Theatrical collage collaboratively devised by the ensemble
Ensemble
Gwen Grastorf (Spilleth), Mark Jaster (The Naturalist, a Collector), Sabrina Mandell (Rosabelle, the concierge), Sarah Olmsted Thomas (Étoile), Alex Vernon (Blue)
Directors Mark Jaster & Sabrina Mandell
Lighting Design Kris Thompson
Sound Design Madeline "Mo" Oslejsek
Stage Manager Casey Parker
Props, Set, Puppet Design & Construction Mark Jaster & Sabrina Mandell
Costume Design Sabrina Mandell
Show is approximately 75 minutes with no intermission
ARTISTIC CO-DIRECTOR'S NOTE | by Sabrina Mandell
In 2006 Happenstance Theater debuted their first piece at the Inaugural Capital Fringe Festival. It was called PRUFBOX and was inspired by the works of Joseph Cornell and T.S. Eliot’s "The Lovesong of J Alfred Prufrock." It portrayed a woman from the sea who rides the cycle of existence and Eliot’s hesitant hero. Through collected images, text, music and gesture we created our first “theatrical collage.”
Its themes and style have stayed with us in various ways as the company has grown and flourished. The concept for JUXTAPOSE was to revisit the visual, poetic world of Joseph Cornell with the full ensemble quintet. We began its development in a two-week residency at Joe’s Movement Emporium in January 2020, toward the ultimate goal of creating a full, hour-long, live Theater piece. We took inspiration from shadow boxes, the films of Jean-Pierre Jeunet, nostalgia, ephemera, mass-extinction and the Anthropocene, discovery, creation, play, attachment and letting go. The finished work was to be co-produced by the Capital Fringe Fringe Festival and premiere as part of their 15th Annual Festival “Curated Series” in July 2020. The journey began and the residency was a huge success. We discovered our five characters and where they lived. JUXTAPOSE was on its way!
Then the Coronavirus pandemic locked things down, separated us and ended live performance for an indeterminate period of time. The Fringe was cancelled and funding for the project abruptly ended. After a couple of months of grieving, we began to reimagine the piece as a cinematic, online experience that we would create in isolation and assemble like a collage. Eventually we were able to do some filming collaboratively, outside, distanced, but together. Using simple video techniques, Georges Méliès inspired film magic, manipulation of objects, puppetry, physical theatre, theatrical clown, sound layering and vintage spectacle, we conjured portals to hope. This pivot led us to create the Interactive, theatri-virtual piece THE JUXTAPOSE TENEMENT.
Now, at last, we have realized the original concept and brought the show back to the stage.
JUXTAPOSE | A Theatrical Shadow Box has evolved with us over the past five years and grown into an assemblage of images and visual, poetic, theater inspired by the shadow boxes of Joseph Cornell, the films of Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amélie) and Jacques Tati (Mon Oncle), nostalgia, ephemera, mass-extinction and the Anthropocene, discovery, creation, play, attachment and letting go. Its aesthetic elements conjure nostalgia and nod to a time of looming instability. It could be now or between-the-wars, here or abroad. Our departure points for the characters, the aesthetic and the content were the surreal, magical shadow boxes and collages of Cornell. We hope your imagination is stimulated by our work and that it offers hope and a cosmic perspective.
Dramatis Personae
MARK JASTER | THE NATURALIST, A COLLECTOR
Joseph Cornell works: The “aviaries,” esp. The Caliph of Bagdad, c. 1954; and A Parrot for Juan Gris, Winter 1953-54; Observatory Corona Borealis, 1950; untitled, (Parrot & Butterfly Habitat,) c.1948; Untitled (Cockatoo with Watch Faces), ca. 1949; and Solomon Islands, 1940-42, esp. the specimens below the compass tray.
SABRINA SELMA MANDELL | ROSABELLE, THE CONCIERGE
Joseph Cornell works: Untitled (Teapot/Grand Hotel Couronne & Poste) c. 1965; La Physique, 1969; Untitled (Dovecote); The Sixth Dawn, 1964; Defense d'Afficher Object, 1939; Untitled Collage, 1931; Untitled, 1959; Untitled, 1966; Untitled (Beehive, Thimble Forest), 1948; Rose Hobart, 16mm film (color, silent with music track), 20 min, 1936.
