Hi y’all,
UPDATE:
We are currently in Edinburgh, halfway through our run, and just got an incredible review!
LINK TO FRINGE REVIEW:
Karen, Rodney, August, and Diana here! After successful runs in NYC at The Tank in 2023 and Spark Festival in 2024 which was funded by a Karen's Support for Artists Grant, we are planning to take our one-act play USE YOUR WORDS! to the Edinburgh Festival in 2025! Karen and Rodney will continue their comedic shenanigans onstage and August and Diana will be the heroes backstage and in the booth but, this time, we will be wooing the Scots and festival-goers across the pond.
We are incredibly proud of this play and want as many people as possible to experience it!
Tickets are now available!
Our Baby
Use Your Words! is a one-act play about a new mother struggling with the responsibility of caring for a tiny human. The show is rooted in comic physicality with many props mimed—most importantly, the baby.
Conception
When Karen first conceived of this play, she was pregnant with her second child. She began with a twinkle in her eye and sketched a rough five-scene outline. Inspired by both motherhood and Imp, her longtime wordless comedy improv duo, Use Your Words! was born.
Gestation
Through improvisation, trial and error, and creative inspiration, the script began to evolve. With her longtime director (and good friend), Melissa Attebery, she cultivated this project for years—trying out scenes at festivals and workshops to see what worked and what didn’t.
Birth
Welcome our incredible Creative Team:
Rodney Umble: Musician on Trumpet and Percussion
August Siegel: Production Stage Manager
Diana Krasovska: Assistant Stage Manager
CJ Whitaker & Ella Danyluk: Sound Designers
Jesse Baxter: Lighting Designer
Nurturing this Project
Here’s where you come in! We welcome and encourage you to spoil this child of ours to your heart’s content. :) Your support will go towards our venue, airline tickets, housing, and updates to the set (it's got to fit in suitcases now!)
Come Dote on Us in Person!
We will keep you apprised as we book our venue and begin marketing our participation in the 2025 Edinburgh Festival in case you'd like to jet over to catch our performances in the flesh.
News! Feb 2025
We have a venue! Our run will be at theSpaceUK's Niddry St Upper Theatre on the Royal Mile!
~~~~~~
We wanna brag on our baby a little, ok?
Here are a selection of audience responses from our NYC runs:
USE YOUR WORDS! is refreshing and funny as both physical storytelling and a personal but universal account of the early phase of motherhood. This style and this topic are seriously under-explored, so this show is a gift.
Ian Morgan, Associate Artistic Director, The New Group
USE YOUR WORDS! was truly one of the best things I've seen so far this fall. Karen Eleanor Wight's artistry, skill level, and capacity to hold a room's attention is impressive.
Ria T. DiLullo, Artistic Director of Skeleton Rep
Wight's attention to kinesthetic detail in USE YOUR WORDS! brings this hilarious and meaningful journey of motherhood to life. Each of her movements are simultaneously incredibly clear and comedically timed. You won't last two minutes without laughing.
Joseph Heitman, Artistic Director, One Day Dance
Karen Eleanor Wight's USE YOUR WORDS! is a mesmerizing journey through parenthood. In her captivating performance, Karen will make you laugh, think, cry, and, if you're lucky, hold an invisible baby. Don't miss the chance to see this powerful performance.
Vanessa Shealy, Executive Director, Emerging Artists Theatre
Thank you in advance for considering supporting our artistic bundle of joy!
Mama Karen, Uncle Rodney, Cool Cousin August, and Aunty Diana.