Two Birds with One Beet

Student theater at Brown University has always leaned on the unconventional. Our numerous Pulitzer winners illuminate that with their plays, which often zoom in on an aspect of everyday life that we as a society take for granted and sometimes abuse. However, what if theater took this notion a step further and literally inserted you into the environment in question?Such is the case with Production Workshop's latest project: "Two Birds with One Beet." Conceived by Marissa Rose Alfiero '21, "Two Birds with One Beet" is a performance featuring student writers, student actors, and 30 beets, which have been growing in the PW Upspace for the past few weeks. With this project, Alfiero brings the audience a literal representation of the epidemic of food shortage across many communities as well as a "celebration of the relationship between plants and humans."Alfiero says that this project is a conglomeration of all the things she's passionate about: plants, people, art, poetry, dirt, and growing, among others. After her original idea of "filling the Upspace with dirt and plant in it" did not pan out due to feasibility issues, she started thinking on plants and growth in a different sense."The beets sort of made their way into the matter at first as an afterthought, because I just wanted to watch things grow," she said. However, in thinking about the real-world problems associated with growing, Alfiero realized she could take this notion one step further by shining a light on the process of food growing. "There is a rising disconnect with food and how we consume it that I wanted to breach, to take away the unhealthy dissociation of food from natural world," she said. "Food is indicative of politics, love, and art, among other things, and we often take it for granted when we can so easily access it. That, and plants in general, we take for granted."Why beets? "Beets were a great contender to grow in the winter time," Alfiero said. "And I've had a steadily growing infatuation with them since this summer." In addition to her self-proclaimed infatuation, Alfiero pointed out that beets demonstrate the many ways plants are overlooked. "They are dirty, seen as ugly, and many have an immediate bias against them. But, cook them just right, and it changes everything."On the subject of change within the Brown community, Alfiero said "I just hope it gets people to think more consciously about what they put into their body, the way they interact with nature. Food brings people together, food nourishes us, and we don’t think about what a large role it plays in our lives."In addition, Alfiero believes this performance can heal the soul. "I have found that comparing my body to that of a plant makes it a little easier to be kind. Plants and people really aren’t so different, after all. I hope it gets people thinking about that, about where the food they are eating came from, who has access to that kind of healthy food and how can we bridge socioeconomic gaps so that there are less food desserts, so that whole food is accessible to all," she explained.-------------------"Two Birds with One Beet" runs February 23-25 in the PW Upspace, 7 Young Orchard Avenue.Image via and Larissa Dorn '21