It is with great respect that the creators of this project acknowledge that Things are Afoot was originally developed and filmed on the traditional territory of the Susquehannock.

It is only because of the violent settlement of America that this project is made possible. For further reading, see below.

things are afoot

A film about being alone even though you actually aren’t alone but things are different now and also you are too focused on trying to make the thing you want to happen become a reality that you are completely blind to the fact that what you want is right there in the garden with you. Look around.

streaming starting nov. 30

Enter the world of the town crier

About the Project:

Community:

This project exists because of the community of Lewisburg. We invited ourselves into the streets and parks we grew up in and allowed those places to speak to us, and out came Things are Afoot. In order to give back, we urge anyone who has the means to consider supporting the Getting Ahead in the Valley Program. This program, based on the Bridges out of Poverty, invites local victims of poverty to engage as collective problem-solvers to understand and attack poverty through an economic lens.

Currently, the Getting Ahead program is seeking monetary donations to support local families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic……….

Please consider donating here.

Theatre:

Things are Afoot began when a group of local artists asked themselves how they could write a play with social distancing baked into the story and structure. What resulted looked a lot more like a game of Sardines gone off the rails than a traditional stageplay.

…..until, like all things, the performances were cancelled.

The reality is that Afoot was originally conceived in mid-May, when COVID cases were decreasing nationally. That trend hasn’t been a reality for some time, and we lack the resources to comprehensively assure the safety of our artists and audience participants.

Film:

The production has changed shape several times—first an adaptation of Aria da Capo by Edna St. Vincent Millay, then a composite of transcripts from our own meetings, then a promenade performance through the streets of Lewisburg, and finally an interactive game of Sardines—so it wasn’t too painful for any of us to make the final leap to improvised movie. The mock-umentary format preserves many of the original experimental dynamics that were operating within the play. It is not a product, but a single captured frame of the project at this point in time: unfinished.

Open Source:

The movie is also not the end of the project. The company of Afoot have all collectively agreed to relinquish any personal ownership over the world and characters we have all created together so that any one of us may re-adapt the project in any form/medium/style/place/time/etc we want.

Additionally, to coincide with the release of the film we will be releasing a public google folder that contains all of our work. This is an experiment in open source art-making. The hope is that whoever finds the folder, whoever the world speaks to, will create their own extension of it. And so the community grows. Maybe. Just maybe.

CREDITS:

Directed & Produced by Laia Comas
Featuring: Max Gustafson, Paige Kaszuba, Ross Wiley, Liv Tanaka-Kekai, Isee Martine, Aleah Spiro, Thea Comas, and Avi Solomon
Edited by Manny Rothman
Costume & Mask design by Maggie Epure
Gardener & Poster design by Isee Martine
B Camera Operator: Jake Rothman

Originally conceived by: Hanna Aboueid, Thea Comas, Maggie Epure, Max Gustafson, Grace Harrison, Paige Kaszuba, Liv Tanaka-Kekai, Isee Martine, Avi Solomon, Aleah Spiro, Giselle Taylor, Ross Wiley, & Laia Comas

Produced by The Angry Otter Project in association with Reformat Studios