Rachel Kauder Nalebuff
Performance The Cycles
Performance July 23, 6 pm at the FOFA Gallery
The Cycles, 2017, by Rachel Kauder Nalebuff, directed by Deena Selenow, with performers Elise Peterson and Jessica Luck. PRELUDE, New York City. Photo by Maria Baranova.
About the performance
The Cycles is a 75-minute live performance built for a cast of three pregnant actors who, by design, must continually rotate out of the production. What begins as virtuosic theater progressively breaks down, and ultimately becomes an experiment in ephemerality and collective presence.
The play begins by following the story of three pregnant strangers in a healthcare waiting room who are waiting, seemingly, for all of eternity. Over the course of the performance, we traverse across different periods of history—spanning Medieval Europe, the 70’s, prehistoric humanity, and right here right now, dropping all scripted characters. The performance is at times mystical and at times slapstick, like the experience of pregnancy itself.
I’ve been working on The Cycles in different iterations since 2016. (The initial idea was partially inspired by a visit to The Let Down Reflex exhibition!) I first envisioned the project as a way to reimagine the institution of theater and a small-scale version of society. Could I write something that supports a pregnant cast through a historically punishing rehearsal process? Could we make a workplace and a culture where accessibility and care are centered, valued, and contribute to the artmaking itself?
As of this writing, 22 different pregnant actors have performed in and cycled through the piece. Actors have shared that their participation was their antidote to the often isolating and overwhelming experience of pregnancy. Actors have also shared maternity clothing, baby items, and created support networks that far outlast theatrical productions.
Three years ago, I went through the experience of pregnancy myself and wanted to return to the project to reimagine it from the inside out. I also wanted to return to the project with director Caitlin Ryan O’Connell, with whom I’ve developed a theater practice grounded in care and attention to the body.
As part of our participation in The Let Down Reflex, we will be working on the play during the week of July 20th with three actors. Our week at the FOFA Gallery also begins our process for a full production of the play in New York City in September. If you are in the gallery while we are rehearsing, you are welcome to sit in. You are also invited to read the playscript—a living document that will change with our rehearsals—any time. On July 23rd, we will present a public reading of the play. We hope you’ll join us!
For this iteration of the performance, the artist will be joined by Luiza Dale, Hope Kronman, and Emma Zakes Green.
The Cycles, 2017, by Rachel Kauder Nalebuff, directed by Deena Selenow, with performers Ying Ying Li and Elise Peterson. PRELUDE, New York City. Photo by Maria Baranova.
Screenshot of footage from The Cycles, by Rachel Kauder Nalebuff and directed by Deena Selenow, for the BBC Four documentary In Search of Utopia (Dir Russell Barnes, 2017), featuring performers Jennie Liu and Jeanne Syquia.
Biography
Rachel Kauder Nalebuff’s performances—often about love, the body, and solidarity—have been staged at REDCAT, The Skirball Center, The Public Theater, and La Ferme du Buisson (in collaboration with artist Emily Mast). Rachel created Our Red Book, named a best book of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle, and the New York Times best-selling My Little Red Book, two anthologies that bring together voices from around the world to reflect on transformative journeys surrounding menstruation. Most recently, Rachel is the author of Stages: On dying, working, and feeling, a hybrid collection of writing and interviews with end-of-life care workers that “feels truly revolutionary, in both form and in content” (Elif Batuman). Together, with director Caitlin Ryan O’Connell, she approaches theater-making as a way to enact a small-scale version of the world we wish to live in. She currently directs 3 Hole Press, a small press for experimental drama, and teaches creative writing at Yale University. Last but not least, she is the mother of a wild animal/toddler.
Acknowledgements
The Cycles has received developmental support from the Skirball Center (Los Angeles), the Hammer Museum (Los Angeles), PRELUDE (NYC), and the Mercury Store (Brooklyn), and will be produced at the Collapsable Hole (NYC) in September, 2026. A huge thank you to our director, Caitlin Ryan O’Connell, to all previous members of our ever-changing cast, and to our current cast, Luiza Dale, Hope Kronman, and Emma Zakes Green, for your creative contributions and presence. Thank you to Amber and Juliana, for the original inspiration many years ago, and to you both again and Maria, for making our presentation possible.
