Over fifty ferociously imaginative emerging artists are working together to bring our world premiere of Folk Wandering roaring into reality. In advance of our first performance on February 23, we’ll be sharing interviews with each of these artists. These conversations will bring you inside this show’s very unique process of creation, and bring you a bit closer to this brilliant and wild group of emerging artists. Today, we are pleased to bring you a spotlight on lighting designer Chris Bowser.
Read the full interview below and get your tickets to performances February 23 – March 18 today!
Pipeline Theatre Company: What first attracted you to Folk Wandering? What made you want to work on this project?
Chris Bowser: The people involved–the incredibly enormous number of talented people–are what have always attracted me to Folk Wandering. My first experience with the show was a concert at Joe’s Pub and to see all my talented friends up there having created this thing together was so inspiring. To come back to it now years later and to be brought into that family with so many people I love to work with is a dream.
PTC: What aspect of the Folk Wandering story do you most relate to?
CB: I think Everett might be a soul brother. There’s something about living life simply and fully and existing in a place of constant discovery that is very attractive to me. It makes me feel free from the pressures of ambition and consumption. I find myself singing the lyric “To be able to catch those clouds/to hold them like my father held me/and laugh and laugh,” and I think it is such a beautiful image of a need that lives in all of us. It’s the antithesis to a busy life in the city in a way that I admire and aspire to–at least part time.
PTC: What big dreams have you been chasing recently (or would you like to chase)?
CB: Bringing theater to people who don’t necessarily seek it out. Tricking people into watching visually and emotionally compelling storytelling. Creating a live performance for the future generations. Making effective hybrid performance models that feel surprising and delightful.
PTC: Two truths and a lie, go:
CB: I went to Space Camp. I’m an only child. I was once an amateur figure skater.
PTC: What first attracted you to your particular specialization?
CB: I started out as a director but looking back I was always interested in visual storytelling. I started a theater company in my basement and was always excited to create little worlds and then to put colorful lights on them. As a director my focus and strength was composition, and it felt like a natural progression to become a designer. I started as a lighting designer and then started getting hired as a scenic designer as well. My ultimate dream is to do both, but I could never pass up an opportunity to work with such a smart bad ass scenic designer as Carolyn Mraz.
Folk Wandering begins preview performances on February 23, opens on March 4, and runs through March 18. Tickets are now available to all performances. Get your tickets today!
