Tima Ozen on William Trevino

William,

LIGEIA was such an evocative and intimate experience for me. I knew going in that it was a one-person performance, but I was still surprised by how completely you were able to fill the space. With only two chairs and a book, you created an entire atmosphere. I found myself paying attention to every movement and interaction with those simple objects. It reminded me how much can be communicated through physical presence when you strip away everything unnecessary.

What stayed with me most was your acting. It genuinely felt like you were living through the story rather than simply performing it. There was something incredibly visceral about watching your body move through the different emotional states of the character. Your physicality gave the performance an intensity that I wasn’t expecting.

I was particularly interested in how you incorporated your martial arts training into the storytelling. Using that physical language to hone in on the most intense moments of the story. The precision, control, and sudden shifts in movement heightened the emotional tension and made those moments feel almost visceral. I found myself thinking about how much of a character’s psychological state can be communicated through the body alone.

As someone who works with visual storytelling and immersive art, I often think about how a story is created through light, sound, movement, and spectacle. LIGEIA made me appreciate the power of taking all of that away and trusting the performer. There was no elaborate set to hide behind; the focus was entirely on you, your body, your voice, and the show you created.

I left thinking about how much storytelling can live in a single body, and how little you need onstage when the performer is willing to give that much of themselves.

-Tima

Tima Ozen is one of the artist / creators of Elements at AUTOMAT Collective.

William Trevino is the creator / performer of LIGEIA By Edgar Allen Poe at the Asian Arts Project Space.