Sandy Spieler

October 2003: Supported by an Archibald Bush Leadership Fellowship, Spieler begins an 18 month sabbatical, enrolling in a Masters Degree program at Bristol University in England. Much of her academic and performance work revolves around some aspect of water. Spieler stages her work as interactive experiential events intended to build dialogue as an intrinsic part of the performance experience.

Room of Divining

Compares creative process to water divination. “We Go to the River First” – studies the process of uncovering the buried River from the back car lot of Welfare State Theatre Company in Ulverston UK, and the subsequent development of a beautiful performance park.

Voicing the River

Unfolds as an all-day event in the main car park in Ulverston, England – on top of a River buried beneath this lot.

The event includes an early morning divining and painting of the path of the buried River on the asphalt, ghosted walks along the path of the buried River, foot washing, water drinking, writing of a long collective poem about the River, conversations with a “cabinet of curiosities” about global water and privatization, and a history walk highlighting the many ties of the river to the development of the town.

During her last month in England, Spieler learns of a regional tradition called “Well Dressing”, – an annual festival of decorating the important wells in a town.

Spieler begins to consider how to build this act of reverence into the common patterns of everyday water use.

Voicing the River. Photos: Sandy Spieler