RASH featured in All for One Theater Festival

RASH has been selected as part of the inaugural solo show theater festival All for One.  I couldn't be more delighted.  The festival's goal is to present "outstanding solo shows that inform and inspire, together with workshops and panels to enhance the development and appreciation of solo performance."

They have a very unique approach that I have never seen before.  Their festival line up is entirely curated - they select the shows rather than putting out a call for applications.  The festival is combined with workshops by some of the top names in solo performance. Their advisory board consists of an amazing array of talented people, including some of the top solo performers, such as Mike Daisey and Nilaja Sun.  AFO also aims to act as a curated gateway to a network of performing and teaching opportunities beyond the festival.

Last but not least, the team at AFO, led by Michael Wolk, are already a dream to work with.

So mark your diaries for November 13th and November 20th for Theatre 80 St Marks in NY, and stay tuned for more.  Tickets will be available soon.

X marks the spot: RASH extract up on YouTube TEDx Channel

I was delighted to find my performance at TEDxEast on the TEDxTalks YouTube channel.  It was an amazing experience to work with Julianna Wurm and the team, as well as to hear the other inspiring speakers and meet the TEDxEast Community. Warning:  This video is a spoiler alert for those of you who haven't seen the full play. Enjoy!

TEDx catches RASH

I'm very excited to be performing an extract of RASH at TEDxEast on May 9, 2011.  It will be at the Time Center in the NYTimes building which is a fantastic space. And for those of you who won't be there, you can see it on Livestream.

As with most TED events, the conference goers are a cross-section of technology, entertainment, design, philanthropy, activist & other oddballers. If you're interested in attending this one-day conference, you need to apply.The full program for TEDxEast should be up in a few days.


Having been to the original TED and TEDWomen, they are experiences that are unparalleled in the conference world. If you've never watched a TED talk, you should definitely check it out.  If you've watched them, feel free to share a link to your favourites.

RASH comes to its first high school - Trinity School

I left the house at 6:30 am this morning to go from Brooklyn to the Upper West Side to perform an extract of RASH to the students and faculty of Trinity School. When I left home, it was dark and all the cafes were still closed.  I never imagined I would be performing RASH at 8am before my first cup of coffee!  But there I was on stage in a lovely theatre in front of 550 students aged 15-18 years and the faculty. 

I only discovered after the performance (thankfully!) that the Trinity crowd is a tough one, but the feedback I received was overwhelmingly positive.  I was fortunate to have pleased both the students and the teachers.  Having gone to a pretty rubbish local high school, I was amazed and inspired to see a school like Trinity, both in terms of the students themselves, the faculty and the school program.  Just an example, almost every day of the year, there is a speaker or performer that addresses the morning assembly.  When I asked the Dean of Co-Curricular Learning if the students realize how privileged they are, I was pleased to hear a resounding yes. 

After my performance, I shared some personal anecdotes about my life in the field and the transition to WITNESS.  I showed a short video and talked about WITNESS, as well as my belief in the power of arts and human rights, whether it be theatre, video, photography etc to raise awareness and mobilize people to action.  There was only time for one question.  "Who are the most unlikely human rights abusers you have come across?"  I talked about some of the abuses that WITNESS is confronting right here in the US, abuse against the elderly, the existence of child trafficking and treatment of child prostitutes. 

I hope this is the first of many performances at schools.  This confirmed my strong belief that high schools are an ideal setting for RASH performances.  If any of you Trinity folks come across this blog post, please do let me know what you thought of the play.  And thanks for being such a wonderful audience.

What's next for RASH?

My 6th and last performance of RASH was only three days ago but already there are plans underway for future performances.  We are in discussions with a theatre festival in NY, with universities in the US and the UK and with Microsoft HQ in Seattle.  Over the next few months I will be contacting schools, colleges and universities in particular, to guage their interest in having RASH performed on their campuses followed by Q&A with the students.  I have also decided that I will try and get RASH published as a play so I'll keep you posted on that front.  I'll continue to update the blog and encourage you to "like" our Facebook page for faster updates too.

For now, and this will resonate more with those of you who have seen the show, I'm going to cycle in the park, go to outdoor musical concerts, spend more time with my family ....

The RASH audience - who are you?

One of the most amazing personal aspects for me performing RASH at the NY Fringe has been the audience. The word seems to have spread amongst human rights and humanitarian workers and many of them have been coming to the show.  I have received wonderful feedback from this group who are seeing a part of their lives and their stories on stage, and they are overjoyed that I am giving others a glimpse into our world.

Friends and colleagues have also been enormously supportive. It's wonderful to walk outside after the show and see my acting teacher; my doula; colleagues from WITNESS and other NGOs (thanks HRW!); the UN & UNICEF staff, even those with whom I worked in Rwanda and Haiti; neighbours; journalists; friends who were in my writing and acting classes; friends from my birthing and mum groups; friends of friends; other Fringe companies and of course the great Fringe audience.  I think that even my dentist came to see the show. And a training dog. Thank you to all of you who have been so incredibly supportive.

There were several people who came to see RASH who have lost their loved ones to human rights and humanitarian tragedies, and I was humbled that they came, and relieved to hear from them how much they loved the show. 

Who am I missing?

RASH named "Best Bet" and one of Fringe favourites by Theatre is Easy

The latest RASH review is out from Theatre is Easy. The have named it one of their "Best Bets" and highlighted it as one of the best 6 shows to see at the Fringe. Their BOTTOM LINE: "A not-to-be-missed, riveting first-person account of a UN worker's three years in Rwanda."

"Jenni Wolfson isn't a professional actor. Not that I could tell. She has such a mix of natural intelligence and charisma that you can't help but hang on to every word she says. Wolfson's monologues are supported by an emotional depth that only real experiences can provide, and she delivers such a multilayered performance that any trained method actor would be jealous. Nor is she a professional playwright. Not that I could tell. Her writing is crisp, clean and nuanced. She manages to pack more meaning into a single line than most writers fit into entire scenes.

Jenni Wolfson is in fact the real deal. Born and raised in Scotland, she likes to drink tea and knit, and has worked for twelve years in the most extreme conditions imaginable as a human rights worker for the UN. Most notably, she spent three years in Rwanda in the mid-nineties during the height of the genocidal conflict and survived to tell of it, if just barely.

But Rash, playing at the HERE Arts Center as part of the NY Fringe Festival, isn't a story of murder, pain and despair. Sure, these aspects make an appearance, either as documentary photos, or as facts stated with a jaded coolness so that they seem surreal. You can tell that Wolfson has been witness to things most of us could only imagine, yet she decided to tell the story by instead focusing on life. Maybe that's the only way to approach the potentially soul-depriving subject of genocide. Wolfson talks of love the way a teenager talks of crushes, and of family conflicts as if they could be summarized by witty one-liners. Or kidnapping and threats of death as if they are something she saw on television instead of experiencing firsthand.

Rash, a show whose title refers to a reoccurring stress-induced skin affliction that acts as a barometer of a current situation, is not depressing. Although it has its moments. Nor is it ultimately uplifting, although it has those moments too. In the end it's essentially a story about life and how it unfolds mostly out of our control.

I urge everyone to see Rash before it is too late. The still young Wolfson is far from retired and is currently the managing director of WITNESS, a human rights organization that promotes the use of video to document and eradicate human rights abuses. There is a small window of opportunity to witness an authenticity that is unparalleled."