The Chocolate Factory Theater Presents I CAME HERE TO WEEP

The Chocolate Factory Theater presents the world premiere of I came here to weep, a series of performances and gatherings co-created with the public, by Yanira Castro / a canary torsi. Details available at www.chocolatefactorytheater.org.

I came here to weep is a performance and collective exorcism co-created with the public. It is a multimodal, interactive project made up of four participatory scores with corresponding materials and environments that examines U.S. territorial possession through the redaction, deconstruction and performance of absurdist colonial texts. The iteration at The Chocolate Factory Theater focuses on The Treaty of Paris 1898, which ceded the current colonies of Puerto Rico and Guam, and other territories colonized by Spain, to the U.S.

I came here to weep proposes audience assembly, transmission, and revenge, and invites the public into multiple forms of witnessing and activating the work. Please see below for the list of events.

OPENING EVENT

Sun, June 4
3-7 PM: Open Hours - Free
5 PM: Clearing Practice performed by devynn emory
7-9 PM: Communal Meal - Ticketed Event

+ Bring a phone or tablet and earbuds to access audio.

This Opening Event is a celebration. Open Hours is dedicated to the public's independent exploration and activation of the project's materials and participatory text and audio scores. Facilitators are present to support visitors' experiences.

The meal is sancocho (vegan and pork provided), a dish made of tubers indigenous to the Caribbean, prepared by Yanira. The meal is curated by Marielys Burgos Meléndez. Boricua guest artists and thinkers, Yarisa Colón Torres, José Troche, and Gabo Tomassini, share historical context about LAND occupation, and personal stories, art, and music that depicts/embodies the complexities of belongings, self-determination and emancipation.

OPEN HOURS - Free

Wed, June 7 - Sat, June 10
3-7 PM
5 PM: Clearing Practice performed by devynn emory (June 7,8) or Martita Abril (June 9,10)
+ ASL Facilitator Thurs, June 8

+ Bring a phone or tablet and earbuds to access audio.

Open Hours is dedicated to the public's independent exploration and activation of the project's materials and participatory text and audio scores. Facilitators are present to support visitors' experiences.

GROUP ACTIVATION - Ticketed Events

Tues, June 6 (Open Dress, Free with RSVP)
Wed, June 7 - Sat, June 10 (Public Performances)
7 PM

+ ASL Facilitator Thurs, June 8

Yanira Castro facilitates a group activation with the audience of the project's participatory scores. Clearing Practice performed by devynn emory (June 7,8) or Martita Abril (June 9,10)

CLOSING EVENT - TIERRA

Sun, June 11
1:30-6 PM (45 min per visitor): Tea Ritual - Limited Seating, Free with RSVP
7-9 PM: Communal Meal - Limited seating, Ticketed Event

I came here to weep concludes with a collaboration with four Boricua teens from Girl Scout Troop 6000. The teens and Castro developed a tea ritual and oral history project on land, embodiment, and self-determination. The teens perform a care ceremony to enact the ingestion of land as an intimate ritual for two, a visitor and a teen.

The meal is sancocho, a dish made of tubers indigenous to the Caribbean, prepared by Castro. At this communal meal, teens from Girl Scout Troop 6000 share stories about land, and guide guests through gestures.

Created by Yanira Castro Negroni in collaboration with Ariel Lembeck (Creative Producer, Open Hours Facilitator); Kathy Couch (Light); Stephan Moore (Live and Interactive Sound Design); Erica Ricketts (Audio Score Design); Martita Abril (Audio Performance, Clearing Practice); devynn emory (Clearing Practice); Marielys Burgos Meléndez (Rehearsal Direction for Yanira, Audio Performance, Meal Curation); Katie Dean (Graphic Design); LD DeArmon (Stage Management, Open Hours Facilitator); Brandon Kazen-Maddox (Hearing ASL Artist & Curator); Juana Aguilar (Hearing ASL Artist); Gabo Tomassini (Guest Percussionist Opening Meal); Yarisa Colón Torres (Guest Artist Opening Meal, Poet & Ph.D. candidate in Puerto Rican Literature); José Troche (Guest Artist Opening Meal, Artist-Thinker, M.A. Puerto Rican Studies); Girl Scouts Troop 6000* (Tea Ritual and Closing Meal).

I came here to weep is made possible with support from Creative Capital and a NYSCA Individual Artists' Interdisciplinary Artist Commission made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.

* Troop 6000 is a Girl Scout program specially designed to serve girls in the New York City Shelter System. Each week, Troop 6000 meets in shelters across the city. Troop meetings are facilitated by trained troop leaders - women also living in the shelter system paired with community-based volunteers - and give girls the opportunity to make new friends, earn badges, and see themselves as leaders in their communities.

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