Meredith Williams
A&E Editor
Tim Miller is an American performance artist, writer, and activist. Miller’s performances often explore issues related to self-identity and social justice. His newest novel is “A Body in the O,” which addresses issues of gender, immigration, and censorship. The book’s cover depicts Miller standing in the “O” of the Hollywood sign, signifying Shakespeare’s concept of the theater with the “Wooden O” from Henry V.
Miller’s website describes “A Body in the O” as “his autobiographical explorations into identity, politics, and art through the lens of his own experiences lead to visceral, humorous, and poignant performances.”
After traveling for 20 consecutive weeks, Miller found himself at Sewanee, where he conducted a workshop for students interested in experimental theater. Through a five-day workshop, two students, Natalie Turnage (C ’27) and Nick Govindan (C ’24), wrote their own pieces regarding their past experiences and symbolic aspects of their bodies.
Turnage and Govindan were to sketch out a map of their body and make note of important features that are significant to them and their past. After this, they would each write a ten-minute monologue about a particular body symbol of theirs that shaped who they are today. For Govindan, it was his beard; for Turnage, it was a bone she had problems with in her early childhood. Miller explained, “We moved around, warmed up, and then I invited people to really imagine how they poetically and metaphorically imagine their bodies, the means, the memories, the stories, and the conflicts that live there.”
Body Maps was a non-conventional and experimental form of performing arts. From walking with their shoes on their hands to measuring the length of the room itself with a small protruding measuring tape, this type of theater is highly praised. Experimental theater takes someone bold, and Turnage and Govindan were the perfect duo for this show.
This performance had a much deeper significance than what meets the eye. Miller explained, “So this is Nick’s last performance here, and this is, well, it’s Natalie’s first performance at Sewanee, so this was really meaningful for both of them.” Turnage added, “Nick and I looked at each other, and we shook hands, and it was almost kind of like a symbolic passing of the program…”
With only two students participating in the workshop, the performance and experience itself were extremely personal and individualized. “I was really getting an in-depth connection with Natalie and Nick,” explained Miller.
A noteworthy feature of the workshop was the focus on non-conventional storytelling. Narrative patterns were abandoned in favor of abstract themes, allowing the performers to explore the emotions and symbols of their bodies. While some may have been first confused by this break from tradition, in the end, it created unique opportunities for individual self-expression.
Turnage explained, “It kind of made me realize how theater isn’t just, you know, telling other people’s stories, but it can also be about telling your own, and that’s like, it can be just as much a performance as, you know, a memoir.”
On November 28, 2023, at 7 p.m. at Blue Chair Cafe, Turnage and Govindan will perform Body Maps. If you want an insight into these Sewanee students’ lives, dreams, obsessions, peeves, memories, and desires, I recommend attending this extraordinary theatrical performance for the experience of a lifetime.
If you want to read more about Tim Miller or check out his newest release, “Body In The O”, then visit https://timmillerperformer.com/.