When choreographer Maria Voss began developing The Wall three years ago, she started with a single question: What separates us, and what happens when those barriers come down? That exploration arrives on stage this Friday and Saturday at the Sentry Theater in Stevens Point, performed by a cast of 14 dancers, actors, and musicians in a production that marks the work's regional premiere.
Presented by Central Rivers Arts Collective, The Wall is a 90-minute performance—no intermission—that fuses contemporary dance, original live music, and spoken-word theater. The production traces the arc of human connection across fractured relationships, using movement vocabularies ranging from hip-hop to modern dance to physical theater. Composer and co-director James Okonkwo, whose previous collaboration with Voss, Threshold, toured the Midwest in 2022, wrote an original score performed by a four-piece ensemble on stage.
"We're asking the audience to sit with discomfort at times," Okonkwo says. "But the movement vocabulary is also joyful—there's release in it."
What to Expect
This is not the Pink Floyd rock opera, nor is it a political statement about borders. Voss describes The Wall as an interior landscape: the emotional and social barriers people construct and, occasionally, dismantle. The set design—built from modular panels that performers rearrange throughout the show—mirrors that thematic tension, transforming the stage from claustrophobic corridor to open field.
The cast includes UW-Stevens Point alumni, local professional dancers, and two Chicago-based actors making their Central Wisconsin debuts. Stylistically, the ensemble reflects a range of training backgrounds, from ballet and ballroom to capoeira and contact improvisation.
Event Details
- Dates: Friday, March 15 and Saturday, March 16
- Time: 7:30 p.m. (doors open at 7:00 p.m.)
- Location: Sentry Theater, 1800 North Point Drive, Stevens Point
- Runtime: 90 minutes, no intermission
- Age guidance: Recommended for ages 12 and up due to mature themes and brief stylized depictions of conflict
- Accessibility: The theater is wheelchair accessible; ASL interpretation will be provided at the Saturday performance. Sensory-friendly accommodations available upon request.
- Tickets: $22 general admission, $18 for students and seniors. Available online at centralriversarts.org/thewall or by calling the Sentry Theater box office at (715) 346-4100. Box office hours are noon to 5:00 p.m. weekdays and one hour before curtain.
Remaining tickets for both nights are limited.
