On February 12 and 13, Jesi Buell’s experimental play Kinderkrankenhaus (published by Sagging Meniscus Press and directed by Andrew Neisler) will be staged in Brehmer Auditorium by professional guest artists, Colgate students, and community members. Kinderkrankenhaus examines neurodiversity, deficiency paradigms in healthcare, and language theory, specifically Derrida and deconstructionism. 

In a vaguely familiar time and place, children gathered inside the grey walls of a hospital are given diagnoses they don’t understand and told to work towards correcting their ills, or face the consequences. Kinderkrankenhaus explores neurodiversity, the pathologizing of difference, and the complexity of labels in a world where the unspeaking are seen as unthinking. Can the children learn to live in this place where concepts like love are indefinable but they are still expected to know when something does not conform to its boundaries?

"Kinderkrankenhaus, is rather like an episode of The Letter People if Edward Gorey were asked to direct a script written by Jacques Derrida." —Heavy Feather

Andrew Neisler is a Georgia-raised, New York-based theatre artist and director with a passion for joy-forward, queer-affirming art, and ecological theatre that works to restore our connection with the earth. He has worked on new plays with the Public Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, HERE Arts, Primary Stages, the Lark, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, NYU, University of the Arts, Williams College, and more. He is a co-founder and creative director of the non-profit arts incubation company Fresh Ground Pepper (www.fgpnyc.com). He is an alumnus of the Ars Nova Directors' Troupe, the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab and the Civilians' R&D Group. He holds a BFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

Jesi (Bender) Buell is an author and artist from Central New York. Her longer works include the play Kinderkrankenhaus (Sagging Meniscus 2021), the novel The Book of the Last Word (Whiskey Tit 2019), and the forthcoming chapbook Dangerous Women (dancing girl press 2022). Her work can be found in Vol. 1 Brooklyn, the Rumpus, and Split Lip, among others. She heads KERNPUNKT Press, a home for experimental writing, and also works as the Instructional Design & Web Librarian at Colgate University. 

Colgate students are working on this project in tandem with professional directors and theater artists: as cast members, as partners who help cast members practice and give support, in technical aspects of production, and in the development of supporting materials for the audience. All students, like everyone working on this project, are working on some form of theatrical practice (acting or behind the scenes) and on issues of inclusion and anti-ableism. Faculty and course partners include Professor Conti's PSYC360L Bonding Across Boundaries; Professor Taylor's EDUC207: Inclusive and Special Education; and Professor Jordan's WMST202: Women's Lives: An Introduction to Women's Studies.

Funded by the Colgate Arts Council and the Ho Mind, Brain, and Behavior Initiative.  Additionally, this project was made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor's Office and the New York State Legislature and administered by CNY Arts.

Saturday, February 12, 5pm
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/kinderkrankenhaus-saturday-february-12-tickets-169367642177

Sunday, February 13, 5pm
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/kinderkrankenhaus-sunday-february-13-tickets-251532058157

Sunday's event will be streamed live at the following links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kf1ohs_Pr8
https://livestream.com/colgateuniversity/kinderkrankenhaus