Performance Students Bring VELVETHEAD to Factory Theatre
Performance Production + Design students Alex Grozdanis, Christopher-Elizabeth, and Fahed Altaji, are working together as producers for Pickles Theatre Co’s first in-person production, VELVETHEAD at Factory Theatre from October 14th-15th.
VELVETHEAD features two strangers, Spit and Buck, who happen to experience euphoria in the middle of the night: A vision of Velvethead. Velvethead is a celestial figure with covered in jewelry, with skin made of red velveteen . Desperate to feel euphoria again the duo lose their grip as they descend into grander and riskier attempts to get his attention. VELVETHEAD is a queer exploration of joy, wonder and the mourning of lost innocence.
Christopher-Elizabeth shares that the process started in August of 2022 and they weren’t sure if Pickles Theatre Co was going to be able to find a venue, which led the students to independently produce VELVETHEAD. Naturally, finding a venue became the team’s top priority, and they are beyond ecstatic that Factory Theatre is hosting the production.
The most exciting part for me was the tour we took of Factory Theatre. We came with so many Production Managers, Technical Directors and Stage Managers, and all of them were taking measurements, notes, they had great questions about the spaces. It finally felt real, like I could now imagine the show in our space
Christopher-Elizabeth is in their fourth year of the Production program, and they feel that VELVETHEAD is a culmination of everything they’ve learned. As the assistant director as well as the sound designer for the show, they are constantly in the rehearsal hall improving scores to the actor’s performances, workshopping ideas with the director, and guiding actors to their emotional destination.
VELVETHEAD features the work of many Performance students, and will be playing at The Factory Studio Theatre October 14th and 15th at 7:30pm with a masking mandatory matinee at 2:00pm on October 15th.
Producing a show is really a culmination of everything we’ve learned at the School of Performance. We have to budget, we have to schedule, we have to communicate, we have to fundraise so we can pay IATSE. We have to fireproof, and ensure our set is up to code. Factory is an IA house, so we’re budgeting time is something we’ve had to do very throughly as to not waste anybody’s time