Presented by the Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Theater & Music Theater.
Grief Work by Kenza Benazzouz
Run Time
Approximately 1 hour, 15 minutes; no intermission.
Content Advisory
This production contains flashing lights.
Special Notes
No flash photography permitted. Please silence all electronic devices including cellular phones and watches, and refrain from text messaging for the duration of the performance.
Accessibility
The Drapkin Studio is an accessible venue with an assistive listening system. Learn more about access to the Drapkin Studio.
Cast
The World: Steph Chen ’25
The Hanged Man: Xander Constantine ’27
The Wheel of Fortune: Leila Dahmouh ’27
The Fool: Kristen Tan ’26
The Hermit: Benny Wertheimer ’27
Production Team
Director: Kenza Benazzouz ’24*
Set Designer: Kenza Benazzouz ’24*
Lighting Designer: Vincent Gerardi ’25*
Sound Designer: Kenza Benazzouz ’24*
Stage Manager: Kira Fitzgerald ’24*
Run Crew: Matthew Ciccone ’25*, Sandra Chen ’24*
*denotes a certificate student in the Program in Theater
Faculty Advisors
Chesney Snow, Primary Advisor
Ogemdi Ude, Secondary Advisor
A Note from the Project Proposer
Grief Work emerged from a feeling of loss that I couldn’t quite name. Graduating high school and entering college during the pandemic, I had felt that I had missed out on so much; so many key memories and experiences that I would never be able to get back. Grief was the only name I could give to this ache, but was it accurate? From this feeling, I began to explore the different and non-traditional ways in which grief manifests; the loss of childhood and the desire to go back, ache for dreams that never came true, and feelings of loss for something before it is even gone. These are all things that we feel as humans and yet grief is a solitary topic; we can’t imagine that others feel our losses and pains, but we share far more than what we believe. To share our grief means to share our love, and this piece is an invitation to rethink our feelings of loss. Poetry became the mouth through which I could explore the notion of grief, and by walking the line between poem and play, Grief Work emerged as a choreopoem; a series of scenes with poetic language and expressive movement. The choreopoem form gave me the freedom to explore the feelings I sought to understand, while still telling a story about healing and discovery.
Grief Work is an examination of the ways that love and loss permeate our lives and the ways in which we are not as alone as we believe. Grief Work is a prayer, an invitation for light to enter our lives and for grief to remain as a shadow of love.
Special thanks to my family for supporting me in all my crazy endeavors; to my friends Campbell, Shaky, Aditi, Mari, and Mia for always lending a listening ear and an open heart; to Cathleen and Anurag for being amazing creators and celebrators; to my advisors Chesney Snow and Ogemdi Ude for helping me find my footing; to my cast and crew for working tirelessly to make this show come to life (We did it!); to the wonderful poets Patricia Smith, Ilya Kaminsky, and Marilyn Chin who have taught me how to become a better observer of the world; and to anyone who has ever felt as if the darkness outshines the light, remember that the door can always be opened.
Thank you to the audience for spending your afternoon or evening with us, and I hope that at least part of this piece resonates with you. Enjoy the show!
As the wonderful poet Oscar Wilde once said, “Where there is sorrow, there is holy ground.”
With love and gratitude,
Kenza Benazzouz ’24
Writer and Director
Land Acknowledgement
An estimated 10 million Native Americans lived in North America before the arrival of European colonizers. Many thousands lived in Lenapehoking, the vast homeland of the Lenni-Lenape, who were the first inhabitants of what is now called eastern Pennsylvania and parts of New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware.
Princeton stands on part of the ancient homeland and traditional territory of the Lenape people. In 1756, the College of New Jersey erected Nassau Hall with no recorded consultation with the Lenni-Lenape peoples.
Treaties and forced relocation dispersed Lenape-Delaware to Ohio, Kansas, and Oklahoma. We acknowledge the violence of settler colonialism and pay respect to Lenape peoples past, present, and future and their continuing presence in the homeland and throughout the Lenape diaspora.
For more information, see the websites of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative at Princeton (NAISIP), Natives at Princeton and Princeton Indigenous Advocacy Coalition.
Lewis Center for the Arts
Chair: Judith Hamera
Executive Director: Marion Friedman Young
Director of Program in Theater: Jane Cox
Producing Artistic Director, Theater And Music Theater Season: Elena Araoz
View a full list of the Program in Theater Faculty & Guest Artists
For a look at all the people working behind the scenes to bring you this event, view a full list of LCA staff members
The programs of the Peter B. Lewis Center for the Arts are made possible through the generous support of many alumni and other donors. View a full list of LCA Supporters
