Prologue: A House is Not a Home

projections: images from real estate listing for my grandparents’ home

music: “A House is Not a Home” sung by Dionne Warwick

I set the performance, moving furniture. I place books, a ukulele, and a push broom. Finally, I strew balled-up paper trash over the stage. I join Dionne Warwick for the final chorus.

Act 1: Coperformative Witnessing

objects: stacks of books on materiality, performance, loss, archiving

I (live) and my mother (in clips from a prerecorded interview) discuss personal and academic theories of hoarding until we are interrupted by a knock at her door.

Act 2: Technique

projection: Marie Kondo arrives, helping the audience develop their sense of what does and does not “spark joy.”

instructions: a disembodied voice asks the audience to help me sort, instructing them to look under their chairs to find my mothers objects.

I stand with three boxes: “keep,” “donate,” and “trash,” and wait for the audience to sort their objects into the appropriate piles.

Epilogue: The Girl Who Has Everything

projections: houses, razed by construction excavators; seagulls flying over landfills

music: “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid sung by Jodi Benson

I sing along with Jodi as I sweep up the trash from the stage.