A Sonic Collage of the American Psyche

Can We Find More to Unite Us Than What Divides Us?

See us at the Edinburgh Fringe @ Underbelly Cowgate this August!

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Crowdsourcing the story
of a nation in an identity crisis

At Swamp Witch Studio, we believe that storytelling is a bridge to understanding. We invite you into this story-sharing project for community & personal healing.

Share your story. Listen to others. Be heard.

4-28 August @ 12:40 PM
Underbelly Cowgate
Donations are tax-deductible
thanks to fiscal sponsorship from Fractured Atlas.

This Moment in America is…

Writing & Performace Workshops

With healing at its core, these workshops help you bring your own story to life. Through trauma-sensitive writing instruction & prompts, you will craft a dynamic dramatic monologue of a personal story to share. Mindful movement and breathing practices, along with public speaking & performance technique make this an immersive experience.

A Community Story-Sharing Project

Engage with others in your community as they share their story. Connect with others across the country in the virtual gallery.

Crowdsourced Audio Drama Live Recording Performances

America beyond the news. There’s little room for nuance in tweets or slogans. Seeking a deeper conversation, this live audio drama features ever-changing vignettes drawn from real stories across the country, interwoven with current events’ transcripts.

Road to Fringe

a YouTube vlog series

Follow This Moment in America as we prepare and perform at the 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Be sure to subscribe and share with your friends!

Story-Sharing Workshops

This Moment in America workshops are appropriate for students (ages 13+) through adult. If you are interested in bringing a This Moment in America workshop to your community or school, please email contact@swampwitchstudio.com.

Clara is a member of the Kentucky Arts Council Teaching Artist Directory. If you are a Kentucky teacher, funds are available from the Kentucky Arts Council to support bringing This Moment in America workshops to your school. Please see this link to learn more about Teaching Art Together, including virtual options for residencies.

Performances

This Moment in America performances are available to book for small, “parlor” venues or for booking into larger venues. To learn more about booking a live performance, email contact@swampwitchstudio.com. Scheduling a workshop and a performance together provides a full weekend of programming.

Podcast

You can find episodes of This Moment in America on Night Owl Theatre, the audio drama podcast produced by Swamp Witch Studio. Be sure to subscribe and share with your friends!

statue of liberty graphic with words "raise your hand" on a blue background

Raise your hand to be part of this community story-sharing project for community and personal healing.

FAQ

A project that includes workshops – in dramatic writing & performance – a virtual gallery of shared stories from across the nation, and live recordings of an audio drama podcast that is an anthology of stories inspired or written by workshop participants woven with transcripts from current events.

This Moment in America, the audio drama podcast, is an everchanging anthology, featuring different stories at each performance. Live recordings are released on the Night Owl Theatre podcast.

At its heart, This Moment in America is a community art project that uses literary and performing arts. The story-sharing that happens in the workshops, the virtual gallery, and audio drama podcast seeks to promote community and personal healing.

Across the country, through summer 2023. If you are interested in hosting a workshop or performance, please email contact@swampwitchstudio.com.

Workshops consist of 12 hours of content. Curriculum includes:

  • Writing exercises that encourage healing from stress & trauma.
  • Instruction in the craft of writing for performance.
  • An introduction to audio drama, including what makes it unique from theatre, film, and audiobooks.
  • Gentle movement and stretching to literally and figuratively get the creative juices flowing.
  • Performance exercises that promote confidence in public speaking.
  • Instruction in the craft of acting, specifically for audio/voice acting.
  • Community building based in our shared humanity.

Workshops are hosted by community organizations across the country. If you are interested in a workshop being available near year, please email contact@swampwitchstudio.com.

Occasionally, workshops will be offered directly through Swamp Witch Studio. Be sure to sign up for the newsletter to find out when those opportunities are available.

To learn more about hosting workshops, please email contact@swampwitchstudio.com.

Workshops are four sessions of three hours. One suggested schedule:

Friday 5 – 8 PM
Saturday 9 AM – Noon
Saturday 2PM – 5 PM
Consider booking a live performance at your venue for Saturday night.
Sunday 9 AM – Noon
Sunday 1 PM Optional Sharing Program (Workshop participants share their stories created in the workshop with friends and family)

Please email contact@swampwitchstudio.com to learn more about hosting the live audio drama recordings.

In recent years, the division in America has become stark. Whether you draw those lines politically, geographically, between urban and rural communities, or otherwise – the divide clearly indicates deep wounds within our communities, and across the nation. Throughout the pandemic, those wounds were further deepened.

The subtext of that hurt seemed to be the same, regardless of whether the subject was politics or the pandemic:

“You don’t hear me, so how can you possible understand me?!”

But what if we had a space where we were being invited to share our story? Where we were being guided to share our story authentically? Where we were given a platform to speak our story? Where we are listened to – and heard?

That is the big why of This Moment in America: to promote healing on both the community and personal level by sharing our stories and listening – deeply listening – to the stories of others.

It is our sincere wish that you will join us in the journey of healing through story.

You can catch the podcast episodes anywhere you listen to things by following Night Owl Theatre.

Swamp Witch Studio is producing This Moment in America in conjunction with its flagship audio drama podcast, Night Owl Theatre. Founder and Creator Clara Harris, a professional actor and writer – who also happens to be a yoga teacher specializing in applying the practices of yoga and mindfulness to connecting more deeply to your innate creativity – will be conducting the workshops and is the Artistic Director for the project. 

Donations are tax-deductible thanks to fiscal sponsorship from Fractured Atlas.