Times Unseen.

The recent election has ushered in a change, perhaps the largest reversal in politics and policy, our country has experienced in the post-World War II era. The country is highly polarized and, regardless of the hue any of her citizens are drawn to, most people are passionate about their particular fraction of the political rainbow. And meanwhile, Americans fall in love, have families, try to make opportunities for themselves and their loved ones, get sick, pass on... in short, live the intense drama of their personal lives.

Our national story is a blending of these two kinds of story. There are times, The Civil War, The Depression, WW II, when the collective narrative overruns the personal and unites us in one national story; and there are times, like the 1980's-'90's, when the individual's story has room to emerge, diversify, differentiate.

What kind of times are before us?

Times Unseen is a long term project designed to explore the effect the coming political changes will have on the personal lives of individuals. It is an exploration in which, rather than waiting for the future to give those individuals a durable experience enclosed in an immutable past, people will be invited to tell their stories in the uncertain now, with its awkwardly woven threads of hope, fear, expectation and disappointment. How to tell a story while it is happening? The Marsh is best known as a theatre for solo performers. And this gives an impression of atomized individualism. What is not widely known about.

The Marsh is how much it is a community of artists. It is the mutual support of the artists in the community, as much as anything, that is the foundation for the Marsh's longevity and success. It's a community of mutual exploration and education. It's also a community of diversity. It's a community of people who know how to reach out beyond their own bubble.

Times Unseen, because the recent election was unlike anything anybody has seen, because we seem to be in new territory politically, and because politics, for better or for worse, are about promises of a new future, times as yet unseen.

Sample video from our first event, April 10, 2017:
https://vimeo.com/232708758