Breaking down the doors between spoken word poetry, theatre, visual art, dance and music, Our Four Walls brings together individuals from many artistic disciplines to create a unique and stimulating work.

As a poet, performer and organizer of Our Four Walls, Danielle Altrogge embodies the collaborative spirit of the original production, which was created and performed by women from across Saskatchewan.

The project is a joint effort between Thigh High Theatre and the newly formed Mud Collective, a group of collective artists involved in the production.

Mud came about last June when Altrogge and co-founder Lauren Holfeuer met for coffee. They then approached actors and poets they wanted to collaborate with and met with a writing team comprised of Shayna Stock, Chelsea Martin and Shanda Stefanson to discuss the theme.

“We wanted to pick a topic that all of the writers would have a lot to say about. Eventually we landed on ‘home.’ Our Four Walls became the title that we mined from the poetry,” Altrogge said in an email to the Sheaf.

Since the idea of home can be interpreted in a large variety of ways, the Mud Collective set out to try to define it based on their own unique perspectives and expressions. These women write home, perform home and attempt to understand where home ends and begins.

The show is completely written, performed, directed and created by women — something Altrogge argues was not entirely intentional.

“We picked our team because in our opinion, they are absolutely the best people for the job. They also happen to be women and that has been rewarding,” Altrogge said. “No matter how much people try to protest that gender representation is on par, there just isn’t the data to back that up. It’s exciting to be part of a project that happens to adjust that data.”

Altrogge has competed at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word and at Verses Canadian Individual Poetry Slam. As chair of the board for Saskatoon’s non-profit organization Tonight It’s Poetry and an active member of the spoken word community, as well as a chaperone for Saskatoon’s teenage Write Out Loud slam poetry team, Altrogge is no stranger to the inner workings of successful creative ventures. As an active participant in the arts, she insists Our Four Walls is a unique hybrid.

“This project is important because of its experimental, multidisciplinary bones. As artists, we don’t collaborate nearly as much as we could or should,” Altrogge said. “We can learn so much about our own creative disciplines by stretching ourselves beyond them. I knew that by working with all of these amazing women that I would become a better creator.”

Our Four Walls came together when AKA Gallery provided the performance space and Rowan Pantel signed on to design the set. The show went off without a hitch, with performances expanding over 10 nights from March 5 to 15 exploring the people, the love and the expectations that home brings.

Lacey Jones, one of many attendees, gave the show a glowing review.

“I can’t remember the last time I’ve ever been so moved by anything,” Jones wrote on the Facebook event page, adding that it was a “wonderful show, absolutely flawless in writing, conceptualization and execution.”

Altrogge has a promising future in the arts ahead of her. She is a graduate of the University of Saskatchewan English department and will begin her master’s of fine arts program in the fall. Her work and that of other female Saskatchewan authors have made Mud Collective’s latest project a success.

Mud Collective will return to the stage next year, as they plan on making performances such as as Our Four Walls an annual project.