People and their edges.
JESS APPLEBAUM - Founding Partner
Jess is a dramaturg-scholar whose practice is rooted in contemporary performance and social action. As a dramaturg she works collaboratively with performance makers, academics, and activists to develop and facilitate creative processes. Her work pays particular attention to lifting up the cultural and political context of each project: identifying how the content developed serves both its creators and its audience in a shared, live moment. As a PhD candidate in CUNY’s Theater and Performance program, Jess’ scholarship focuses on the labor of dramaturgy: pushing the perceived boundaries of how research is performed and applied in both creative and academic work. She believes that bodies perform knowledge, process activates power, and that, together, they can inspire new pedagogical and civic practices.
NIC BENACERRAF - Founding Partner
Nic is a creative director, scenographer, and public scholar, who creates and studies live performance. As a Mellon Public Humanities Fellow with the PublicsLab, Nic translates concepts from performance studies to deconstruct the techniques of mass persuasion in our everyday lives. As a theater director and scenic designer, Nic engineers systems and environments for genuine human encounters in theaters, galleries, concert halls, and streets. For over a decade he served as founding co-artistic director of The Assembly, a collective dedicated to building slow-cooked works about pressing social issues. He holds a BA from Wesleyan, an MFA from CalArts, and is finishing a PhD in Theatre & Performance at the CUNY Graduate Center. Nic's design work can be found at www.nicbenacerraf.com.