Relics and Their Humans
September 19, 2024 - September 20, 2024
Experience an Ohio family’s story told through visual and musical relics in a moving theatrical performance, Relics and Their Humans. Presented on the Centennial Hall stage.
Relics and Their Humans marks the second collaboration between writer, director, and performer Ain Gordon and composer, writer, and percussionist Josh Quillen (So Percussion). Relics frames a story from Quillen’s family, based in Dover, Ohio: their three-year odyssey following his father’s 2006 ALS diagnosis. Three key family relics frame this work—a recorded interview with Quillen’s mother, his father’s journal, and a surprising playlist.
The playlist includes reimagined classics, from “One Less Bell to Answer” to “Free Bird,” utilizing phrases from Jerry’s journal. Gordon and Quillen’s spirited performances, together with playwright and director Talvin Wilks’s inventive dramaturgy and Jennifer Tipton’s evocative lighting design, transform these elements into a beautiful storytelling experience.
Please note: this performance will be presented without intermission, with no late seating. Photos: Darrell Hoemann.
Relics and Their Humans was commissioned by Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Wexner Center for the Arts, and Arizona Arts Live, with partnership performances at La MaMa Etc (NY) and support, in part, from the NEFA National Theater Project.