Station to Station

When: Sunday, March 9, 2008, 2:30 p.m.

Where: Louisiana State University’s HopKins Black Box theatre

Cost: Not available

Age limit: All ages

Categories: Theater

Description: MAPPING EXPERINCES: STATION TO STATION
(Baton Rouge)- Louisiana State University’s HopKins Black Box theatre presents the premiere of Station to Station, a one-person performance about map-making. Performances are Wednesday March 5 through Saturday March 8 at 7:30 PM, with a Sunday matinee on March 9 at 2:30 PM. Seating is by general admission and a suggested donation of $5.00 can be paid at the door.
Station to Station is the product of a collaborative effort between Benjamin Powell and Brianne Waychoff, both doctoral students in the Department of Communication Studies. Using a collection of letters sent between Powell’s grandfather and great grandfather in 1935-36, assembled histories of the US Interstate System, an old mapping guidebook, and fragments of memories and music, Powell performs a unique collage of texts in order to understand how cartography can be used as a metaphor for better understanding the human experience. Geographic location takes on additional resonance as various maps are created out of unlikely sources and offered as possible answers to the questions: "Where have I come from, where am I now, where am I going?”
Powell and Waychoff began creating the script with inspiration from David Greenhood’s book, Mapping. "Greenhood calls mapping 'the Science of Whereabouts,’” said Powell. "Everyone depends on maps, but the general public—myself included—knows very little about this 'science.’”
Powell’s grandfather’s letters inspired him to think about maps in terms of how they may trace familial and personal cartographies: "Those letters were written in a formative period of his life, and they happen to be about issues that preoccupy me as well: an obsession with cars and planes, deep family connections, a love of movies and radio, and a love of all things Iowa,” said Powell. "In making Station to Station it’s as if I’m also making a map that will orient me in the future.”
For more information, please contact the Department of Communication Studies at (225) 578-4172 or visit the Black Box website at www.lsu.edu/hbb.

Event posted March 4, 2008
Last updated March 4, 2008