Collaboraction Theatre Company will now have a new annual theme each season; The 2017-18 focus is "The Reality of Racism and Envisioning Racial Healing in Chicago" launching with PEACEBOOK Festival at the Goodman Theatre on August 26 with tours to Englewood, Austin and Hermosa.
CHICAGO, May 12, 2017 - Collaboraction Theatre Company, Chicago's contemporary social issue-driven theatre, announced today a new vision for programming around one critical social issue annually and the launch of a new online public interaction portal called The Hive.
The Hive is a new platform that encourages ongoing audience dialogue, submissions and collaboration as the season is created.
The theme for Collaboraction's 22nd season in 2017-18 is "The Reality of Racism and Envisioning Racial Healing in Chicago" and will include year-long programming focused on race in Englewood, Austin, and Hermosa, as well as at Collaboraction Studios in the Flat Iron Arts Building in Wicker Park.
Collaboraction's season starts with the return of the PEACEBOOK Festival launching at the Goodman Theatre on Saturday, August 26 with 21 world premiere short pieces of theater, dance and spoken word before touring to Chicago's Englewood, Austin and Hermosa communities in October and November.
In January 2018, Collaboraction will debut Encounter: An Explorative Event Series, a mixed-medium festival of theater, dance, visual art, music, film and more in all three spaces at Collaboraction Studios.
Collaboraction culminates next season in April 2018 with A Blue Island in the Red Sea, a devised world premiere about the history and impact of racism in Chicago and imagining a path toward healing and transformation. The piece will be created in collaboration with Chicagoans throughout the year led by Artistic Director Anthony Moseley and an ensemble of co-devisers.
"It was five years ago that Collaboraction changed our mission and began the creation of Crime Scene: a Chicago Anthology as a way to create theater that incites dialogue and change around our city's most critical social issues," said Moseley. "Our 2017-18 theme, 'Racism and Racial Healing in Chicago,' will build off of our five years with Crime Scene to explore the root causes of racism, which we believe is the root cause of violence in our city."
"In times of such economic and political divisions," added Moseley, "we believe it is essential that Chicagoans experience and participate in artistic work that brings the community together around important issues like violence, segregation, mental health and education. Our new single themed season model will allow us to expand and deepen our exploration of racism."
Collaboraction's new online portal, The Hive, will provide the general public with access to content creation and sharing around this theme as the company builds, writes, designs and rehearses the shows in real-time. In addition, the company will be touring pieces from each show this season to Englewood, Austin and Hermosa.
Meanwhile, Collaboraction's youth programs, the Teen Peacemakers and its After School Matters program, will also work on parallel tracks to Collaboraction's mainstage artists in The Hive all year.
Learn all about Collaboraction's 2017-18 season on its new websitecollaboraction.org, follow the company on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr,YouTube or Instagram, or call the Collaboraction box office, ( 312 ) 226-9633.
More about Collaboraction's 2017-18 season
PEACEBOOK Festival
A crowd-sourced, Collaboraction world premiere
PEACEBOOK at The Goodman Theatre
170 N. Dearborn St.
August 26, 2017
PEACEBOOK South Side/Englewood
Hamilton Park, 513 W. 72nd St.
October 5, 6 and 7, 2017
PEACEBOOK Northwest Side/Hermosa
Kelyvn Park, 4438 W. Wrightwood Ave.
October 19, 20 and 21, 2017
PEACEBOOK West Side/Austin
La Follette Park, 1333 N. Laramie Ave.
November 2, 3 and 4, 2017
The 2nd annual PEACEBOOK Festival will be launching at the Goodman Theatre on
August 26 with an admission-free, three-act marathon of 21 world-premiere pieces of theater, dance and spoken word about Peace in Chicago cultivated from submissions from throughout the city.
PEACEBOOK will then tour to Englewood ( October 5-7 ), Hermosa ( October 19 - 21 ) and Austin ( November 2 - 4 ) as a part of the City of Chicago's Night Out in the Parks program.
PEACEBOOK was born out of the tradition of Collaboraction's SKETCHBOOK Festival and features over 200 artists, including established Chicago theater/TV/
film artists and emerging talent from neighborhoods throughout the city.
These free performances also include community meals, peace fairs, Dome of Dance tournaments and more.
