Jason Pollak Theatre of Witness

In her projects Years, Home Tales, and Growing up Female, Sepinuck was just developing her process. Since these were the beginning of her theatre career, before the Theatre of Witness was even officially born, they were the prototype for all her future work. In how she discusses working with elderly and aging people, you can see the real core of her work-the throughline of her practice: Not Knowing, Bearing Witness, and Falling in Love.

Not Knowing
Sepinuck says that she was unfamiliar with old people and the world of the theatre. To jump into practice with complete strangers with a vastly different experience, in an unfamiliar world, is an incredible leap into the unknown.

Bearing Witness
It's clear that so much of Sepinuck's work is created through being there to see other people. The discovery she talks about is how putting "people onstage playing themselves" is possibly the key to making powerful theatre. In cultivating the shows she talks about in this section, she tells much of it through the stories of others that she was able to bear witness to.

Falling in Love
The incredible thing about bearing witness and fully listening with presence is that it's impossible not to fall in love with someone when you see the beauty inside. Allowing herself to feel that way and get lost in these performers' extraordinary stories is what makes for such powerful understanding.