Rescue Agreement

What We Do

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Bios

Gemma Kaneko

Grant McDonald

What We Do No Frame

We are actors, writers, designers, magicians and artists from all backgrounds who want to invite you in for a drink and a show.

We utilize new technology, spectacle, illusion and immersive performance equally.

We are nomadic, inhabiting theatres and untraditional spaces.

We give our audience tangible tokens of their journey with us.

We create original experiences.

pictured - top: Laura Herbert, Joe Cilio, Sydney Davis, Sean Daniels, Brittany Allen

bottom: Amelia Dudley, Jaime Wright, David Bernstein

photo courtesy gustav hoiland

Blank Bios Rescue Agreement was founded in 2009 by Grant McDonald and Gemma Kaneko. Since then, we have assembled various teams of "collaboRATors" to assist in our four productions and various design endeavors. Our past productions include Someone Is Living in This House, Spotting Love, and Rise Like Lions. In July of 2011, we began work on our fourth immersive experience, Thomas Edison: Turn Off the Dark, which premiers in September. In June of 2011, Rescue Agreement became the recepient of The Fieldwork Summer Intensive, a rehearsal space and workshop allocation from The Field and Brooklyn Arts Exchange. Rescue Agreement was founded through a generous contribution from: Irene Jones and Jones Audiology. Their support is a godsend.

No Frame

Gemma Kaneko Gemma Kaneko is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Rescue Agreement. She sits on her balcony in Brooklyn and thinks about what she'll make next. She is a sometimes director sometimes, lighting designer, sometimes armchair philosopher. She currently works at Fuerzabruta and is involved in a number of projects throughout the city. She wants to make work that will make you happy you went to the theatre and sat next to someone you didn't know.Recent work: Rise Like Lions (Rescue Agreement), Someone is Living in This House (Rescue Agreement), This Might Be the Place (NYU), Put Your Hands Up For Detroit! (NYU), Spotting Love (NYU)

I believe in gifts, but mostly because I believe in the significance of things. I keep objects from every arena of my life because they prove the existence of time, of a past, of a moment. My theatre is about leaving you with proof, a small tangible piece of your experience. But it also transcends the mere material, I hope. It delves into fantasy and alternate histories, a fixation with all kinds of fiction.

My theatre creates evidence,. Evidence of an illusion so clear and encompassing that there is no disillusion.

- Gemma Kaneko

Artistic Director

Grant McDonald Grant McDonald is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Rescue Agreement. He has collaborated on over 30 original productions since moving to New York in 2007. He has worked with Big Art Group, Punchdrunk, Big Dance Theatre, The Talking Band, Witness Relocation, Inertia, Powerhouse Theatre, The Arts Effect, Untitled Theatre Company #61, and The PossEble Theatre Company, as well as lit and media designed dozens of concerts and events at Santos Party House, the greater New York area, and across the United States.He holds a BFA in Theatre and a Minor in Law & Society from New York University.

One of my first jobs was working at a magic shop that both sold small gimmicks to kids and manufactured large stage illusions. I wanted so badly to understand the Copperfield dynamic; how something so seemingly simple could be so exhilarating to watch.

Between the fascinating reality of our bizarre yet seemingly-everyday fantasies and the magnitude of even the simplest stage illusions lays my theatre. I want to create magic - with a plot - but give the audience control of their journey.

- Grant McDonald

Artistic Director

About Brittany Allen

Brittany Allen is a Founding Artist with Rescue Agreement. She is an actor, a writer and confirmed devotee of the church of devised theater. Previous performing credits include "This Must Be the Place" (Dir. Gemma Kaneko), "Odso!" (Dir. Jenn Tash) and "Jack, or the Submission" (Dir. Stephanie Levin). Her non-fiction has been published in NYU's annual essay collection, "Mercer Street". In her spare time she likes planning exotic travels to faraway lands, reading Joan Didion essays, giggling and over-analyzing.Work with Rescue Agreement: Someone is Living in This House, Rise Like Lions (2011), Thomas Edison: Turn Off The Dark (Currently Signed)
Sydney Davis Sydney Davis is a Resident Artist with Rescue Agreement since 2011. A graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, she has recently worked with the Ridge Reperatory Theatre, Adam Roebuck Productions, Mad World Productions, Apoloniad Productions, and Shakespeare in the Valley.Work with Rescue Agreement: Someone is Living in This House, Rise Like Lions (2011), Thomas Edison: Turn Off The Dark (Currently Signed)
Collaborators Gustav Hoiland"Someone" DocumentarianJohn Jalandoni"Lions" Set ConsultantJulia Locascio "Edison" DesignerJon-Marc McDonald"Spotting Love" WriterStacy Price"Edison" CastDan Reckart"Someone" CastWalter Ryon"Lions" Set ConsultantHannah Schatzle"Lions" CastRyan Stinnett"Edison" Cast"Edison" CastJaime Wright"Someone" Cast
Alicia Adams"Lions" Set PainterFrankie Alicea"Lions" CastDavid Bernstein"Someone" CastJames Clark"Edison" CastJoe Cilio"Someone" TechnicianKelly ColburnAudience Experience ManagerPreston Davis"Lions" CastAmelia Dudley"Someone" TechnicianLauren Farrell"Edison" CastLaura Herbert"Someone" Assistant Director

What We Do

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