The 1963 Studebaker Avanti shown
on the theater website. |
Former Deluxe Sheet Metal Factory
in downtown South Bend |
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The University of Notre Dame's
Department of Film, Television and Theatre (FTT) in conjunction
with The Builders Association, a media-and- performance company
based in New York City, announced their temporary site-specific
theater, designed to host nine performances of Jessica Chalmers'
play Avanti:
A Postindustrial Ghost Story in the fall of 2004. The
former Deluxe Sheet Metal Factory in downtown South Bend was
transformed using screens, video projections and objects, to
make them look and feel like old Studebaker factories, which
were empty from the early 1960s. Located adjacent to the Grand
Hall of Union Station, the factory-turned-theater space held
70 seats and incorporated actual relics from the Studebaker
factories into its set design. Jessica Chalmers, assistant professor
of media and performance studies at the University of Notre
Dame said, "It would have been ideal to have the play in
the Studebaker factory itself. Deluxe Sheet Metal was the best
facsimile of a late 1950's factory we could find. When we saw
all the accumulated years of dirt and grime on the walls, and
the old wooden office tables and chairs, complete with a retro
1960s style clock hanging from a crumbling support beam, we
knew we had found a home for Avanti." Unlike traditional
theater, in which the set is situated on a raised stage that
separates the audience from the production, performances of
Avanti took place directly on the floor of the Sheet
Metal Factory. Chalmers added, "In Avanti, the factory
is filled with lingering memories and troubled souls who don't
want the past to end. These characters are surrounded by abandoned
automotive debris and pools of corrosive chemicals, but; they
don't see the wasteland the plant has become. Instead, they
dream of the sleek, new car, the Avanti and remember
the days when Raymond Loewy walked among
them. Avanti premiered in South Bend on September 24th and ran
through October 3, 2004. More
information is still available / Visit
the play's Website.
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