GWEN GRASTORF | SPILLETH
Joseph Cornell works: "Ideals are like stars; you will not succeed in touching them with your hands. But like the seafaring man on the desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them you will reach your destiny."--Carl Schurz, Address, Faneuil Hall, 1957-1958; Untitled (Blue Sand Fountain) series, 1953-1956; Andromeda: Grand Hotel de l’Observatoire, 1954; Constellation (Project for a Christmas Card), 1953; Celestial Navigation series, 1956-1958; Soap Bubble Set (Lunar Space Object) series, 1950-1959; Fountain of Youth, 1959, Cassiopeia 1 (Verso), 1960
SARAH OLMSTED THOMAS | ÉTOILE
Joseph Cornell works: Untitled (Hôtel de l’Etoile Series),1954; Untitled (Hotel De L’Etoile Series), 1952; Untitled (Tamara Toumanova), ca. 1940; Untitled (Celestial Fantasy with Tamara Toumanova), ca. 1940; Original Scrapbook for Tamara Toumanova, 1953; Untitled (Zizi Jeanmaire Lobster Ballet), c. 1949; Untitled (Pink Palace), c. 1950, Untitled (Harlequin), 1935/38; Homage to the Romantic Ballet, 1942.
ALEX VERNON | BLUE
Joseph Cornell works: Object (Soap Bubble Set), 1941; Untitled (Soap Bubble Set), 1936; Trade Winds, c. 1958, Planet Set, Tête Etoilée, Giuditta Pasta (dédicace) 1950.
Additional Cornell Inspiration Images
Observatory – Corona Borealis Casement, 1950
Toward the Blue Peninsula, 1952
Untitled (For Trista), c. 1969
Untitled (Window Facade), 1950
Untitled (Solar Set), 1958
Andromeda: Grand Hôtel de l’Observatoire, 1954
Setting for a Fairy Tale, 1942
Untitled (Hotel - Winter Night Sky), 1953
Untitled No. 3 (Soap Bubble Series), 1955
Music Selections
Park Avenue Fantasy (1934) by Frank Signorelli, Matt Malneck, recorded by Paul Whiteman and His Concert Orchestra
All Alone (1924) by Irving Berlin, recorded by Bob Grant and his Orchestra
Faithful Forever (1940) by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger, recorded by Victor Silvester and his Ballroom Orchestra
Poor Butterfly Fox Trot (1916) by Raymond Hubbell and John L. Golden, recorded by Jaudas' Society Orchestra
The Lady With the Big Umbrella (1955) by Danny Goodman & David Nelson, recorded by Dean Martin
BWV 971 Italian Concerto (1735) by J.S. Bach, recorded by Wanda Landowska (1935)
The Planets Op 32: VII. Neptune, the Mystic (1914-1916) by Gustav Holst, recorded by Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan (1981)
Stardust (1927) written and recorded by Hoagy Carmichael
Andromeda (2006) by Nancy Hascall, recorded by Bells of the Sound
Lunar Rhapsody (1947) by Harry Revel, recorded by Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman, Les Baxter (Music out of the Moon)
Tango Town (1926) by L. Noiret, recorded by Chansonnier & Rio Grande Tango Band
HWV 437 Sarabande from Suite in D Minor (1703-1706) George Frideric Handel, recorded by Richard Kapp, Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York (1977)
Tales of Hoffman: Barcarolle (1881) by Jacques Offenbach, recorded by Arthur Fieldler, Boston Pops Orchestra (1956)
Stairway to the Stars (1939) by Matty Malneck, Frank Signorelli, & Mitchell Parish. Arranged for the company by Craig Jaster (2025)
Excerpt from On Origin of Species by Charles Darwin (1859)
"As new species in the course of time are formed through natural selection, others will become rarer and rarer and finally extinct...A grain in the balance will determine which individual shall live and which shall die - which variety or species shall increase in number, and which shall decrease, or finally become extinct."
Special Thanks
The Share Fund, The Morgan Fund at Seattle Foundation, The Nora Roberts Foundation,The Maryland State Arts Council, and those who have donated to Happenstance through Fractured Atlas. April & Gerry Blum, Nancy Rodriguez, Michael Cumella (Phonograph DJ and restoration), Alex & Olmsted, Sharon Crissinger (Videography), Leah Huete (Photography), Joe's Movement Emporium, Matthew Pauli, Marianne Ross
