A Familiar Feeling Spring 2023

Recent films such as Encanto and Turning Red have successfully used fantasy to explore the ways that generational wisdom (and trauma) are passed down, and what we can do to end negative cycles and start positive ones. In A Familiar Feeling, we aimed to do much the same thing by telling a story about multiple generations of a family in a ghost story format.

Under the direction of Lily Tanner, performers worked together to create a new play about familial relationships, intergenerational interactions, and of course, ghosts. The use of ghosts in this play allowed us to explore what it would look like if dead family members could communicate with the living.

The result of all our efforts is “A Familiar Feeling,” a humorous and heartfelt play about familial expectations, religion, gender, and all the awkward moments that come with being connected to other humans – plus a few ghosts to keep things interesting.

Directed by Lily Tanner and produced by Empire Arts Collective. Performances were on April 28th & 29th, May 5th, 6th, 12th & 13th 2023. Starring