This year Collaboraction will be giving cash awards to top emerging talent and offering them a council of mentors at an awards ceremony at the Goodman Theatre in November.
Encounter: An Explorative Event Series
January 17-21, 2018
at Collaboraction Studios, 1579 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Encounter is a festival curated around the annual theme of "Racism and Racial Healing" with theater, visual art, music, video, dance, and more presented simultaneously in all three venues of Collaboraction Studios.
Encounter will be curated through a combination of open and invited submissions from throughout the city and will serve to engage the community with the theme of Racism in Chicago and incite knowledge, discussion and action.
After the week-long series at Collaboraction Studios, select elements of Encounter will tour to Chicago's Hamilton Park, La Follette Park and Kelvyn Park with free events and community conversations.
A Blue Island in the Red Sea
April 19-May 27, 2018
in The Pentagon at Collaboraction Studios, 1579 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Through the year, Collaboraction will be developing a world premiere devised piece about "Racism and Racial Healing" in Chicago, currently titled, A Blue Island in the Red Sea.
Blue Island will continue where the five Crime Scene chapters left off, exploring the root cause of Racism and what Racial Healing might look like in Chicago.
The original devised theater piece is being created by a team including Collaboraction Artistic Director Anthony Moseley, and Associate Artistic Director/Dramaturg Taylor Barfield, with an ensemble of theater artists as co-devisers including: Elsa Hiltner ( costume designer/producer ), Antonio Brunetti ( actor/musician ), Luis Crespo ( actor/writer ), Liviu Pasare ( video ), Jeremy Getz ( lights ), Sarah Moeller ( writer/producer ), Sandra Delgado ( writer ), Avi Roque ( actor/writer ) and others.
Blue Island will ask questions about Chicago history and the need to utilize truth as a means of bringing the community together for the future to face our biggest issues of segregation and economic disparity. Blue Island will also tour to Hamilton Park, La Follette Park and Kelvyn Park with free admission shows and town hall discussions after every performance.
Teen Peacemakers
Collaboraction's Peacemaker Youth Ensemble will create their own work around the theme of "Racism and Racial Healing" on a parallel track, creating a PEACEBOOK piece, performing atEncounter and sharing their version of Blue Island on a professional production set.
The Hive
As an additional audience engagement tactic to cultivate content and dialogue, Collaboraction is launching The Hive, a private social media platform for artists, audience and supporters that will be used to share the company's annual programming as it is being created, in real-time.
Collaboraction invites Chicago audiences to a bold 22nd season taking on Racism and Racial Healing through its online portal The Hive and in person at performances.
Collaboraction is the resident theater company in the Flat Iron Arts Building,
1579 N. Milwaukee Ave., at the epicenter of Chicago's Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhoods. For tickets and information, visit collaboraction.org or call
( 312 ) 226-9633.
For PEACEBOOK updates, visit collaboraction.org, follow the company on Twitter,Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube or Instagram, or call the Collaboraction box office, ( 312 ) 226-9633.
About Collaboraction
Collaboraction ( collaboraction.org ) collaborates with artists, community activists, and citizens from throughout the city to create original theatrical experiences that push artistic boundaries and explore critical social issues with a diverse community of Chicagoans. Collaboraction has worked with more than 3,000 artists to bring more than 60 productions and events to more than 100,000 audience members.
Collaboraction is the resident theater company in the Flat Iron Arts Building,
1579 N. Milwaukee Ave., at the epicenter of Chicago's Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhoods. The company's collective three-space venue, Collaboraction Studios, includes The Pentagon, The Vault and The Salon, encompasses 8,000 square feet on the third floor of the historic building, is home to Collaboraction's own productions, as well as a wide variety of visiting Chicago theater and dance companies and comedy groups. Collaboraction Studios are also home base for Collaboraction For-Hire, which creates custom special event design for private, corporate and civic clients, including the Art Institute, the City of Chicago and more.
Collaboraction is led by Artistic Director Anthony Moseley and a dedicated staff and board of directors. Collaboraction is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, Richard H. Driehaus Foundation via the MacArthur Foundation, and the Wicker Park & Bucktown SSA #33 Chamber of Commerce. This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.
For tickets and information, visit collaboraction.org or call ( 312 ) 226-9633 .
