LIFE WASTE: A Bio-Gas Musical

In-process since 2024

A multi-media performance made collaboratively with Valley Traction and an interdisciplinary group of performers + musicians.

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LIFE WASTE began as an exploration of our good friend and neighbor Matt Steiman’s work as a live stock farmer and biogas scientist. The writings and research of an enigmatic and knowledgeable expert in the field nicknamed “Biogas Bob” (who also worked next door) became the project’s north star. We started with the idea that biogas offers an evocative and often poetic way to explore alternative energy.

The show is a live performance event that uses the process of biogas to explore alternative energy and production flows. In this work-in-progress showing, a talented group of musicians and performers guide the audience through a mix of stories, observations, and humor. It is a parable of sorts (based on real life) that asks more questions than we can answer: Where does energy come from? What else can it become? How is it part of our lives? It is the fun, complex, and often messy stuff that powers the world.

In this piece, Dickinson College students, alumni, local farmers, artists, and musicians used a punk-folk-rock format create a tale of organic farmers, alternative energy and the challenges and triumphs of sustainability.

Fall 2024 Collaborators:

Rachel Anderson-Rabern
Alex Arnold
Kent Barrett
Venus Bhatt
Tess Cassol-Pawson
Roma Cervino
Julia Coler
Dinela Dedić
Mo Geiger
Doug Krueger
Brian McDermott
Justice Roney
Nate Smith
John Smith
Matt Steiman
Vanessa Wallner Butcher
John Werner
Genesis Whitlock

Past Collaborators:

Erin Mullin
Vinnie Palopoli