In June 2017, I workshopped the beginnings of my script-in-progress Model Killer: Giant Crimes & Tiny Cover-Ups as an artist-in-residence at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center.
There were also performances Friday, June 16th and Saturday, June 17th at the culmination of the National Puppetry Conference.
Model Killer: Giant Crimes & Tiny Cover-Ups is a morbid comedy centered on a disgruntled dollhouse maker turned investigator. Vivian Nutt builds dioramas of unsolved murders only for it to be revealed that she is a serial killer.In Model Killer, I am creating a universe in which I invite the viewer to reconsider female serial killers, the historically feminine craft of miniatures, and murder as entertainment.
In addition to performing the first scenes from Model Killer, I set out to take a stab at the following questions:
- How is our perception of gender colored through the lens of aggression?
- Can injecting the idealized settings of dollhouses with the macabre, expose the fraud of domestic tranquility?
- Are Vivian’s attempts to construct a world that fits her model of justice by eliminating problematic people out-of-scale with their transgressions?
SUPPORT
Since the residency and workshop performances, I am continuing to raise funds for the ongoing development of Model Killer through Fractured Atlas… so if you’re looking for a write-off and pride yourself on supporting interdisciplinary artist-writers who construct visual narratives that memorialize obsessional lives – you can make a secure online donation through Fractured Atlas, a 501(c)(3) public charity. Contributions for the purposes of Marsian De Lellis are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Thank you to the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and the Walt Disney Company for funding this artist-in-residence; and Sharon Challenger, Bob Bonniel, and Margo Linden Katz for your generous contributions.
The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center is the country’s preeminent organization dedicated to the development of new works and new voices for the stage. Located in Waterford, Connecticut, it has launched some of the most important voices and works in American theater and has revolutionized the way new work is developed. The Center is home to The National Puppetry Conference, which encourages puppet artists to create through the visual and kinetic form of the puppet, to push beyond boundaries, and develop new works.
PRESS
