Photo Flash: First Look at THE HANDMAID'S DIANETICS at The Brick Festival of Lies
The Handmaid's Dianetics is a show created by writer and performer Joyce Miller. It has played in episodes at The Brick Festival of Lies (Episode One: The Handmade Dianetix), The Planet Connections Theater Festivity (Episode Two: Scientolojesus), and Dixon Place (Episode Three: Ofhubbard). Script, songs, and lyrics are composed by Joyce Miller, using guitar accompaniment developed by Mike Handelman.
Development began in January 2017 through generating material around her experience in Scientology five minutes at a time for different nights of performance such as Am I Write Ladies, Undiscovered Countries, and Talent Show at the Tarheel Lounge, in addition to attending stand up open mics at the PIT, Jekyll and Hyde Comedy Night, and Blended City's Spotlight Saturdays. The concept for The Handmaid's Dianetics synthesized in the summer of 2017 during the Betty's Daughter Arts Collaborative Street Performance Fellowship, where she took to the streets as a silent observer during Pride dressed as Ofhubbard the muzzled gender traitor, searching for a Scientology Protest that did not materialize. At BDAC, she also shot and recorded the Handmaid's Dianetics video but would not edit and release it until March of 2018.
Miller devised and performed the earliest one hour version of The Handmaid's Dianetics as a solo piece fusing video projection and oration at Plaxall LICA Gallery in February of 2018. She performed its first Dixon Place Lounge show early in 2018, this time vowing to exclude any use of video.
In addition to writing Handelman in as the character of Supervisor, Episode One involved actress Angela Lewis and the song "Wading" from her band Trekklen which she composed for the show in addition to running lights and sound cues in her position at the Brick Theater, right before moving to Florida. Episode Two was a reading at Planet Connections 2018, Co-directed by Sharone Halevy, with Miller accompanied by Handelman on guitar, where they were also invited to perform "Black Dianetics" at Abron's Arts for the awards ceremony. Miller was able to develop the script at the Planet Connection writers group throughout this festival.
Along with Handelman and Miller, Episode Three at Dixon Place Lounge in January 2019 included actress Paula Bagley, stand up comedian Chewy May, violinist Alexander Wei-Xin and singer/songwriter Kosi.
Joyce Miller sings Black Dianetics from The Handmaid''s Dianetics at the 2018 Planet Connections Theater Festivity Awards Ceremony. Mike Handelman on guitar.
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