IT’S NOT A TRIP IT’S A JOURNEY

Effects Consultant

Written by Charles Evon Simpson

Directed by Nicole A. Watson

Round House Theatre, 2022- World Premiere

June needs a journey. Like, now. So, she convinces her friends to ditch New York City for an impromptu road trip to the Grand Canyon. As the four wildly different friends travel through the wondrous and not-so-wondrous sights of the United States, they must come together to contend with being Black, femme, and American…all at the same time. An intimate play with vast ambitions, it’s not a trip it’s a journey is about road trips, friendships, and finding the difference between surviving and thriving. (Part of the National Capital New Play Festival)

Ryan was hired as a Special Effects Consultant to develop a method for a human being to regurgitate hair balls live on stage. This surrealist moment was a visual climax to a character not able to speak the words that’s really on her mind. It’s like a hair ball is stuck in your throat. Ryan devised a way for the actor to “throw up” three large balls of fur, the final one visibly growing out of their mouth. A particularly grotesque effect which heightened the theatricality of the moment.

Reviews:

“In the throes of a crisis perhaps too profound to be reduced to a few sentences, June, a seemingly stable and strong New Yorker, speaks in abstractions and ellipses. She plucks analogies from wherever she can, searching for an image or expression that might help her understand her pain, so she can in turn help her friends understand what’s consuming her.”-Metro Weekly

“This illustrious, anticipated, world premiere production is a must see”-BroadwayWorld