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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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“Patriot Acts” will open minds to new possibilities
Wednesday 02 November @ 02:26:59 |
 by Lydia Howell
Theater for the 21st century is being born, with Pangea World Theater as midwife. The “Bridges Project” unites different artistic mediums—spoken-word, filmmaking, music, dance and theater—in fresh collaborations. “Patriot Acts,” made by 22 diverse artists (both local and international), crescendos beyond convention to take on today’s crucial post-9/11 issues.
 “The
theme is freedom, drawn from conversations about the world we live in and where
our voices are in the dialogue and where they aren’t,” says co-curator/actor
Sha Cage, best known as co-creator of Mama Mosaic, the TC women of color theater
group.
“All we knew is we were going on a journey and we’d meet fellow
travelers. We’d break bread together, have dialogue. The project would
be fragments of—artifacts from—that journey,” Cage’s
co-curator and director e.g. bailey elaborates.
Cage and bailey spent time in Europe engaging in political and creative dialogues,
bringing back insights and artists’ work for “Patriot Acts.”
A rehearsal of “Patriot Acts” is an exhilarating evolution: Drea
Reynolds’ resonant singing; Amanda Furches’ stark dance; Cage as
the Statue of Liberty carrying a flag-covered baby; TC hip-hop icon Truthmaze
riffing with videotaped Leeds, England, poet Swan; exhilarating poetry performed
choral-style. “Characters” range from BBC reporters and the latest
racially-profiled people labeled “terrorists” to historical figures
like Harriet Tubman and a 15-year-old African-American girl, Kismet.
 “Aesthetically
it’s like jazz. Group improvisation. Process is the thing itself,”
said “Bridges” curator J. Otis Powell, as he explains the “open
space” philosophy “Patriot Acts” emerges from.
“The conversation around war—those three letters—is broader
than the United States. Being in Bosnia, talking about the effects of war still
happening: separation of families, lost neighbors—it’s visceral,”
Cage says. “Talking with artists about how they continue their art during
war and other subversive ways we might employ here.”
 “How
is someone in London, Paris, Belgrade dealing with all these issues?”
bailey says, as he explains the aims of what he calls “transcontinental
collaboration.” “We were pointed to not like the French—but,
what are French people on the street talking about? What we see of Americans
presented in the media, we know that’s not us!”
“Patriot Acts” is rebellious art that dares to cross artificial
boundaries made by traditional theater and the growing national security apparatus.
These artists liberate the term “freedom” from being a pro-war slogan
to becoming unleashed creative expression and vigorous dissent. Artistic firepower
of this magnitude could be both the mightiest weapon against violence and the
transformative means towards reconciliation.||
$12. Mon-Wed. Nov. 7 to 9, 7:30 p.m. Varsity
Theater, 3808--4th St. SE, Dinkytown, Mpls. 612-203-1088.
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