The #StayHome Project
a virtual play experience exploring what it means to return to a "new normal"
Mission of the project
The #StayHome Project is an ethnodrama resulting from a 3-month virtual participatory action research (PAR) process exploring what it means to stay home during state-mandated Stay-at-Home orders led by Health Educator and Theatre Artist Saharra Dixon, MA, CHES. Our co-investigators include Susan Yakoub, Trevor Catalano, Mary Holiman, Anna Gundersen, Adam Stevens, Niloofar Alishahi, and Emari Vieira-Gunn. We spent several weeks conducting interviews and processing our experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. From this material we created a virtual play and premiered on Saturday June 20th 2020. Our play illuminated government shortfalls, but also helped process collective trauma, build community resiliency, and start some important dialogue! We have since uploaded our play on Youtube.
The #StayHome Echo-Back!
While we hope to encompass a wide variety of narratives and experiences with the #StayHome Project, we understand that with the global impact of COVID-19 there are far more stories to be told. That's why we're launching a new initiative, the #StayHome Echo-Back. For the first time in most of our lives, the audience is but a click away, and we'd like to make theatre the conversation it's intended to be! We're looking for humans and artists alike across the globe to share their experience with the new normal through video, movement, audio, and conversation. These are stories of our time: both viruses and activism, home life and beyond; help us tell the tales of our world in this time.
Use the steps below to send us your material!
If you'd like to be a part but are unsure how, fill out this form! One of our co-investigators is on the job making sure you have the support you need to tell your story, or someone you love's story.
Check out these prompt questions to help you tell your story →
What does home mean to you?
How would you describe your home/community to an outsider?
How did COVID-19 impact you from the start? Is it different now?
What has been the hardest part about social distancing/quarantining for you?
Do you feel safe in your home/community?
How has the pandemic given rise to positive change? Negative change?
How are you staying connected with loved ones while practicing social distancing?
How has your world changed? What does your world look like a year from now?
Do you feel like your community was equipped to handle this pandemic?
Step 1
Watch The #StayHome Project on YouTube (approx. 35 mins)
Step 2
Find a story you want to tell (either your own, or someone else's)
Be sure to get written consent!
Step 3
Record yourself telling the story!
Remember to tell the story in 1st person, as if this story happened to you.
Step 4
Share, Share, and Share!
Share your video or audio recording on social media using the hashtags #thestayhomeproject #stayhome and #thestayhomeecho and invite others to join in.