries called “neither or”, directed by Joseph mx. McAndrew. this is a mini webseries highlighting 8 different nonbinary artists from all different mediums and practices, and the goal is for us to each talk about our personal experiences with both our genders and our art forms. it’s meant to give us tgnc people a voice and educate others in the process without exploiting us. this is something I am head over heels for, and that I think is so important. the day we filmed and were all in that room together was truly like no other- it was a euphoria I had never felt before. to be in a room with only other nonbinary folks was breathtaking. I met so many new people and made friends and truly, it made me so happy to work on that project. stay tuned for updates for when the videos get released, and be sure to follow my instagram for the promo shots that are bound to come!

looking ahead, in early March, like I mentioned earlier, I will be in another workshop of Since They Left: a Pied Piper Musical by Sarah Hough, directed again by Nick Hatcher. I am so thrilled to be working with this team again. in April, I’ll be working on a workshop for a new musical called BEARDS by Elana Mirella Mariani and Liberty Laferrière, and I am excited to get to work on this queer musical with a cast and creative team made up completely of LGBT+ artists. I am so grateful and honored to have gotten the opportunity to be a part of all of these projects and for all of the projects I am looking forwards to.

the last couple of months have been absolutely wild and very draining- however, I wouldn’t have them any other way. I am so thankful for my art form and for all of the work that I get to do. I am grateful for my classes, my career, and all of the things I have yet to do. I’m so excited for my future- for all of the writing and playing I’ll get to do. I am so happy.

that’s it for now. hopefully I’ll have updates for you soon?

thanks for reading <3

xoxo River von Waldron