Public Artist Number One

Referencing Homer’s Odyssey, NO WAKE is a mythic story of a widow whose grief is so enormous that she tries to abandon her child, and ends up causing a storm that tears their house from shore. As mother and child are cast adrift, they are faced with a series of challenges in order to survive. The play engages themes of responsibility, the paralysis of grief, the extent of denial, the challenge of empathy, creation & destruction, and our relationships with the other.

In addition, NO WAKE includes a dance installation piece that showcases a brigade of young dancers known as the Water Bearers, comprising over 30 middle-school aged girls, and created in collaboration with residents of Friendship Court. The Water Bearers will perform from roughly 7pm to 8pm as part of each NO WAKE performance.

The Public Artist program is The Bridge’s annual artist-in-residence program. The program provides financial, logistical, and organizational support for an artist to make a piece that directly impacts the Charlottesville community through its production and presentation.

Jennifer Hoyt Tidwell, the 2016 Public Artist, is a Charlottesville performance artist best known for her collaborative work with theatre company Performers Exchange Project (PEP), which co-produced the 2006 A Charlottesville Wunderkammer and 2007’s SHENTAI at the IX Building. In 2008 she co-founded the Charlottesville Lady Arm Wrestlers (CLAW). In addition, Jennifer is an accomplished playwright, and the instigator of a host of other creative projects.