Decapitations
by Salvage Vanguard Theater

Oct. 28 - Nov. 05, 2023
Saturdays-Wednesdays

When a local dog goes missing the week of Halloween, the Santos family become the targets of a homeowners association dispute while mourning the death of their matriarch an ocean away. Surreal, funny, and haunting, Decapitations is a diasporic ghost story about a multi-racial Filipino-American family.

Under the direction of Alexandra Bassiakou Shaw and in collaboration with an award winning team of designers (Inji Ha, Lisa Laratta, Henna Chou, and Stephen Pruitt), the team has reimagined the script as an interactive, outdoor, Halloween experience performed on the bucolic grounds of Rogge Ranch House. 

 

Audio Feature by Michael Lee, KUT-FM, October 24, 2023

 

Decapitations is scheduled to premiere on the evening of a full moon on October 28th. Audiences have the opportunity to purchase a special Opening Night Full Moon Soiree package where a $100 ticket includes dinner and drinks with the artists before the show. Additionally, on October 31st, a special Halloween night performance is programmed and to be followed by a signature SVT event, Scare City—a costumed, karaoke gala.  

SVT presents this world premiere after a three-year pause in this play’s development due to the ongoing pandemic. Last shared as part of SVT’s Works Progress series in February 2020 at the Asian American Resource Center, the creative team gathered anew in May of 2023 for a two week workshop to reignite the piece in a site specific, outdoor mode, for a “post-pandemic” audience. This return is a testament to SVT’s resilience in the face of a nationwide decline across the regional theater circuit. 

SVT presents this world premiere in collaboration with the Asian American Resource Center, where the playwright, Megan Tabaque, will be hosting a public storytelling event around the invention of new Asian-American family folklores on October 19th. 

 Featuring performances from Alexa Capareda, Katherine Catmull, Sarah Chong Dickey, Madge Darlington, Zachary Gamble, Rommel Sulit, and Virgil Shelby.

 The piece features music by Henna Chou, sound design by Dillon James, costumes by Aaron Flynn, and co-scenic & properties design by Inji Ha and Lisa Laratta. 

Stage Management and Technical Direction by intrepid Tor Reynolds.

Connective Tissue Tending and Producer hats donned by both playwright Megan Tabaque and SVT Artistic Director, Kate Taylor

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

MEGAN TABAQUE is a Filipina-Canadian-American playwright, actor, and arts educator. Her work has been developed, commissioned, and produced by the Alliance Theater, Salvage Vanguard Theater, Tofte Lake Center, the Workshop Theater, Paper Chairs, Theatrical Outfit, and Emory University, and Vanderbilt University  among others. She is a James A. Michener Fellow, Kundiman Fiction Fellow, Sewanee Writers’ Conference Scholar, Seattle Public Theater Emerald Prize finalist, Playwrights’ Realm Scratchpad Series semi-finalist, a 2021 Four Seasons Residency nominee, and the recipient of the Emory Playwriting Fellowship from 2021 to 2023.  Megan earned her MFA in Playwriting and Fiction from the Michener Center for Writers in Austin, TX. 

 

ALEXANDRA BASSIAKOU SHAW directs, writes and performs new work. She is a company member of Rude Mechs theatre collective based in Austin, TX with whom she’s performed in Not Every Mountain (Guthrie Theater world premiere, Fusebox Festival), directed a solo performance by Kirk Lynn called The Cold Record (Under the Radar Festival, Brisbane Festival, Harbourfront Festival), and recently directed the award-winning Fixing Troilus and Cressida. In Austin, she directed the regional premiere of Kirk Lynn’s Your Mother’s Copy of the Kama Sutra (Museum of Human Achievement), Joanna Garner’s The Orange Garden (UT Austin) and Patrick Shaw’s Operation Istanbul (Cohen New Works Festival). Her plays are all about women. Original works include Yvette and the Wild Shame (New Plays Now/Signature Theatre), Althea the Garden Cantata (The Motor Company), Womanize (NYMF Mint’d Explorers), and Si, Mi Piace l’Auto(ITE/FullStop Collective). Alex is a Lecturer in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas at Austin where she teaches directing and playwriting and serves as Co-Producing Artistic Director of the UTNT New Theatre festival. MFA, Columbia University.

 SALVAGE VANGUARD THEATER (SVT) based in Austin TX, is a nonprofit organization that provides accessible, affordable, artistic exchange among a diverse, inclusive community of artists and audiences through high quality experiences that foster experimentation and generate conversation. 

 

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Decapitations
by Megan Tabaque
Salvage Vanguard Theater

October 28 - November 5, 2023

Saturday October 28 @ 7:30 pm— w. Opening Night Full Moon Preshow Soirée 

Sunday October 29 @ 7:30 pm

Tuesday October 31 @ 7:30 pm— w. Scare City Gala (costumed karaoke!) afterward 

Wednesday November 1 @ 7:30 pm

Friday November 3 @ 7:30 pm— ASL night

Saturday November 4 @ 7:30 pm— w. AAPI Pride Night + Post Show Panel

Sunday November 5 @ 7:30 pm

PERFORMANCE LOCATION: Rogge Ranch House, 3506 Rogge Ln, Austin, TX 78723

TICKETS: Reservations available online at salvagevanguard.org/tickets and at the door. Tickets start at $15+ and Pay-what-You-can. The SVT board has committed $500 in the spirit of Pay-what-You- can ticket pricing to ensure more audience members have access to impactful work. Whether you can contribute $15 or $500, donations in this spirit preserve SVT’s mission of Radical Accessibility. When a local dog goes missing the week of Halloween, the Santos family become the targets of a homeowners association dispute while mourning the death of their matriarch an ocean away. Surreal, funny, and haunting, Decapitations is a diasporic ghost story about a multi-racial Filipino-American family.