‘woolgatherings’ Gathers Us With Purpose (Review)

Living through the pandemic is an emotionally stressful situation. While throwing every aspect of our lives into disarray, the pandemic also demands we hyperfocus on our loved ones and our physical safety, forcing us to put our emotional well-being on the backburner. And when I do have time to focus on myself, I become wound up easily, dwelling on our collective situation. It’s an inescapable ritual that has me taxed before lunchtime rolls around each day, the cocktail fuel of stress and hopelessness reinvigorating the fire of depression burning inside of me. My usual anti-depression tactics that act as fire extinguishers are empty, having no energy to refill them through self-care and relaxation. I, and I suspect others of you out there, am at a loss on how to kickstart that process. It’s this need to energize our souls that woolgatherings from Performance Interface Lab explores: an experience about fostering self healing and care arriving at just the perfect time.

It’s early Saturday night as I sit at my desk at home, staring at the phone. As arranged in an exchange of emails earlier in the week, I’m awaiting a call right at 6:30pm CST. In those few minutes of waiting before the bottom of the hour, I ensure Zoom is open and ready on my laptop along with setting a pen and paper nearby, completing the pre-experience instructions.

Within seconds of the start time, the phone rings and I answer. It’s Pete Danelski, one of the creators of woolgatherings. He explains that his friend Francis has been having a rough go during the pandemic. (Trust me Francis, I get it.) Pete thinks it’d be a great idea to create a hope chest for Francis. Yet instead of the hope chest being a physical object to store tangible items in, it’ll be a mental one to receive kind words and thoughts I’ll share with Francis on Zoom later.

For the next 15 to 20 minutes, Pete guides me through a series of activities I do alone at home. The proposed goal of each activity is to mine something to share with Francis that he’ll appreciate. But as we progress through each activity, unsure if these words will mean something to Francis later, I find that they quickly mean a great deal to me. I explore and discover hopeful moments, gifts, and actions from my past that I appreciate remembering. And while the activities are well structured, it’s Pete’s adaptability to guide me without being physically present that’s most impressive. Every moment of self discovery lands perfectly without being steamrolled by the forthcoming activity. I feel my mental storm clouds begin to break apart, allowing in much needed personal happiness.

Believing we have enough words and thoughts to fill Francis’ hope chest, Pete provides login information for a meeting on Zoom. Before asking me to put the phone down, Pete informs me that Francis will be joining shortly.

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(What follows next will contain minor spoilers that I’ll keep as vague as possible, but I must discuss them as this is where woolgatherings flounders slightly.)

In nearing my meeting with Francis, I begin to have suspicions on who he really is. Yet when the other party joins me on Zoom, I’m caught off guard and pleasantly surprised by their identity. During this reveal, I clinically and technically understand what woolgatherings is attempting to do between this other party and myself. I happily lean into the moment. But it seems that the other party doesn’t quite understand what was being asked of them. They appeared to struggle, speaking passively, rather than directly at me, during our time together. In putting myself in this other party’s shoes, I’m unsure if the moment doesn’t work because it’s insufficiently set up, if they’re suffering from stage fright by the sudden spotlight on them, or if the misdirection leading up to this moment is too well done.

It’s an ambitious moment of intimacy that Performance Interface Lab attempts in the woolgatherings climax. While the moment didn’t land, I nevertheless felt enriched by it. I experienced great joy in connecting with the other party, hoping that sharing my words of kindness and hope enriched them. I greatly appreciate the words they shared with me, still to this day. Even working with Pete on the phone brought a rewarding warmth back into my daily life. One of Pete’s activities had me expressing a thought on love, one that I strongly believe in yet find myself unable to heed my own advice on. Those words are on my desk now, sprawled out on an index card, a comforting reminder I use to jump start each day. It dawns on me that it doesn’t matter how well structured our act of kindness is, but rather that we attempted to connect with someone else at all. And in appreciating and understanding the kindness that Performance Interface Lab has provided me to use and carry forwarded, I find that to be a valuable and precious gift to have during the pandemic.

woolgatherings runs through April 26. Tickets are pay what you can with a minimum of $1.

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