Epiphany is a professional performance structure created by Nadia Ross in 2010, built around true stories contributed and performed by members of the public.
The work brings together 8 to 12 participants, each sharing a personal story about a moment of insight or realization. Stories can last anywhere from a few seconds to a maximum of five minutes. Each participant speaks at a microphone while an image they have chosen is projected behind them.
The stories are held within a precise theatrical structure involving two attendants, music, projected images, entrances and exits, and a participant who believes they have never experienced an epiphany.
As the performance unfolds, participants gradually leave the stage until only the attendants and the person still waiting for an epiphany remain.
The structure creates a meeting point between lived experience and theatre: the stories belong to the people telling them, while the performance framework shapes how those stories are encountered by an audience.
The complete Epiphany Play Structure sets out the performance sequence, participant structure and technical requirements for the work.
Contact info@stounion.com for permissions and/or information on the Epiphany process.
Presentation history
- True Human Stories (Epiphany Process)/New Play Festival Theatre Wakefield/Wakefield, Quebec/October 30, 31, 2010
- Aha! Alt Erlaa (Epiphany Process)/Brut Kunstlerhaus/Vienna, Austria/March 16–25, 2012
Legacy
Epiphany is an early example of STO Union’s work bringing members of the public into a professional theatrical structure built around true stories and live performance.
The structure developed for Epiphany went on to inspire other artists to create new works using related approaches.
“Anyone who spoke could hardly contain praise, describing the show as “powerful” and “generous.”
Lucy Sholey, The Low Down, November 3, 2010
