Representatives from PICS worked with Student Association leaders, faculty from the departments of SU Drama, African American Studies, and LLL, and the Director of Community Engagement and Education at Syracuse Stage to select six award-winning projects. Coinciding with the 150th anniversary of Syracuse University, the PICS 2020 theme – “We Are Orange” – encouraged diverse perspectives on what it means to belong to the Orange family. Six scripts were chosen in February to be performed in tents on the quad on April 16, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, performances will be held at a later date.
Winning Scripts
Title: Another Forum
Creator: Liam McMonagle
Description: A satirical look at the effectiveness of talk-backs, forums, information sessions, and healing meetings utilized by Syracuse University in an effort to combat racial tensions and bias incidences on campus. The cyclical nature of the performance is intended to engage the audience and to serve as a metaphor for campus politics.
Title: Ekta-Unity
Creators: Seema Sureshkumar and Alexandra Berger
Description: In a world where we are becoming more divided, “Ekta – Unity ” spreads the message of love, hope, and unity through the intertwining of three international dance forms: the Indian classical dance, Kathak, ballet, and salsa. The goal is to use dance drama to show that there is strength in unity. By connecting with each other, we learn compassion and sensitivity to other cultures, races, and gender preferences.
Title: Orange Cento
Creators: A mosaic of original work by Teresa Buzzoni, Ashley Clemens, Caryn Corliss, Maya Gelsi, Jacob Gedetsis, James L. Grundy, III, Hannah Kim, Dan La Bella, Liam Owens, Gillian Pelkonen, Grace Underwood, and Ebony Zapata. Additional lines are borrowed from the following writers (in order of appearance): Yehuda Amichai, Paul Éluard, Nana Adjei-Brenyah, Iain Haley Pollock, John Colasacco, Kenneth Koch, David Berman, Laura Kasischke, Bruce Smith, Paul Cameron Brown, Grady Chambers, Jamaal May, Jane Miller, Robert Hass, Michael Dickman, Brooks Haxton, Gu Cheng, Chen Chen, Alejandra Pizarnik, Joyce Mansour, Hayden Carruth, and Sarah Kay.
Description: Cento comes from the Latin word for "patchwork.” This poetic form collages lines from poets into a new poem. The Write Out, a creative writing community facilitated by SU’s English Department, crafted a cento from lines of their own and from poets that inspire them. Through the students' meditation on the PICS theme, “We Are Orange,” the resulting poem paints a lyric portrait of Syracuse quilted together through dozens of voices. The Write Outers are excited to perform this upcoming fall semester.
Title: Perpetuated Chains
Creator: Athena Myers
Description: Black trauma has existed throughout generations, due to perpetuated societal anti-blackness and post-traumatic slavery syndrome. In this spoken-word performance, three college-aged black women speak individually as part of the whole piece about trauma in black women.
Title: Sun-Kissed Orange
Creators: Chenhui Liu and Yuxuan Luo
Description: A simple but poignant allegory about acceptance in the Orange Garden. Three characters – Mandarin Orange, Lime, and Grapefruit – each struggle with different kinds of exclusion and isolation based on their natural colors and compositions. The performance takes a deep look at the many forms of discrimination and the hurtful feelings these can cause.
Title: Where are you from from?
Creators: Rebekah Burton, Leopoldo González-Barajas, Ana Guerrero, Sahily Tamayo
Description: Set in an art gallery of mirrors, where spectators interact with the space, the images and videos, the performers, and themselves, this performance is a reflection on racism, discrimination, exclusion, and inequality. It is based at the university, but the performance also opens contemplation on these difficult topics in a more universal context.