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overhead, a skylark called

Bird silhouetted on a fractured rainbow background with text overhead, a skylark called
Frank Sinatra Chair in the Performing Arts logo

Collaboratively created by Frank Sinatra Chair in the Performing Arts Brian Thorstenson, Visiting Artists-in-Residence Detour Productions, and the Ensemble

Directed by Eric Garcia & Kat Gorospe Cole (Artistic Co-Directors of Detour) and Brian Thorstenson

Mayer Theatre and across campus

May 9-18, 2025

SCU Student Free Theatre Show logo

A group of travelers separated, now stuck in three locations..
One is walking in circles…Two waiting for a train…Three for a plague to end…
A message: stop the circles, find a river, follow the skylark…

A new devised piece of dance-theater collaboratively created with Sinatra Visiting Artists-in-Residence Detour poses the question “what do you call home?” Choose from three experiences at locations across campus (Vari Hall, de Saisset Museum, Edward M. Dowd Art and Art History Building). This not-to-be-missed immersive and unique theatrical event culminates at the Louis B. Mayer Theatre.

CONTENT ADVISORY for the De Saisset Museum: The Plague Archives includes explicit images of disease, suffering, and death, and deals directly with human behaviors in events of mass illness, including histories of scapegoating, racism, sexism, anti Semitism, genocide, disease and science denialism, and class, financial, and scientific exploitation.

Creating the work and documenting the process

Videos of the work itself and documenting its production from creation to final performance were crafted by Leandro Glory Damasco Jr and Ivy Wu ’25 as an integral part of the Sinatra Project. Ivy's film won Best Student Documentary at the Department of Communication's annual Genesis Film Showcase on June 12.

5 shots showing faculty and students during the creation and rehearsal process of the new devised work overhead, a skylark called

Rehearsal on location

The performances began in satellite locations around campus— in Vari Hall lobby, in the Dowd lobby & on the Arts Paseo, and at the de Saisset Museum —before progressing to Mayer Lawn and Theatre for the conclusion of the show.

Collage of 7 shots from rehearsals of the new devised piece, overheard, a skylark called

The Performances

Vari Hall

collage of overhead, a skylark called performance inside Vari Hall and by the SCU fountain

De Saisset Art Museum

Collage of overhead, a skylark called show inside the De Saisset Art Museum

Dowd Art & Art History Building

collage of overhead, a skylark called performance in SCU Dowd Art building lobby & out on the Arts Paseo

Across Campus - with golf carts for mobility, and the sound techs were an integral part of the performaces.

Collage of outside scenes from overhead, a skylark called

Mayer Theatre

Onstage a woman in a long red dress with a train and a woman in a pale blue dress with a train stand in front of a lit outline of a flying bird; on the right, a woman in a plage green floral ballgown crouches behind a kooky bird house

Scene from overhead, a skylark called in Mayer Theatre and 4 character insets

More Photos>>


The Project

Detour Dance

Learn more about the Sinatra Chair in the Performing Arts and this collaborative project

Students on the Fess Parker Stage reading text for overhead, a skylark called, the Sinatra Project 2025

Study Guide: An introduction to devised theatre and the Jesuit theatrical tradition

Brian Thorstenson on Mayer Theatre stage with the cast of overhead, a skylark callead

The Ensemble

A party following a successful event

A celebration of Brian Thorstenson followed the opening night performance.