An internationally renowned performance artist will make his way to SIUC tonight to present his solo performance “Glory Box.”
Tim Miller will perform in the Marion Kleinau Theatre at 8 p.m. According to Miller, “Glory Box” is the most emotionally intense and funniest piece he has ever made.
“’Glory Box’ is a funny, sexy, and charged exploration of my journeys through the challenge of love, gay marriage, and the struggle for immigration rights for gay people and their partners,” Miller said in an e-mail.
Miller said the play reflects his real-life struggles with his Australian partner Alistair McCartney. Craig Gingrich-Philbrook, a professor in the Department of Speech Communication, said McCartney cannot become a United States citizen because of same-sex marriage laws.
“Their relationship has this sort of extra burden of dealing with these questions of immigration that a heterosexual couple wouldn’t face,” Gingrich-Philbrook said.
In addition to performing, Miller said he is also conducting a workshop with 16 students to prepare for their performance “Body Maps: Stories From Our Lives”, which will be performed on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 8 p.m. Gingrich-Philbrook said the performance is a collection of autobiographical stories about the students.
Shauna MacDonald, a student in the performance, said there are five workshops this week. She said the workshops last three hours and are very intense.
“It’s the type of experience where you know you’re there for three hours, but while you’re in it, it doesn’t feel like three hours,” MacDonald said.
MacDonald said the students are excited to work with Miller because he has been doing it for years and makes a life of it.
“It’s the chance of a lifetime in some ways,” MacDonald said.
Meagan Oestry, a senior majoring in speech communications, said Miller is fun to work with because he brings out the best in his students.
“It’s been an amazing experience,” Oestry said. “He’s brilliant and deeply caring.”
Gingrich-Philbrook said Miller conducts workshops across the country to share the value of solo performance to students. Miller said he was invited to the university by Gingrich-Philbrook and is having an amazing time.
“I ask the group to look under their big rocks and find the hot and wet places of their stories,” Miller said in an e-mail. “I ask them to own their fierce living and bring that forward into performance.”
MacDonald said Miller’s appearance reflects well on the speech communication department’s connections with outside artists.
Gingrich-Philbrook said the department is able to attract artists because of the Fine Arts Activity Fee, which funds these kinds of events.
“It provides the students the opportunity to see people of all kinds in the arts,” Gingrich-Philbrook said.
Gingrich-Philbrook said the workshops represent a great opportunity for the students to grow as performers.
“It provides confidence and a sense that they really can do it, that our experience matters, and the art we make out of our experience matters,” Gingrich-Philbrook said.
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