A True Tale of Love, Fear, and AyAhuasca
Ceremony grew out of the belief that stories have the power to transform both storyteller and audience, that something magical happens when one person stands in front of a bunch of other people and shares something true about themselves. That even though we all have different experiences and come from different places, there’s something intrinsically human at our collective core and that a well-told tale will resonate universally at this core level.
Ceremony is, of course, about a shamanic ceremony, but my hope is that it also becomes a kind of ceremony itself; that each performance allows us to come together as a community for an hour and share an adventure.
Over the past two years, I’ve been privileged to share this story in places like Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Orlando, Las Vegas and Harrisburg, PA. We've had amazing crowds and garnered great reviews. LAist praised the production stating, “A worthy lineal descendant of Spalding Gray’s Swimming to Cambodia, this Ceremony is an occasion to savor and certainly not to miss.” LA Weekly designated the show its Pick of the Week and one of the 20 Best Things to Do in L.A. The production has also received multiple awards including the Duende Distinction for Playwriting, Best of Fringe Extension at the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2013, Outstanding Solo Show at the San Diego International Fringe Festival 2014 and Best of Fringe and the San Francisco Fringe Festival.
All of that is great. But the most memorable moments have been small interactions with people who saw the show.
A girl and her boyfriend, who baked brownies for me and trundled them around the San Diego Fringe Festival in the hope that they would run into me.
The man who emailed me and shared that after seeing the show he’d had conversations with his best friend that he’d never thought of having before.
The woman who approached me after a performance with tears in her eyes and quietly murmured ‘thank you’ before disappearing into the night.
These moments of connection keep the story alive and worth sharing. Thank you so much for being part of Ceremony!
-Michael
Ceremony is, of course, about a shamanic ceremony, but my hope is that it also becomes a kind of ceremony itself; that each performance allows us to come together as a community for an hour and share an adventure.
Over the past two years, I’ve been privileged to share this story in places like Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Orlando, Las Vegas and Harrisburg, PA. We've had amazing crowds and garnered great reviews. LAist praised the production stating, “A worthy lineal descendant of Spalding Gray’s Swimming to Cambodia, this Ceremony is an occasion to savor and certainly not to miss.” LA Weekly designated the show its Pick of the Week and one of the 20 Best Things to Do in L.A. The production has also received multiple awards including the Duende Distinction for Playwriting, Best of Fringe Extension at the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2013, Outstanding Solo Show at the San Diego International Fringe Festival 2014 and Best of Fringe and the San Francisco Fringe Festival.
All of that is great. But the most memorable moments have been small interactions with people who saw the show.
A girl and her boyfriend, who baked brownies for me and trundled them around the San Diego Fringe Festival in the hope that they would run into me.
The man who emailed me and shared that after seeing the show he’d had conversations with his best friend that he’d never thought of having before.
The woman who approached me after a performance with tears in her eyes and quietly murmured ‘thank you’ before disappearing into the night.
These moments of connection keep the story alive and worth sharing. Thank you so much for being part of Ceremony!
-Michael
