I conceived, produced, and co-directed an adaptation of Elfriede Jelinek’s one-woman-play Jackie (about Jackie Kennedy) in December of 2015 for a theatre I founded called The Marshall Experimental Company. The concept for this production, which departs from the original one-woman-nature of the show, was a bit of exegesis on my part. The adaptation featured three actresses playing different facets of Jackie’s fractured psyche and it explored the idea of the public, curated self which we present to the world. This concept stems from my interpretation that Jackie is speaking this monologue in purgatory as a way to cleanse herself and move on to the next phase of the afterlife. She must do this work now because, in life, she hid her true feelings and nature and performed a creation of what she thought the world needed/wanted to see. The piece integrated movement & acrobatics, filmed and audio media, found text, the script, and original sound compositions by Ben Harrell. The show was co-directed by Katherine Wilkinson who also played one of the personalities of Jackie. I asked Katherine to serve in this capacity to help me with potential blind spots and biases.

Directed by Daniel Leeman Smith & Katherine Wilkinson

Sound Design & Score by Ben Harrell

Aerial Dance Choreography by Chelcy Harrell

Production Stage Manager: Nicole Leon

Cast: Chelcy Harrell, Tonia Sina, and Katherine Wilkinson.