Juli Hendren thinks about the future a lot. Specifically, how we move forward and through catastrophe. Her answer – make work about it. Her current directorial challenge, Somewhere: A Primer for the End of Days, is a contemporary piece that examines intimate, human stories amid a global crisis. While many stories we have become familiar with focus on the destruction and impact of war all the way to a zombie apocalypse, Somewhere brings attention to the emotional journey of both humans and nature as they connect and transform as an unimaginable end to the world comes.
Written by Marisela Treviño Orta, Somewhere tells the story of sister and brother Cassandra and Alexander on their quest to find new nesting grounds by following the last remaining monarch butterfly’s migration pattern. When they run into a small group of people on a truffle farm who are preparing for the collapse of society, they must learn how to overcome fear and trust each other. Director Juli Hendren is also including puppet work, specifically representations of the butterflies and of nature itself, who are ever present as the end of the world potentially comes.
“I always discover more about what it is to be human when working in the theatre.” Said Juli Hendren. “I love watching young actors bring their own experiences and emotional knowledge into their character creation. I may read the characters one way on the page, but I love discovering the student actors’ interpretation of the character.” In order to provide more performance opportunities to more students, Hendren has split the lead roles of Cassandra (Janae Clay and Serenity Garcia) and Alexander (Awni Tottaro and Rafa Payne) and has incorporated three actors as the Nature Gods and Puppeteers.
Somewhere: A Primer for the End of Days opens Friday, September 26th and runs until October 4th in the Experimental Theatre in the UNM Center for Fine Arts. Showtimes and tickets are available at unmtickets.com or the UNM Box Office.
Marisa Demarco and Szu-Han Ho bring sound, performance, and installation into conversation with memory, place, and collaboration. Their works span immersive choral pieces, site-specific soundscapes, and experimental compositions that challenge how we listen and connect.
Southwest Contemporary Vol. 12: Obsession features some incredible work from several of the amazing people who comprise the Art Department. Current second-year MFA students Luka Berkley and Justine Kablack, recent MFA graduate Taylor Engel, and instructor Jessamyn Lovell all have work featured in this most recent issue of Southwest Contemporary.
Art History Professor Ray Hernández-Durán was recently featured in two articles and interviewed by the Latin American and Iberian Institute. UNM News published “UNM Professors Create Exhibition, First-Ever Scholarship of Local Chicano Artists’ Work” by Anna Padilla, highlighting an exhibition curated by Hernández-Durán and Dr. Irene Vásquez. The show, now on view at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, features six talented New Mexican Chicano artists whose work has been historically underrepresented in academic scholarship.
