The Exponential Festival and The Brick present
Más que un Pétalo
by Salomé Egas
January 23 – 27, 2024

Más que un Pétalo (More than a Petal) is a multidisciplinary theatrical experience deconstructing the Ecuadorian immigrant experience in the United States. Using dance, theater, textile arts, music and stop-motion video, the performance invites audiences to see the immigration journey of a taxo flower, “Tauzhu Sisa”, an Ecuadorian native plant.

Playwright & Performer: Salomé Egas
Director and Dramaturg: Brynne O’Rourke
Producers: Brynne O’Rourke & Zeynep Akca
Scenic Design: Annie Del Hierro
Music: Julián Velasco
Choreography & Costumes: Salomé Egas
Lighting Design: Hayley Garcia Parnell
Stage Manager: Eulàlia Comas
Assistant Director: Kira Joy Williams
Assistant Stage Manager: Ana Gabriel

The flower, clad in a costume made of skirts hand-sewn by the artist, teaches the audience about her relationship to Ecuador and its land, its native people, colonization and immigration. She eventually sheds her petals (the skirts) as a play on the game “loves me, loves me not.” As each petal is “plucked”, words categorizing immigrants such as “welcomed” or “not welcomed” are revealed. Now petal-less, the flower realizes that these petals carry heavy labels that leave her feeling both desired and rejected by the US and its peoples – a constant emotional rollercoaster. The flower is left to rediscover her worth beyond these labels, her “petals,” a symbolic representation of views held about immigrants. The performance takes the audience on a journey of self-acceptance, radical self-love and immigrant narrative empowerment.

SALOMÉ EGAS is proudly Ecuadorian: an interdisciplinary performer, arts educator and children’s books author who is permanently questioning her identity through multiple mediums: dance, theater, film and textile arts. This year, she’s a NYFA NYC Women’s Fund Recipient and The Opportunity Agenda’s Narrative Innovators Lab Fellow for her multidisciplinary project Más que un Pétalo. In 2022, she was a Brooklyn Arts Council grantee and an American Immigration Council fellow. As a solo performer, she incorporates radical self-love and indigenization as tools to empower the ancestral knowledge carried by immigrant and femme bodies of color. Salomé has performed nationally at several venues in NYC; and internationally in Ecuador, Venezuela, Cuba, Argentina and Canada. Salomé attended Creative Capital’s Latinx Workshop (2020), EmergeNYC (2018), obtained a Master’s from NYU (2018) and graduated from Skidmore College (2014).

Find them: salomeegas.com brynneorourke.com | IGs: @masqueunpetalo, @salomeegas

Lead image credits:
Performer: Salomé Egas
Photography: Camila Javier
Hair: Cristi Britton
Make Up: Camila Javier

The first script was informed by the playwrights’ personal immigration journey and data from “Map the Impact ”. In 2022, MQUP first workshop was part of the “New American Fellows Showcase”, sponsored by the American Immigration Council, the Brooklyn Arts Council, and the Ecuadorian American Cultural Center. In 2023, Egas developed the final script of the show as part of her “Narrative and Culture” Fellowship at The Opportunity Agenda”s Narrative Lab. The final shows are created with support from: NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theater by The City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment in association with the New York Foundation for the Arts.

THE EXPONENTIAL FESTIVAL
JANUARY’S BROOKLYN-BASED THEATRE FESTIVAL
~ A pleasure, a mess, a thrill, and a dream. ~​

Exponential is a month-long January festival dedicated to New York City-based emerging artists working in experimental performance. The participants in this multi-artist, multi-venue festival are committed to ecstatic creativity in the face of commercialism. Exponential is driven by inclusiveness and a diversity of artists, forms, and ideas coupled with utopian resource-sharing, mentoring and the championing of risky, rigorous work in eclectic fields. theexponentialfestival.org

***

The Brick is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. We rely on the generosity of our patrons. Consider giving a tax-deductible donation today to help make The Brick a sustainable hub of experimental performance for many years to come. Donate Here or Join Our Patreon

A Note on Accessibility: The Brick has trigger warnings posted in the space for each show for you to check if you so choose. If you would rather ask questions in advance of being in the space or would like to enter in advance of house opening due to our seating not being assigned, please reach out to theresa@bricktheater.com.

Mask Policy: The Brick strongly encourages but does not require masks for audience members. We are in ongoing conversation with our artists and audiences as we continue to adapt our covid policies and it is subject to change at any time. Thank you.