top of page

Fuse Evolution - Entanglements Article (Part 2)

Writer's picture: Stacey ArdeleanStacey Ardelean

This blog by Stacey Ardelean, Fuse Theatre’s Founding Artistic Director, is from an article appearing in the Entanglements3, a curated collection of contemporary culture. This anthology of West Coast artists and writers was curated by Nanette Wylde.


Part 2 continuation…


During the pandemic we shifted quickly to online formats for the Bay Area Women’s Theatre Festival and produced online versions of all three productions in April 2020.  Because I Went There, a gender bending perspective on a sexual assault case, was presented as a prerecorded zoom reading with audience interaction.  Both Echoes of Them and Being Me is Ridiculous, one woman shows, were filmed on location via zoom in the actors’ homes and presented online.  Overnight, Fuse became online producers and our creative community was now surviving virtually through cameras.  As the pandemic drew out, the next Redwood City Play Festival evolved into an online festival including peer panels, readings and workshops.  “Coexist” was a fortuitous theme for the times we were all experiencing. These early collaborations and launched us into virtual online programming and highlighted the need for space to support and heal together. The tension between creating theatre, a collaborative art form, and isolation was often debilitating for theatre artists accustomed to human interaction and physical space. Fuse continued to hold collaborative space online through Open Mic Nights, Creative Coffee hours, play readings, peer panel discussions and project pitch nights. This online community, while different that being together physically, filled a need to connect.



In 2020, the world changed and forever shifted the landscape of live theatre. Both the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement changed the ways we work together, present live theatre and how we view and reckon with race relations. Fuse formed Sparks, an artists’ collective, as a response to the challenge presented by We See You White American Theatre, WSYWAT, to build a theatre company on principles of anti racism. The Sparks artists were people interested in shaping a different kind of theatre company.  Many of our early artists joined this group - Hedvig Flores, Chelsea Unzner, and eventually J. Adán Ruiz - and many new artists who collaborated virtually. We had to take a hard look at the systemic racism perpetuated by typical hierarchical structures that we had followed when starting the company four years before. Some Sparks were with us for the beginning conversations and left for other endeavors as the pandemic started to subside, some left and came back, some have been with the company since the beginning all the while incorporating mental wellness approaches to support and care for each other. This group has become the “artistic director” or artistic directive for Fuse. I am no longer sitting in a room working alone! We work collectively with our board to understand how racism undermines the foundational values we hold and how a worker-directed organization might help us find a new way to operate. We researched the Sustainable Economies Law Center’s Worker self-directed Nonprofit resources.  We formed a more integrated collaboration between Sparks members and Board members.  The shelter-in-place confines of the pandemic allowed us the time and space for these deeply personal and moving explorations. The organization experienced the biggest shift since its inception in 2016.  The Board and Sparks are now actively engaged in conversation on different facets of the company.  This creative community is more than I ever imagined it could be as we rose to face the challenges of 2020. This shift is a silver-lining for the company and is a connective topic linking us towards our future.   


As we moved out of the pandemic, we knew that the return to live performances would be among the last activities to make a comeback.  We continue to offer online content and live-stream as many events as we are able.  Our first major in person project was Feeling Home, the brainchild of director Perla Violetta. 



Perla envisioned an immersive theatre piece that represented immigrant journeys in the United States.  We began with an online devising process inviting artists to share their immigrant stories.  All of the artistic staff were immigrants with some of the non-immigrant Sparks members taking support roles in producing, designing and marketing.  The necessary traveling component of the immersive experience required a unique large space with multiple rooms, so Fuse approached our long-time partner the San Mateo County History Museum in Redwood City to host the production. The play was rehearsed and designed specifically using the Museum exhibit rooms, stairways, hallways and pass throughs. Even the basement was utilized for a detention center scene. The audience was divided into several groups representing diverse immigrant groups.  Each group had their own experience which mirrored the experiences of the cast with opportunities to share those experiences with each other during the performance. Fuse provided the space for this creative team to connect and support one another to tell their stories in community with those who had similar experiences.  One actor commented, “...I have rarely been in a cast where I wasn’t the only person of color or who spoke with an accent. I’m so amazed at how different this is.” Making space for fellow artists to tell highly personal stories after being isolated had an emotional effect on company and audience members alike. To observe that level of support and connection was a true privilege.  Although the production had low attendance and faced challenges with canceled shows due to covid, this was an important theatre piece that opened the door for more opportunities for original works. It demonstrated the need for inclusive creative spaces that supported artists.  



In 2022-2023, Fuse produced an original musical play, Therapy Sessions by Melissa Modifer. This was a piece written during the pandemic and a very personal piece about grief, resilience and the need for community connections.  This project was my comfortable warm blanket of community. This was my “dream team”. Melissa is a former student who has an amazing career as a singer songwriter and performer. Tania Johnson is a longtime musical colleague and friend I’ve known for over 25 years. Alex Valdivia was an original Sparks member and has written music for many Fuse productions.



I brought this cast together to form my own personal creative family and then they did most of the work. It was a show about connecting with community through music, singing and love - and that was how it was rehearsed. It was a show for grieving all that we lost during the pandemic and a celebration of the human spirit to move forward after facing emotional challenges. This production mirrored the struggle of loss the entire world grappled with after the pandemic and offered hope for the future through connections like singing together. Melissa taught us that singing together can sync our heartbeats for a moment in time. Fuse, like the rest of the world, is holding on tight to our community and supporting each other through recovery.  We struggle everyday to hold onto the ideals of creative collaboration and face the challenges together. We share creative joy at every meeting in an effort to stay “sync-ed”. We make decisions prioritizing people and wellness. Looking back and forward, my world is filled with creative people that make my community a family.  


3 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page