After Linda and Claudia made the decision to reject the National Endowment for the Arts Grant to TSL in 1989/1990, they realized that they could no longer sustain their theater company. As a result, they began to create work that would require only the two of them.
Linda chose to re-work parts of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, focusing on Lady Macbeth, with Claudia as the sole performer. Scenes were rewritten and reordered using Mussmann’s style of highly styled text. The production expanded the elements of the play by using TV screens, recorded video and audio, overhead projection, and 8mm movies. During the performance, Claudia manipulated three tape recorders, a microphone, and a mixer to weave the recordings and live voice. Linda ran the visual media and the lights. Even though they lost the NEA funding and theater company, they ran right into the mother of invention – necessity – and found another way to present their work.
For all these photographs, Linda used her Nikon camera and developed and printed them in her dark room. One set of photographs is from the publicity photos that Linda shot in TSL’s storefront on 22nd Street in NYC for the M.A.C.B.E.T.H. show and another set was done for Little Stumps and Real Conversations featuring Clover, a signature character who wore a beret, white shirt, and dark blue skirt. Linda chose the name to honor Clover Adams, a well-known Victorian photographer. One day, while taking photos for M.A.C.B.E.T.H., Claudia’s beloved cat Tiger came into the studio and, serendipitously, became a part of the action.
There are two outliers in the show which include Claudia by the water in 1977, shortly after she and Linda met, and a shot from the Civil War Chronicles: Mary Surratt taken in 1988. In March 2026, Linda and Claudia will be marking 50 years of collaboration.
Celebrating Claudia Bruce as the center of their history is key to understanding the long creative life of TSL and how Linda has featured her as muse and main collaborator. Claudia’s movement and vocal skills are essential to the special quality of Mussmann Bruce Productions. Added to that, as co-director, Claudia is responsible for years of written documentation, design work, annual appeals, and so much more that falls in between.
YES! There is lots more to say, but, for now, it’s time to focus on the photos as we mark the 80th birthday of Claudia Mignon Bruce born February 17, 1946.
