Six Theatre Artists take Five Days to create Two World Premieres in One Beautiful Sanctuary…

CounterCurrent Collective’s “TÖGAL: Cross the Threshold” Opens Friday, February 20th for Two Performances Only!

Hot on the heels of their Coastal Maine tour of Caryl Churchill’s A Number, presented in venues from Portland to Bass Harbor, the artists behind Belfast’s CounterCurrent Collective - John Jurcheck, Courtney Hayes, and Madeline Bugeau-Hartt - aren’t slowing down one bit. On the contrary: they’re attempting their most ambitious project to date.

On Feb 15th, three professional theatre artists from around the country—Lucy Smith (Atlanta), Adriane Robinson (Boston), and Matt Genkin (NYC)—will arrive in Belfast and join the counter/current team to create a brand new, wholly original theatre piece. This powerhouse six-person team will work together for 8 to 10 hours a day, Monday through Friday, to create this work. Then they’ll present two “work-in-progress” performances of what they’ve come up with on Friday, February 20th and Saturday, February 21st at 7pm at the UU Church in Belfast.

TÖGAL: Cross the Threshold is a daring and visceral theatrical attempt to dance with the wisdom of the Bardos to navigate the new world order. In Buddhist practice, tögal means “leapover”, "direct crossing," or “the practice of vision”, and refers to a state of transcendence near death. The collaborative team will draw inspiration from Pema Chödrön's book How We Live is How We Die, as well as The Tibetan Book of the Dead and personal stories of mysticism and transformation.

“Nothing matches the thrill—and terror!—of creating a new work of theatre,” remarked Artistic Director Jurcheck with a laugh, “but somehow we managed to assemble an insanely talented and experienced group of artists.” (In theatre parlance, creating original work with a collaborative group is referred to as “devised theatre”.) Bugeau-Heartt, the group’s self-styled “Devising Czar” and Director of the project, chimed in, “I have no doubt that TÖGAL will prove to be unlike anything any of us—nor any of our audience members—have ever experienced before.”

Producing Director Hayes gave some insight into the process thus far. "Over the last several weeks, Team TÖGAL has been meeting on Zoom to develop the framework for the show, and we’re all excited about what’s taking shape so far. However, most of the development of the piece will happen when we get together in person next week. So while I can’t be too sure of exactly what might happen in the piece, I can confidently say it’ll be a thrilling evening of performance for cast and audience alike.”

Hayes also emphasized that, since tickets are on sale before the show has been fully conceived, audiences should plan on being prepared for anything. “We’ll probably ask you to take off your shoes, so bring warm socks or slippers. We might ask you to participate, but you can always decline. You may be asked to read something. You may be very close to the performers. There may be flashing lights. But rest assured our highest priority is to hold our audience members with grace and care, so you can trust that we’ll keep you safe while we go on this adventure together.”

TÖGAL: Cross the Threshold, a World Premiere immersive theatrical experience, runs Friday, February 20th and Saturday, February 21st at 7pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Belfast, 37 Miller St.

Tickets start at $20. Facilitate discussion to follow every performance.

Tickets and information are available at www.becountercurrent.com or call the box office at 720-496-3297.

Email connect@becountercurrent.com with questions.