The Wild Peace of Collaboration

Cassi Moucka

by Cassi Moucka


When I act or direct in Omaha, my principal question before I take on a project is simple:
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is it interesting? ​

For me to be able to answer that question in the affirmative, I need a collaborative (or political) element. I want danger. I want to dare. I want the audience to be moved, angered, or even confused, but never, never merely entertained. I want to learn and grow from my co-conspirators in the arts. I enjoy consuming a wide range of genre and style, but for me to invest my time and soul in the act of creation, I need the work to surprise or challenge the audience and to scare me a bit.

Paradoxically, by chasing that danger in doing political, experimental, and immersive projects in town, I have found a wild peace, a deep and holy trust with collaborators, artists who can handle not only the quotidian surprises inherent in all live theatre but the particular joys and terrors that non-traditional scripts, concepts, and venues afford us.

My dream is that Omaha will become a more equitable and robust place through theatre, poetry, spirituality, education, and dialogue. May we collaborate to make it so.