How to Build a Forest

Play

How to Build a Forest

Playwright

Damour, Pearl

Play Description

How to Build a Forest was initially inspired by the loss of old growth forest in Hurricane Katrina and explores connections between people and the fragile natural world. Over the course of eight hours a group of artists and Vanderbilt students build a forest made of fabric, steel, and repurposed objects in Neely Auditorium, let it stand for thirty minutes, and then dismantle it. Audience members are invited to explore the forest during the live production.

Lighting Designer

Hardy, Miranda

Sound Designer

Connelly, Brendan

Venue

Neely Auditorium, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Date

2013-2014

Opening Date

2014-03-28

Closing Date

2014-03-29

Notes

"Part of the Festival of New Works series. In conjunction with the performance, 'A Sense of Place,' an interdisciplinary roundtable discussion with Rogers Hall (Teaching and Learning), Jana Harper (Art), Jonathan Rattner (Cinema and Media Studies), Chris Vanags (School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt), and David Wood (Philosophy), was held from noon-1:15 in Alumni Hall, room 100. Steve Baskauf, senior lecturer in biological sciences, led tree tours of the Vanderbilt campus at 2 pm on Fri. March 28 and Sat. March 29."

Photographer

Franck, Phillip

Photo Date

2014-03-29

Rights

Copyright Vanderbilt University, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Type

Performance

Identifier

VTA-10

Collection

Citation

Damour, Pearl and Hall, Shawn, “How to Build a Forest,” Vanderbilt University Theatre Archives, accessed September 23, 2026, https://theatre.library.vanderbilt.edu/items/show/1645.

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