Newton residents are key to the presentation of Origami Night – a performance of poetry and dance – at the Boston Center for the Arts from July 25 to August 4. The event is the creation of designer Christopher (Chris) Annas-Lee, who runs the Newton North High School Theatre Program, and Graham Cole. The work is a choreo-poem, using poems written by Chris’s mother, Pamela Annas, who is a Newton resident and professor emerita of English at UMass Boston. Origami Night uses spoken word, dance, and sensory design to trace the story of a woman’s life from working class Navy brat to radical feminist to mother. It also explores themes of aging, love, loneliness, and the act of self-examination.
Pamela Annas says that Origami Night opened in December 2023 in Portland, Maine, with five nights of performances and many people attending. Pleased that so many people would show up, the team decided to bring Origami Night to Boston. She hopes that if enough people attend Origami Night in Boston, they can bring it to New York in the spring of next year. Each performance is about 45 to 50 minutes with no intermission.
Pamela’s favorite parts of Origami Night are the dancing and seeing the story of her life unfold right there in front of her through the performance.
“The stage will be in the middle of everything, and a couple of rows of people sitting all around the stage, which might in any given performance go up to 50 people,” she says.
Chris’s inspiration for Origami Night was the passing of his grandfather, at the age of 99. As Chris and his mother were by his grandfather’s hospital bed, Chris suggested that they all look through the book of poems that Pamela put together. As he was going through the poems, Chris pondered his family’s nature and legacy, realizing that it was a story worth telling to the rest of the world.
His favorite part of Origami Night is “the conversation between all elements of the performance,” because even if the lighting is in touch with the choreography, it’s rare for them to be “speaking to each other” as it’s often a “one way conversation.” The choreography is influenced not just by the concept of the performance, but also by the direction of the lighting. Chris also likes working with Graham to put together these types of performances, and he especially likes that in this piece of work, “everything is talking to everything else.”
“I’m born and raised in Newton, and I went to Newton North. It’s an area that’s very financially privileged and therefore can afford to make really great theater programs for young people. They could have spent all of that phenomenal cash they have on sports or on non-theatrical and live performances, and the fact that the Newton city and school system have put so much effort into making it seem possible not just for actors to act but for people who are interested in light and how light works,” Chris says, “I was told — and experienced in Newton — that I could do that professionally and make a living doing that… I just wanted to say thanks to Newton, and I hope all of the residents of Newton here contribute to that education and come see someone who took advantage of it.”
The performances of Origami Night will be at the BCA Plaza Black Box Theatre (539 Tremont Street, Boston) from July 25 through August 4, and tickets are available online.