The Cyborg Project Reflections
The Cyborg Project, I call it the miracle sandwich (I really love sandwiches), each end containing a blessing, but, the juicy stuff held in-between. The project started when two colleagues of mine both simultaneously mentioned The 418 Project as a place I "needed" to connect to. A rather coincidental event seeing as though I had been looking for a venue for my next project. I immediately emailed Laura, the director of The 418 Project, and gratefully got a meeting. Laura was bright, supportive, and nurturing and took me into her family of weirdos and unexpectedly said yes to my proposal. Neither of us knew what we were getting ourselves into, but we were excited for the potential of good people doing good things.
Having gotten a tour of the space I felt waves of imaginative potential move through me (Pisces rising). Waves that seemed to numb the fact of how much work it would all be... thankfully. Don't they say that visionaries are the ones who are just too stupid to say no? Or something like that? Anyway, this unique opportunity started with a team of three doing a lot of head tilting trying to comprehend what we could do in 2 months. Luckily I had amazing collaborators, Treyden Chiaravalloti and Avital Meishi who were also stupid enough to make this project happen.
I say stupid because making an immersive show in the middle of a pandemic with no prior funding was risky, challenging, and unusual. My team and I faced death, sickness, and unexpected upheavals that demanded everything in our power to make the show possible. It was a fight to the end, of course, a creative fight, that led to a show none of us could have dreamed of.
Finally, we made it, the miracle on the other side, three sold-out shows, and a 3D virtual experience on the way. However, It's not our external accomplishments I am the proudest of, but our inner transformation that makes me giddy with glee. The growth that my team members and I went through in creating this project has been absolutely outstanding. I told Laura "I can't explain it other than telling you that I walk on this earth differently now." I walk with certainty. I walk with listening. I walk with confidence that no matter what gets thrown at me I will get up and continue to create. Laura said this project has formed a diamond, reflective, layered, and glimmering with light. I couldn't agree more.
Thank you to The 418 Project, my incredible collaborators, our heart-filled and thought provoked audience, and to all the behind-the-scenes crew for making this project possible. I do believe the world is a better place because of it.
-Nathan Hirschaut, Producer of The Cyborg Project