ARBORLOGUES: A BOTANICAL RECITAL PERFORMED FOR ONE TREE
Various locations
2021-Present

ARBORLOGUES: A BOTANICAL RECITAL PERFORMED FOR ONE TREE  is a one-person play where you are the performer and a single tree is your audience. ARBORLOGUES has been performed across the world, for a wide variety of trees. The 15 minute play takes place within a specially built red curtain theater that hangs from a specifically chosen tree. After receiving the bound script from the stage manager you are left alone with your arboreal audience. The script leads you through a series of stories, prompts, and actions related to this tree, this land, and yourself.

Originators 

Lead artist: Dan Daly
Text by Lee LeBreton
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Made possible through a grant from The Peace Studio, 2021
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Arborlogues was developed as part of the 2025-26 Artist in Residence season at Nancy Manocherian’s the cell theatre

Performance history

There have been 7 productions of ARBORLOGUES to date. They are: 

• Cedar, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY (2021)
• Black Walnut, Prescott Farm, Laconia, NH (2022) with Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative
• White Pine, Skidmore College Theater Department, Saratoga Springs, NY (2023)
• Tree of Heaven, Constitution Park, Larchmont, NY (2023)
• Eastern Cottonwood, Schick Gallery, Saratoga Springs, NY (2023) Part of the exhibition, Arboreal
• Kōwhai, Performance Arcade, Wellington, New Zealand (2025)
• Pagoda, Nancy Manocherian's the cell theatre, Manhattan, NY (2025)
• Red Maple, ADS Warehouse, Newburgh, NY (2026), with Greater Newburgh Parks Conservancy, part of the Great Trees of Newburgh Festival

Reviews

"...LeBreton stressed that “Arborlogues” is intended to be hopeful — even though numerous audience members have left in tears.
“It’s about being part of an ecosystem,” he said. “We hope that people leave feeling not like nature’s apex on a dead rock, but part of a system of living things.”"
Joey Simms. The New York Times

Listen to the Tree Speech Podcast episode about ARBORLOGUES

​"Near the end, I was asked to recall a precious memory from the past year involving a tree. I spoke about visiting Barry the Barred Owl, a beloved Central Park fixture who recently died. I told the tree how much Barry had meant to me and a friend. I told the tree that I was very sad about Barry’s death.
Within 15 minutes and following a barely perceptible shift I was, suddenly, speaking as I might to a very old friend."
Joey Sims. No Proscenium

"​The performer steps into a red curtain that circles the tree and reads the play from a script. When participating, it’s best not to think of it as a full-fledged performance, but rather an artistic sort of conversation between yourself and the black walnut tree. At least, that was this reporter’s takeaway after giving the experience a shot."
Jon Decker. The Laconia Daily Sun

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