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In an all-lowercase listserv email, Brown student theater group Production Workshop has officially cancelled their annual “Licking in the Upspace” event due to the ongoing pandemic.
“We are incredibly disappointed that we cannot invite the student body into the Upspace this Fall to engage with a sense of place," wrote PW communications director Michaela Price ‘21. “Why is it that in most places we are told we ’shouldn’t’ all lick differently textured objects and each other? Licking in the Upspace would have attempted to to confront that stigma head on, just like all theatermaking should."
In the past, the week-long licking festival has hosted many different licking activities designed to reexamine the historical practice, including “Licker/ee: An afternoon of touching tongues,” “Ascent/descent: A morning of licking handrails and Doorknobs,” and “Human Ice Cream Sundae.” This year, however, PW’s blackbox theater will remain dry.
“Though we know it cannot approach the magic that is Licking in the Upspace, in lieu of an in-person festival, this year we will be hosting a few remote licking activities,” continued Price. “We think it’d be really powerful theater if everyone licks their zoom camera at the same time, and maybe we can send each other saliva through the mail.”
At press time, Shakespeare on the Green officially cancelled their site-specific production of Hamlet set in an unventilated closet.
