Fit to Perform is a project by 4th year Music BA student and JustArts fellow, Taryn Williamson. It is completely free, with food provided for those who register here.
There will also be performance opportunities for anyone wishing to sing, perform a monologue, a dance, or a poem/spoken word piece.
The Historic Y Courtyard
738 N 5th Ave, Tucson, AZ 85705
Saturday, February 8th, 2025
3:00-7:00 p.m.
$Free Admission
Contact taryn626@arizona.edu with any questions.
Space heaters WILL be provided!
Free tickets and donations are available through Eventbrite.
Event Agenda:
3:00 – 3:30 p.m. – Welcome Dinner
3:30 PM – 3:35 PM: Opening Song / Poem by Taryn Williamson
3:35 PM – 4:10 PM: Guest Speaker – Roweena Mackay
4:10 PM – 4:25 PM: Intermission
4:25 PM – 5:00 PM: Guest Speaker – Elaine Romero
5:00 PM – 5:05 PM: Remarks / Song by Taryn Williamson
5:05 PM – 5:40 PM: Guest Speaker – Gretchen Wirges
5:40 PM – 5:50 PM: Break
5:50 PM – 6:50 PM: Open Mic for Attendees – open to anyone who wishes to perform a song, dance, monologue, poem or spoken word story that relates to body positivity or anything they feel inspired to share
6:50 PM – 7:00 PM: Closing Remarks and Performance by Taryn Williamson
I Will Eat You Alive, by Katie Hileman, is a play in the form of a dinner party for three women that explores the beauty, pain, and absurdity of diet culture and navigating society in a fat body.
Katie Hileman (she/her) is a fat DIY theatre maker working out of Baltimore, MD who is passionate about making and producing new plays. Katie works as a director, playwright, intimacy choreographer, performer, producer, or some mix of all 5. She holds a BFA in Acting from University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and an MFA in Theatre Arts from Towson University. She is a collective member of Submersive Productions, and a 2024 Finalist for Baltimore’s Baker Artist Award.
Content disclosure, from the playwright: know that talking about relationships with bodies, particularly fat bodies, is usually talking about trauma, both internal and external, micro and macro. because we don’t always talk about our relationships with our bodies in a real way, you may not realize just how traumatic it is until you speak or hear the words. that being said, within the play there is: explicit talk of disordered eating and bulimia, diet talk including calorie numbers, fat-shaming, references to drugs and alcohol, strong language, sexual assault, negative self-talk, and even a death threat or 2.
ROWEENA MACKAY teaches in UA’s School of TFTV and is area head of Live & Screened Performance. She is also an adjunct instructor at the Tohono O’odham Community College. Roweena is a professional dramaturg who has been working in the entertainment industry for 25+ years and holds an M.F.A. in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism from the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University. She moved to Tucson to produce a short film in 2019 and, basically, never left. Most recently, she has worked with Borderlands Theater on their production of Antigona 3.0 and David E. Kelly, as a researcher for Presumed Innocent (Apple+TV).
ELAINE ROMERO
The Body as Storyteller.
In this workshop, participants will locate stories from within the body to begin writing from stored experience.
GRETCHEN WIRGES has appeared on, directed for, and written plays for most of the stages in the Tucson Theatre community, Some of her notable acting roles include Margery in HAND TO GOD (Arizona Onstage), Rumpet (Scrooge) in A DESERT CAROL (Scoundrel & Scamp), Candace in THE BOOKSTORE (Invisible Theatre), Peppermint Patty in SNOOPY THE MUSICAL (Live Theatre Workshop) and understudy for Ethel in Barefoot in the Park (Arizona Theatre Company). Gretchen also works in many other aspects of theatre including sound design, project design, costuming, and stage management. As a playwright, she has also directed several of her original plays at Scoundrel and Scamp, Live Theatre Workshop, and Tucson Academy. She prides herself on bringing care to her craft to ensure that the work is served, as well as the theatre makers with whom she has the honor of working.
Gretchen will be performing a monologue, BODY AWARENESS written by Lindsay Joelle. Gretchen performed this solo piece this season at Invisible Theatre in their first annual GOING IT ALONE show. The piece is a funny, raw look at how we view our bodies, and ourselves. Following her performance, Gretchen will lead a meditation in motion exercise that takes aim at the things we tell ourselves about our bodies, our talent, and the space we take up in the theatre community and in the world.
TARYN WILLIAMSON is a fourth-year Music BA student, with a thematic minor in Screenwriting. She recorded a solo album in 2014 and has since released several singles as well. Taryn is currently in the process of recording her second album for her honors thesis, which will be a soundtrack to her 13 episode TV scripting project. She produced an independent documentary called Mind Over Fatter, which has body positivity and mental health themes while telling a story of personal weight loss struggles. As a JustArts fellow, Taryn has created this project, Fit to Perform, to increase connections and performance opportunities amongst under represented people in the local performing arts community. After her anticipated graduation in December 2025, Taryn plans to attend the University of Georgia to pursue an MFA in Screenwriting. While she is still at the U of A, she hopes to establish a group that will continue the work of Fit to Perform after she leaves this area. She is also in the process of establishing a 501(c)(3) for the organization so that she can continue the same type of work wherever she goes and spread it amongst other universities and cities.
She is the host and creator of this event and will be singing songs and doing intermittent readings of poetry and some of her writing.