LIFE ON THE WATER: A REUNION

Life on the Water was an extraordinary presenting and producing organization based at Fort Mason Center for seven seasons between 1986-1993. Centered in its own custom-designed space (now the Bayfront Theatre), the company was dedicated to presenting artists who originated their own work, and committed to a blend of experimental and traditional stage forms, political statement, and cultural diversity. It became nationally renowned for its pioneering showcases of solo theatre work by such luminaries as Spalding Gray and Karen Finley as well as co-producing the annual Solo Mio Festival. LOTW’s presentations also ranged from music, dance, screenings, and workshops to ongoing programs such as Latino Theatre Project, Earth Drama Lab, and AsianImprov aRts (AIR).

This special evening reunites LOTW’s founding directors Ellen Sebastian Chang, Bill Talen, Leonard Pitt, and Joe Lambert on their former stage for a sparkling conversation about the company’s groundbreaking work, which includes their own creations ranging from Pitt’s unique mime theatre Not for Real and Sebastian’s epic The Sanctified Church to Talen’s biting satires such as Political Wife. The program will include never-before-seen archival video of some of LOTW’s most celebrated productions.

PANELISTS:

Ellen Sebastian Chang is a distinguished multidisciplinary director, dramaturge, writer, and arts educator with a career spanning 50 years, dedicated to advocating for human rights and understanding through the creative arts. She has collaborated with a diverse array of artists and art forms: theater, opera, dance, radio, film and installation. Sebastian Chang commenced her career as a lighting technician and designer before making her debut as a director and writer in 1982 with Your Place Is No Longer With Us, an immersive play staged in private homes about a biracial girl. She co-founded LIFE ON THE WATER, a notable producing organization in San Francisco, and served as its co-artistic director. During her time at LOTW she created The Sanctified Church with Luisah Teisch, later renamed Sanctified with Esther Scott, No Trace of the Blonde with Holly Hughes, and Janie Geiser, FACE with Bob Ernst, Artis Fountaine, NAO and Debora Iyall. She has been the creative director and teaching artist for The World As It Could Be Human Rights Education Program, utilizing the arts to deepen understanding of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and inspire activism across generations. Beyond her work in theater, she co-owned the award-winning FuseBOX restaurant in West Oakland created with Chef Sunhui Chang. She has received numerous grants and fellowships from prestigious arts foundations such as Creative Capital, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, MAP Fund, National Endowment for the Arts and Ruth Arts Fellowship. Her current focus is rewilding 6 acres of land in the Pacific Northwest planting 1350 native trees with foresters Boots on the Ground.

William Talen grew up in small towns in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, and came west in the 70’s, joining the poetry community in Bolinas before moving to North Beach. Exploring storytelling techniques with solo shows in the Eureka Theater and Intersection, he studied with Spalding Gray and Sidney Lanier. Talen then partnered with Ellen Sebastian, and in 1984 they dreamed of a radical kind of theater, inspired by the stage sets of restaurants and the parties of Anon Salon, eventually lifting “Life on the Water” from a billboard in front of a yuppie apartment complex in Richmond. Gathering with Joe Lambert and Leonard Pitt, LOTW kicked off with six weeks of Spalding in the fall of ’86. After seven years, Talen departed for New York, leaving the Solo Mio Festival to Marcia Crosby, Joegh Bullock and Kate Boyd. In New York and Europe, his character “Reverend Billy” caught a wave of post-religious spiritual hunger, inventing the movement against Consumerism by the time of 9/11. With director and life partner Savitri D, daughter Lena Nightstar, and a revolving troupe of 30 singers, the “Church of Stop Shopping” staged earth services at a series of NYC “art churches” and toured shows on five continents, always returning to justice campaigns in New York. In 2016, Neil Young and Daryl Hannah proposed that Billy preach his “Earthalujah” gospel at the opening of each show, which kicked off a ten-year collaboration, performing in 35 amphitheaters and reaching about 650,000 in Young’s rock audiences. Currently, the Stop Shopping Church has settled in the 500-seat Quaker Meetinghouse in Manhattan, the anti-consumerism of its early days now centered on the Earth’s crisis. Talen’s books include The Earth Wants You from City Lights, and now his fifth book, Earthalujah!, being published in November by Autonomedia Press.

Leonard Pitt studied mime in Paris with Etienne Decroux for four years, becoming his assistant and performing in his company. On his return to the United States, Leonard settled in Berkeley, where he opened a school of physical theatre, attracting students from around the world. Leonard’s one-man shows have received critical acclaim. He has performed and taught at theatres and festivals throughout the United States, Europe, Brazil, New Zealand, and Australia. He was also a member of George Coates Performance Works and traveled widely with the company. In Bali he studied mask theatre and performed extensively with his teacher. In 1986, he co-founded Life on the Water, where his projects included the “avant-mime” production Not for Real (created with Rinde Eckert), Spleenix , The Art of Face, and performing David Barth’s solo play, Ned. In 1991, Leonard created Eco-Rap, an environmental education program combining ecology and rap music as a way to educate inner city youth about urgent social issues. He has written and published seven books, including three books on Paris and a memoir, and created numerous videos on Paris, all viewable on YouTube (Leonard Pitt Paris). He continues to live in Berkeley and create, and is currently working on two new books.

Joe Lambert is the founder of StoryCenter and the originator of the digital storytelling movement, a participatory media methodology used by 100,000s of people all over the world. The work has taken him and his organization to all 50 US States, and some 90+ countries. Earlier in his career, he served as Executive Director of the People's Theater Coalition and Life on the Water, where he executive produced more than 500 performances, festivals, conferences, and national gatherings. Highlights include the first San Francisco Jazz Tap Festival, collaborations with artists like Guilermo Gomez Peña, the Blue Man Group, Marty Pottenger and Dana Atchley. During that time, he held leadership roles in national initiatives including the Alliance for Cultural Democracy and the National Performance Network, and served as a panelist and principal consultant for numerous public agencies and private foundations. As an author and curriculum developer, he has written numerous articles, projToday, based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, he continues this work through StoryHost LLC, teaching workshops, hosting the Elderware podcast, and exploring the intersections of story, aging, and meaning-making.

Photo decription: (From left to right) Bill Talen, Ellen Sebastian, Leonard Pitt, and Joe Lambert with model of Bayfront Theatre remodel, 1987