At the McCullough Theatre on Saturday, the audience erupted in laughter as UT alumna Suzanne Bocanegra read a script to actress Lili Taylor through an earpiece. Taylor, who performed as Bocanegra, then repeated Bocanegra’s words to the live audience.
Taylor, who appears in “Mystic Pizza,” “Say Anything” and “The Conjuring,” began her performance lecturing about the “Honor” tapestry, which depicts the 16th century’s societal hierarchy. Then, the lecture transitioned into a commentary on women and society throughout history.
“I try to get actors who can take what I’ve written and sell it to the audience and have them get their attention and listen to it,” Bocanegra said in an interview. “(Lili Taylor) knows how to do that.”
Bocanegra said the idea for “Honor: An Artist Lecture” evolved from her previous projects, including “When a Priest Marries a Witch,” which started at the Museum of Modern Art, and stars actor Paul Lazar, known for his role as Dr. Pilcher in “The Silence of the Lambs.”
“I wanted to tell this story about my church in Pasadena,” Bocanegra said. “I asked this friend of mine, Paul Lazar… to perform it as me, and he didn’t have enough time to memorize the whole thing. He works with the Wooster Group in New York a lot, and they often use this in-ear device. So he said, ‘I’ll just do that.’ That’s how it all started.”
Bocanegra said “Honor” remains her only project to not start with a personal story. However, her mother, life in Texas and New York, and her career as an artist inform the show. The show’s producer, Jecca Barry, said the pieces come together beautifully.
“She has this incredible locker in her brain of all of these moments of beauty that have struck her in her life,” Barry said. “… She takes the audience on these beautiful, winding journeys that are really unexpected. She’s also very funny… and she puts that humor into the piece in a beautiful way.”
Director Geoff Sobelle said Bocanegra’s personality shines through the show.
“It’s almost like a cabinet of curiosities,” Sobelle said. “If I just gave you a bullet list of those subjects, you would think, ‘How on earth are those things all going to be in the same lecture?’ … You can see (the audience’s) brains light up because they just delight at that journey.”
From here, the show will go to the University of Iowa and eventually back to New York City.
