Feature Article
CORPUS DELICTI: JUST DESSERTS

Q & A With Meghan Strell

What is your role in Corpus Delicti: Just Desserts?
As Creator/Performer, I'm writing my character. Sister Luyt is historical ficiton based on the research I'm doing on anatomy and the Renaissance. As Artistic Director of Local Infinities I am producing the show.

Where were you born? Where did you grow up?
I'm a Chicagoan. I was born in Hyde Park, grew up in Wicker Park, and got a BFA in performance from the Theater School at DePaul University.

What other theatrical or creative projects have you worked on?
I originated roles in: Wax & Wayne, Local Infinities wax extravaganza; Sink, Sank, Sunk (2004), Redmoon's site-specific spectacle in Ping Tom Park, Chinatown; Psycho-so-matic (2005), another site-specific piece set in the Speedwash Laundromat on Damen. Larry Underwood (Form Giver/Dr. Tulp), Seth Bockley (Corpus Delicti's Dramaturg/Outside Eye), and I all collaborated on these last two pieces, and Larry portrayed Wayne in Wax & Wayne as well.

[link to Larry Q&A]

What aspect of CD are you most looking forward to?
I am looking forward to creating an original piece for UIC. I'm looking forward to consulting medical experts in the development of a piece. I would like to play operting theaters throughout the US and anatomical theaters throughout Europe. I would like to join the ranks of those who democratize the experience of gazing inside the body. I would like to create an opportunity to confront mortality in a theatrical environment.

What/who are your creative influences?
I've been influenced by M. Lecoq's idea of observing the behaviors of elements and raw materials, and by Avener Eisenberg's eccentricity as a performer.

How would you describe your working process?
I experiment with raw materials to find the metaphors they communicate on a visceral level.

What's your favorite color?
Blue-grey

What's your favorite Halloween horror flick?
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

What's your favorite Halloween costume?
One year I rode a magic carpet through the neighborhood. I suspended a table top around my waste, hid my legs with a drape and made fake legs, crossing them swami-style on the carpet. If I stood still it looked like I was sitting on a table but then I would start to sway. That confused people. I went to a party with my father but complained that all the adults were squeezing my legs, trying to figure out how I was floating. My father said I could squeez them back, which I did, much to their surprise.

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