an open-source comedy
Heather Gold (Northwestern JD ’95) teaches the honest class she always wanted to take and saves you 3 years, $180,000 and maybe even your soul.
Heather Gold’s The Law Project was an intriguing mix of standup, law theory seminar, and town-hall meeting…. Gold’s funny and friendly demeanor made it accessible. Drawing on her experience moderating internet conversations as a model for her performance, Gold sought to actively engage her audience by soliciting our opinions and experiences of the law; one audience member was eager to discuss the details of an eight-year lawsuit with family members, and Gold expertly moderated the discussion, embracing spontaneity while maintaining the focus of the event and interweaving a dense amount of content. Gold’s project gives evidence to the possibility of real dialogue among citizens happening not in the courts, but in the theatre.
-Jason Jacobs, NY Theatre
While I would sit in Criminal Law class in Chicago watching Professor Polsby speak variously about Mr. Cacciatore and his trespassing or the beauty of the glock 16, I would think about how great this would be if we were all uptown at Club Lower Links where I’d been hanging out at night.
That idea and image never left me. And time has continued to grow the feeling I have that we need an honest inquiry into the Law. Into Authority. So I started my own law school. There’s no entry exam or loans needed. Come on in.
How this show is possible.
Many thanks to the Zellerbach Family Foundation and Theatre Bay Area’s CA$H grant for supporting the development of this show. It has been developed with Mark Routhier, Linda Mancini and the many people who have participated in the workshops and during the development as part of the Hourglass Solo Lab.
Past Workshops and Work-in-Progress Performances.
Dixon Place’s prestigious HOT Festival , July 28th 2010
Real Live Women, Hourglass Solo Lab, Bowery Poetry Club 2007
The Marsh, San Francisco 2007
New Play Day, Magic Theatre, San Francisco 2007
SXSW Vortex Rep, Austin 2006
San Francisco Theatre Festival 2006
Why IÂ do this.
My work aims to create live, intimate community by exploring universal subjects that connect us. My interactive plays create community through the performance: To use humor, personal storytelling, and most of all the audience themselves to create a deep sense of connection and inclusion. Unlike most stand-up comics or audience participation shows, I never make comedy at the expense of the audience. I create a space for them to shine.
Live performance has an opportunity to do what our Congress and perhaps our real courts are failing to do: Be a public space in we can be whole together. I’m interested in creating experiences that challenge folks as well as bring them together. The commons is shrinking quickly in this nation, with conversations, academic and otherwise, happening more and more between folks who already agree with each other, listening to more of what they already think. Performance has the opportunity to strengthen bonds as they can bring folks together who are different, or already in disagreement. “Creating the space” has everything to do with whether or not we’ll truly be able to explore disagreement, or just talk at each other. My goal is to have people leave the show thinking, laughing and feeling connected to themselves and each other.
