ICE SCREAM THEATRE is a dark multi-media performance art piece by Christy Soto. This autobiographical abstract play utilizes original music, film footage, poetry, dance, photography and art-work to tell the story of the author’s escape from a poisoned childhood.
The photographic slides of Ice Scream Theatre show themes of delapidation such as a window looking nowhere, a house engulfed in flames and clothing abandoned in the closet of a condemned house.
The more autobiographical photos provide a timeline for events. 12 eerie little dolls made of hypodermic needles, egg-shells match-sticks, faucet knobs and doll parts are all uniquely set in vintage and contemporary shadow-boxes.
The film footage is abstract, relaying perspectives on such things as travel, safety, youth and death. Six original songs, also found on the CD, range from dark electro-acoustic ballads to found-sound symphonies.
Like the photography, the 10 poems in Ice Scream Theatre appear in the author’s poetry chapbook, THESE ARE THE ROOMS TO MY MOTHER’S HOUSE, Chatgris Press. Journal entries are actual entries made by the author from 1985 to 2005.

Ice Scream Theatre spans two decades, following the author’s crawl towards normalcy. This is a tortured account of the codependancy that develops in families of drug/alcohol abuse.
The author finds resolve in releasing the nightmares of uncertainty and finding confidence and a sense of safety despite the childhood horrors. Ice Scream Theatre is a survival story, told in the author’s words, her passion to survive. Lastly, it is a love story told by a daughter who loved her mother more than her mother could ever love herself.