The Radicalization Process
An original performance by The Hinterlands
August 24-27 at 7:30PM
Co-Prosperity Sphere – 3219 S Morgan St $10 Tickets*
Created and Conceived by The Hinterlands
Performed by Liza Bielby, Richard Newman, and Dave Sanders
Scenic Design by Shoshanna Utchenik
Live Scoring and Sound Design by Richard Newman
Archive Creation by Casey Rocheteau and Liza Bielby
Publication Design by Benjamin Gaydos
Lighting and Sound Technician: Scott Crandall
Production Assistance: Norma Jean Haynes
Layering historical accounts of the radical left in the 1960s and 70s with a master class in American method acting, socialist pageantry, and a gleefully obtuse re-production of The Living Theatre’s Antigone, The Radicalization Process stokes the embers of America’s past revolutions to ignite our radical potential. Audiences begin the performance sifting through a basement archive of a forgotten revolutionary, navigating histories true and false, real and imagined, before they make their way into the performance space, a safe-house within a 1970s bungalow. Imagery unfolds both mundane and shocking; a live-score is performed on analog synthesizers and everyday objects; “L’Internationale” is sung; an explosion occurs.
Presented as a part of Illinois Humanities’ suite of programs commemorating the 50th anniversary of the events surrounding the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, The Radicalization Process asks us to question our assumptions about what drives us to take action, how far is too far, and what role the imagination has in revolution. This performance is immersive in parts and requires audience members to stand, sit, and travel short distances. Also, it’s funny. Sometimes. Other times it’s really dark. But hey, that’s America!
More Info
What the Press has Said
Check out Rosie Sharp’s review of the piece in Hyperallergic.
About the Artists
The Hinterlands is a Detroit-based company creating performances and public events that are highly irrational and deeply American. From their original touring pieces to the events they curate in their Detroit neighborhood, their work is built around pressing into the unknown areas of personal and collective history with fearless physicality and a sense of humor. Their performances smash seemingly disparate images and ideas together, culminating in new, highly layered meanings that are greater than the sum of their parts. They create a space for the audience to be in this unknown hinterland through techniques that disarm and disorient, short-circuiting expectations and luring them into unexpected interactions.
The Hinterlands have an ongoing physical training practice that is both a foundation of the collaborative devising process and a means of conducting exchanges across disciplines and contexts. Formed in 2009 by Richard Newman and Liza Bielby, The Hinterlands work has been seen at the Shanghai Biennale, the Berlinale, Alverno Presents, Flynn Center, the Detroit Institute of Arts, Charlestown Working Theater, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, among others.
The Hinterlands most recent piece, The Radicalization Process, was described in Hyperallergic by critic Rosie Sharpe as “an absolutely original and radical performance– one that questions the structure and limits of theater as much as it brings to light the politics that have shaped and damaged modern-day society.” In addition to their own performance work, The Hinterlands are artists-in-residence and program curators of Play House, a Detroit neighborhood-based performance space that they manage in collaboration with Power House Productions, and also curated and organized the Porous Borders Festival, a two-day festival exploring the municipal and cultural borders along the Hamtramck-Detroit divide.
If you require ASL interpretation or other arrangements in order to fully enjoy this program, please email jane.beachy@ilhumanities.org within 72 hours of the event so that we can make accommodations for you.
A note about accessibility for wheelchairs or those with reduced mobility: at the beginning of this event, guests are led down a flight of stairs to explore an archive. Since there is no elevator access to the lower level, Illinois Humanities staff can work with you to bring items up from the archive for you to peruse. Please give us a heads up that you are planning to attend (by emailing jane.beachy@ilhumanities.org) so that we can be sure we’re ready to accommodate you, and thank you for your understanding!
The Radicalization Process was commissioned by Legion Arts, Power House Productions, and Alverno Presents, with generous support from the National Performance Network, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and the NEA Artworks program.
