Collidescope 4.0: Adventures in Pre & Post-Racial America
Collidescope 4.0: Adventures in Pre and Post-Racial America
October 24, 2019 - November 3, 2019
$17 general public
$12 UMN faculty/staff/alumni/retirees
$7 students (any college or under 18)
Purchase tickets online or call (612) 624-2345.
The University of Minnesota Department of Theatre Arts and Dance begins the fall mainstage season with the regional premiere of Collidescope 4.0: Adventures in Pre and Post Racial America, a reflection on race and social injustice in America with elements unique to Minnesotan history. Conceived and directed by internationally acclaimed theatre artists Ping Chong and Talvin Wilks in collaboration with BA theatre performance students, Collidescope 4.0 will be performed in the Whiting Proscenium Theatre at the UMN Rarig Center October 24 - November 3.
ABOUT
Originally created in 2014 as a response to the murder of Trayvon Martin, the debate around Stand Your Ground laws and the seemingly perpetual police violence against members of the African American community, Collidescope 4.0 offers a collision course view of the legacy behind the history of racial violence, racism and social injustice in America. As seen through the gaze of an intergalactic time traveler, the investigation of this peculiar “nature” moves back and forth in time and space, specifically with a focus on the American psyche represented by contemplations of noted historical and contemporary writers and political figures. Utilizing archival documents and source texts, fictional and non-fictional, Collidescope 4.0 engages the audience in a discourse interrogating the motives and justifications behind this legacy. This fourth installment will inject unique events from Minnesota’s history into the greater picture of race, racism and citizenship, connecting the dots between America’s troubled racial history and its ongoing consequences.
PROCESS AND HISTORY
Recognized as a nationally significant work by the TCG Ferguson Theatre Syllabus, a listing of relevant plays addressing issues of racialized violence and the policing of African Americans, Collidescope continues to explore the dark recesses of suppressed race history in the United States. Collidescope is a flexible performance platform that can address racial history in communities around the United States, incorporating local historical events through documentary material, devised theatrical responses to recent community events, and personal experiences of individual performers. Acclaimed as a “riveting experience from start to finish” by DC Metro Theater Arts, and “beautifully designed and conceptually intriguing” by the Washington Post, Collidescope: Adventures in Pre and Post-Racial America has previously been produced around the country at the University of Maryland/College Park (2014), University of Massachusetts/Amherst (2016), and the Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, North Carolina (2017).