Across The Ninefold River Journeys Across Campus

Savannah Brooks ’26

News Editor

Last weekend, Across the Ninefold River, an original production directed by Matthew Glassman ‘99, saw a successful run. Glassman, a visiting lecturer, along with Ugnė Tumonytė ‘24 and Allie Mikalatos ‘26, performed as traveling-circus-type characters. Glassman, Tumonytė, and Mikalatos created the performance as they rehearsed. The shows also featured contributions from Trinity theatre students and faculty as well as a group of local children. Ninefold followed these three nameless characters (who were parts of a traveling group of performers of which many had died) through the main quad and into the Chapel. The show included Tumonytė singing a heartfelt Lithuanian song and Mikalatos performing a contemporary dance. A jazz saxophonist and an opera singer dressed like a tree also made appearances. The show was centered around the themes of mourning and life itself and took inspiration from Greek mythology, Aztec cosmology, and indigenous American themes. The production was extremely interactive, with Glassman offering bananas to the crowd before the show and Tumonytė giving audience members in the Chapel roses. Although the final performance was dampened by wind and rain, the show went on and concluded its run successfully on Saturday night. For more shows similar to this one, Double Edge Theatre in Ashfield, MA, serves as a large source. Glassman served as co-artistic director at Double Edge from 2012-2020 and specializes in experimental outdoor spectacle performances.