Katie Pearl

Performance Maker, Director
New Orleans, Louisiana; heading to Providence, Rhode Island soon, USA

Recent inspiring thing:  “Say what you mean, literally and in all other senses.” Carlos Fuentes was paraphrasing Rimbaud when he said this, in a beautiful essay he wrote about his own relationship to language, and his language’s relationship to his creative identity. In Fuente’s opinion, language constructs culture, and cultures grows and deepens through contact with conflicting ideas. Isolation leads to death. I like thinking about this in terms of a creative culture. That’s why it’s so important to see things, to read things, to go to workshops. Not to “get ideas”, but to give your own ideas something to grow against. Staying in contact gives your individual identity a stronger, deeper language, and a strong, deep language allows you to say what you mean, literally and in all other senses.

My guilty pleasure: has and always will be reading pop culture trash magazines while waiting at the airport or standing in line at the grocery store.

The production that changed my life: Pina Bausch’s Nelken, seen at the Edinburgh festival when I was 24. I saw it two nights in a row.

Katie Pearl authors alternative, often site-specific performance and develops works for theater with playwrights and artists around the U.S. Katie is co-artistic director of PearlDamour, an OBIE Award- winning interdisciplinary performance company with long-term creative partner Lisa D’Amour. Katie regularly teaches at various universities, and has a small life coaching practice. www.pearldamour.com, www.katiepearlcoaching.com

Marion Simon, nee Faggen

Administrator / Fundraiser
New York, New York USA

At age 90, my greatest inspiration comes from waking up and facing the day. I loved Providence but am happiest in NYC and grateful to LPTW for new colleagues and friends. My life in the theatre began in the ‘60’s with a production of Harold Pinter’s Caretaker, directed by my mentor, Adrian Hall, with Richard Kneeland, William Cain and J.Frank Lucas. I contacted then-Managing Director Donald Schoenbaum to see if I could be useful.

Favorite play and line:  Skin of Our Teeth, “Mrs. Anthrobus…it is girls like I who invented the alphabet.”

Marion Simon, nee Faggen. Professional Regional Theatre Administration; Trinity Repertory Company, Prov., R I. 1964-1989; ESL instructor, Brown University 1962-1964. Devoted wife, mother and nonprofit fundraiser.