Get Your Ass In The Water And Swim Like Me
A dive into Toasts: fantastical, bawdy, epic poems about legendary street heroes. Created by Eric Berryman and The Wooster Group. Featuring Berryman with Jharis Yokley on drums. Directed by Kate Valk with production design by Elizabeth LeCompte and sound design by Eric Sluyter. Based on a 1976 LP, recorded by folklorist Bruce Jackson, that is one of the few recordings of this rich, distinctive genre of Black American storytelling.
Media & Ephemera
Dailies
From 2010 to around 2020, the Dailies was an online video series begun by the Group’s resident filmmaker at the time Zbigniew Bzymek. Most of Dailies videos follow his relationship to the company and its work, offering glimpses into our rehearsals and archives, as well as short films, interviews, and other behind-the-scenes materials. Dailies videos in the “from the archives” series were curated by the Group’s archivist Clay Hapaz. View more of the project here.
Production History
- Eric Berryman
- Drums: Jharis Yokley
- Director: Kate Valk
- Production Design: Elizabeth LeCompte
- Sound Design: Eric Sluyter
- Video Design: Irfan Brkovic, Andrew Maillet, Yudam Hyung Seok Jeon
- Lighting Design: Marika Kent
- Sound Technician: Dan Dobson
- Lighting Board Operator: Matthias Neckermann
- Assistant Director: Michaela Murphy
- Technical Director: Tavish Miller
- Production Manager: Aaron Amodt
- Associate Producer: Maya Davis
- Producer for GET YOUR ASS IN THE WATER: Monika Wunderer
-
Performers
- Eric Berryman
- Drums: Jharis Yokley
Production- Director: Kate Valk
- Production Design: Elizabeth LeCompte
- Sound Design: Eric Sluyter
- Video Design: Irfan Brkovic, Andrew Maillet, Yudam Hyung Seok Jeon
- Lighting Design: Marika Kent
- Sound Technician: Dan Dobson
- Lighting Board Operator: Matthias Neckermann
- Assistant Director: Michaela Murphy
- Technical Director: Tavish Miller
- Production Manager: Aaron Amodt
- Associate Producer: Maya Davis
- Producer for GET YOUR ASS IN THE WATER: Monika Wunderer
-
Performers
- Eric Berryman
- Drums: Jharis Yokley
Production- Director: Kate Valk
- Production Design: Elizabeth LeCompte
- Sound Design: Eric Sluyter
- Video Design: Irfan Brkovic, Andrew Maillet, Yudam Hyung Seok Jeon
- Lighting Design: Marika Kent
- Sound Technician: Dan Dobson
- Lighting Board Operator: Matthias Neckermann
- Assistant Director: Michaela Murphy
- Technical Director: Tavish Miller
- Production Manager: Aaron Amodt
- Associate Producer: Maya Davis
- Producer for GET YOUR ASS IN THE WATER: Monika Wunderer
-
Performers
- Eric Berryman
- Drums: Jharis Yokley
Production- Director: Kate Valk
- Production Design: Elizabeth LeCompte
- Sound Design: Eric Sluyter
- Video Design: Irfan Brkovic
- Video Design: Andrew Maillet
- Video Design: Yudam Hyung Seok Jeon
- Lighting Design: Marika Kent
- Lighting Operator: David Sexton
- Assistant Director: Michaela Murphy
- Production Manager: Bona Lee
- Associate Producer: Maya Davis
-
Performers
- Eric Berryman
- Drums: Jharis Yokley
Production- Director: Kate Valk
- Production Design: Elizabeth LeCompte
- Sound: Eric Sluyter
- Video: Irfan Brkovic
- Additional Video: Andrew Maillet
- Lighting: Marika Kent
- Assistant Director: David Glista
- Production Manager: Bona Lee
- Associate Producer: Maya Davis
-
Performers
- Eric Berryman
- Drums: Jharis Yokley
Production- Director: Kate Valk
- Production Design: Elizabeth LeCompte
- Sound: Eric Sluyter
- Video: Irfan Brkovic
- Light: Evan Anderson
- Assistant Director: Michaela Murphy
- Audio/Visual Assistant: Andrew Maillet
- Technical Director: David Glista
- Production Manager: Bona Lee
- Associate Producer: Maya Davis
-
Performers
- Eric Berryman
- Drums: Jharis Yokley
Production- Director: Kate Valk
- Production Design: Elizabeth LeCompte
- Sound: Eric Sluyter
- Video: Irfan Brkovic
- Assistant Director: Michaela Murphy
- Production Manager: Bona Lee
- Associate Producer: Maya Davis
Additional Credits
Thanks to the men whose verses and voices are featured on the album: Benny Richardson, Johnny Jackson, Ebbie Veasley, Marshall Phillips, Willie Davis, W.D. Alexander, J.B. Smith, Louis “Bacon and Porkchop” Houston, C.B. Kimble, Jesse “G.I. Jazz” Hendricks, David Tippen, Theo Mitchell, and Slim Wilson.
Special thanks to Bruce Jackson & Diane Christian.
Thanks also to Carrie Mae Weems, Daphne Brooks, Evan Anderson, Jerald Times, Kasaun Henry, Gary Bartz, Elizabeth Bartz, Tora Hale, Halimah Thomas, Lennie Montgomery/Xavian Brown and Cecile Winckler.
Co-commissioned by and developed in part during a residency at Texas Performing Arts at the University of Texas at Austin.
Performances at Joe’s Pub supported by AJT Fund.
Development of this piece is supported by: the New York State Council on the Arts; the National Endowment for the Arts; Antonia & David Belt; Tom Shapiro; and John C. Depp II & Bruce Jackson, in memory of Slim Wilson.
Eric Berryman appears through the courtesy of Actors Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.