Chimera

Progressive modern theatre does not shrink from taking its scripts from real science. Chimera is the story of Jennifer Saunders who learns of her rare medical condition, and the struggles to maintain a sense of self. Deborah Stein’s critically acclaimed play is an ambitious, frightening and compelling take on timeless, pivotal issues of the human experience. Her inventive and funny solo performer reflects the biological, psychological and emotional ordeals in the face of the inescapability of genetic disease.

STEIN - HOLUM PROJECTS (SHP) is a collaboration between theatre artists Suli Holum and Deborah Stein. Drawing on over a decade of experience in both experimental and regional theater, SHP works with a core group of designers to create a unique hybrid of the highly visual and dexterously verbal; interdisciplinary physical theater with complex and nuanced characters. SHP builds theatrical events through experimentation, risk and exploration of the unknown. Collaborators generate raw material through an improvisatory, interactive but rigorous process that is then refined through meticulous scripting, editing and revision. Chimera was developed with a HARP residency and premiered in 2012 at HERE as part of Under the Radar, where it was a New York Times Critics’ Pick and nominated for a Drama Desk Award. The Wholehearted premiered at ArtsEmerson in April 2014 and their next, Movers + Shakers, has been workshopped at New Dramatists, Clubbed Thumb, Playwrights’ Horizons, and Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor. SHP was founded in 2009 and continues to workshop, tour, and premiere original works throughout the US and abroad.