In 1995, workers cleaning out the Willard Psychiatric Center in upstate New York discovered hundreds of suitcases from former patients packed away, their owners buried and forgotten. The objects within were time capsules of lives disrupted and interrupted, simultaneously rich with details about their owner’s past yet devoid of answers to how or why. The suitcases were unfinished stories trapped in time.
Forgotten Baggage is an evening told with Object Theatre, intimate and simple. Each scene is based on items from one suitcase, giving the objects inside a chance to live out their lives, if only for a brief moment. Essentially a work of fiction inspired by remnants of actual people, the tales have been gleaned from the objects themselves. Told both with and without words, the stories go from comedic, to fantastical, to tragic.
Together they weave a fractured yet cohesive evening,
(echoing, perhaps, the mental states of the original
patients). This Fringe production is a work in progress
production, featuring 2-3 “Suitcase Stories.”
Currently in an early stage of development, this show is based on the photographic work by Jon Crispin of the actual suitcases. For more information, please visit www.willardsuitcases.com
Forgotten Baggage is proud to be a recipient of a 2016
Henson Foundation Workshop Grant!
Three work-in-progress performances will be scheduled
as part of the 2016 Hollywood Fringe Festival at:
Sacred Fools Theatre Studio
1078 Lillian Way
Los Angeles, CA 90038
Also be sure to see the wonderful Jon Crispin’s wonderful work at
