ReWritten - Tom Truss and Matthew Cumbie

Conceived of by Tom Truss and co-created with Matthew Cumbie, ReWritten reflects on the often-overlooked intimate relationship between Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne as a way to explore queerness, history, intimacy, writing and self-expression. The relationship between Hawthorne and Melville has been characterized as one of the most mysterious and fruitful friendships in American letters, yet the letters from Hawthorne to Melville are missing. ReWritten springboards from this historic gap and time-hops between then and now as an attempt to expand how we see ourselves in these stories. Through performances and community engagements, ReWritten weaves together dance, music, visual art, projection, and text, and reimagines an intergenerational queer love story.

Creative Team

Tom Truss & Matthew Cumbie, co-creators + performers
Larry Burke, filmmaker
Roma Flowers, projection design
Rudy Ramirez, director
Diane Samuels, visual design
Katherine Stubbs, dramaturg
Jeremy Winchester, set and lighting design