Nejma Nefertiti Opens "Mermaid's Howl" at La MaMa
Recently our own Nejma Nefertiti collaborated with theatre artist Marina Celander in a stage production presented by La Mama Experimental Theatre Club for its Series of One: A Solo Performance Festival, titled Mermaid's Howl. The title is an homage to the legendary South Korean female sea divers, who for hundreds of years have made their living harvesting seafood by hand from the ocean floor. Known as haenyeo, or sea women, they use no breathing equipment, although a typical dive might last around two minutes and take them as deep as ten meters underwater. At one point, a wolf also speaks through Marina - ergo the "Howl." Celander's play utilizes lights, sound effects, costumes, dream-work, and spiritual channeling to tell the story of her immigrant Korean/Japanese/Swedish mother as she struggles to establish her identity.
