Chicago – Collaboraction’s PEACEBOOK 2017 fall tour – a free festival of theater, dance, music and spoken word created by Chicago artists and activists to increase the peace in Chicago – makes its final stop Thursday through Saturday, November 2-4, at LaFollette Park, 1333 N. Laramie Ave. in Chicago’s Austin community.
PEACEBOOK LaFollette Park starts Thursday, November 2 at 6:15 p.m. with a pre-show workshop with Bril Barrett of M.A.D.D. Rhythms. The program starts at 7 p.m., featuring a live DJ and eight world premiere short works about peace, each seven minutes or less.
On Friday, November 3, meet PEACEBOOK artists at a pre-show workshop at 6:15 p.m., followed at 7 p.m. by the PEACEBOOK LaFollette Park program.
On Saturday, November 4, PEACEBOOK begins at 3 p.m. with Collaboraction’s signature Dome of Dance community building competition, followed at 4 p.m. by a free community meal and peace panel featuring David Cherry, All-Stars Project, Inc., Amara Enyia, Austin community organizer, and Leigh Schuster, Healing Hurt People, co-moderated by Anthony Moseley, Artistic Director, and Dr. Marcus Robinson, Managing Director, Collaboraction. Show time is 5 p.m., featuring DJ Shon Roka.
PEACEBOOK is free. For more information, visit collaboraction.org/peacebook2017, email boxoffice@collaboraction.org or call the Collaboraction box office, (312) 226-9633.
Selected from more than 100 submissions, PEACEBOOK’s 24 works of theater, music, dance and spoken word are collectively created by more than 200 Chicago artists and peace activists intent on creating real connections with Chicagoans in communities around the city.
PEACEBOOK launched on August 26 at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre with a one-day, marathon of all 24 world premiere “prayers for peace.” The chapters were then divided into three programs of eight works each for the fall parks tour in association with the Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks series.
Following are the eight on tap for the final weekend of PEACEBOOK, November 2-4 at LaFollette Park:
17 to New Life, devised by GQ of the Q Brothers and Tyrone Taylor
GQ of the Q Brothers and Tyrone Taylor co-create and perform this ritual of healing based on Taylor’s real life events, including murder, incarceration, freedom and search for transformation.
Some Thoughts On Race and Racism In Chicago From Some People Who Aren’t Sure What To Do And Who Sat Down And Talked About It
written and directed by Sarah Illiatovitch-Goldman
This piece of verbatim theatre talks about race through white eyes, using words from a collection of interviews that shed light on how we see ourselves and each other as a community.
Dear Masculinity
by Eneale Pickett, directed by Rain Wilson
This play, by a west side native, is a collection of letters written by men to their masculinity.
EmpoWOMENt, devised by Bril Barrett
EmpoWOMENt
devised by Bril Barrett
A team of female dancers proved tap-dance can be an effective form of protest and a powerful catalyst for change in this work choreographed by the acclaimed founder of M.A.D.D. (Making a Difference Dancing).
High and Dry
by Greg Hardigan, directed by Genevieve Fowler
A man has a chance encounter with a woman on the street and must confront his role in creating peace in Chicago.
The High Priestess
devised by Dr. Laura Biagi
Inspired by the two cards of the major Arcana of the Tarot, this performance art piece revolves around the power to give social meaning to sounds and the concept of failing and undoing by meditating on four alphabets: Sanskrit, Arabic, Hebrew and Latin.
The Making of an Example Setter
by Sir Taylor, directed by Anthony Moseley
Collaboraction Artistic Director Anthony Moseley teams up with the leader of The Example Setters, former Jesse White Tumbler and member of the U.S. Olympics team, Sir Taylor, to tell a new story of healing in Chicago.
Quiet Time
by Erica Mann Ramis, directed by Nathaniel Swift
A woman’s thoughts are played out on stage as she meditates in an effort to navigate the maze of her grief after the loss of her husband.
LaFollette Park is the final stop in Collaboraction’s 2017 PEACEBOOK fall tour, which has already brought messages of peace and positive dialogue to large audiences at Englewood’s Hamilton Park, October 5-7, and Kelvyn Park in Hermosa, October 19-21. The Chicago Tribune noted Collaboraction “carefully curated each program to reflect specific challenges faced by the communities near the park where it will go to next” and “does pique one’s curiosity and appetite for visiting the city’s edges to see the programs in the parks.” The Chicago Defender wrote, “the world needs PEACEBOOK…a magnificent theatrical experience that pushes the boundaries from sadness within our communities to working successfully as one Chicago.”
Notable audience members and panel participants this fall have included Chicago First Lady Amy Rule; hip hop artist, activist and Creative Director of Donda’s House, Che “Rhymefest” Smith; Sammy Rangel, Executive Director, Life After Hate; and a host of Chicago peacemakers including Amy Williams, Hope Dealer for the Dope Dealer; Robert Torres, Parents for Peace and Justice; Chelle Rashad, Program Manager, R.A.G.E; and Robbin Caroll, Founder, I Grow Chicago.
“In these times of rising homicides and racial tension, we believe in the power of theater to incite empathy, knowledge, dialogue and change around peace in Chicago,” said Collaboraction Artistic Director and PEACEBOOK Festival Director Anthony Moseley. “With over 200 artists from throughout the city and partnerships with the Goodman Theatre and the Chicago Park District, PEACEBOOK has become a way for our city to come together around this most critical social issue with our future at stake.”
For PEACEBOOK tour 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 over 3,000 artists to bring more than 60 productions and events to upwards of 250,000 audience members.
Production highlights include Collaboraction’s acclaimed series of Crime Scene productions responding to Chicago’s current crime epidemic, 15 years of the SKETCHBOOK Festival, Sarah Moeller’s Forgotten Future: The Education Project in 2014, 2010’s Chicago premiere of 1001 by Jason Grote, 2008’s world premiere of Jon by George Saunders and directed by Seth Bockley, and 2007’s The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow: an instant message with excitable music by Rolin Jones.
Collaboraction, based on the third floor of Wicker Park’s historic Flat Iron Arts Building with three theatre spaces, is led by Artistic Director Anthony Moseley, Managing Director Dr. Marcus Robinson, 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.
About the Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks program
Collaboraction’s PEACEBOOK Festival is presented as part of the Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks series, supported by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Arts programming in neighborhoods across the city advances the goals of the Chicago Park District and the Chicago Cultural Plan. Now in its fifth year, the 2017 Night Out in the Parks series will host over 1,000 cultural events and programs at more than 250 neighborhood parks throughout the city, making community parks a safe haven and hubs of activity. Projects will vary from traditional performances and concerts, to movies, peace rallies, community workshops, nature based programs, dance pieces, festivals and more. The Chicago Park District has partnered with more than 100 arts and community organizations to expand and produce this successful initiative.
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