She is preserved in a brine of sulfur dioxide and calcium chloride to bleach out bad memories. She is soaked in a suspension of reality…she is good intentioned and made of love. Saturated in sugar syrup and colored dye, her veneer is perfection but her cracks reveal something else entirely.

Royal Ann’s Preserve investigates my maternal grandmother’s relationship with abuse, neglect and fixation on physical appearance. My Mother Joan' childhood memoirs serve as source material as well as family photos, iconic images from past times, writings on feminine identity and cult films Mommie Dearest and The Forbidden Planet.

Created and Directed by Faye Hargate

Installation Design by Joan Hargate

Performed by Carly Garinger, Faye Hargate and Darius Stubbs

Premiere: September 10, 2011 — Cleveland Public Theatre