The Young Fugitives Present Track 13

Before Ferguson, Eric, Baltimore or Sandra... On February 10, 2014, a 16 yearold boy attempted to rob an off-duty Cook County Sheriff at gunpoint. That boy, Deonta Mackey,was shot dead. Media coverage figured Mackey as another Chicago kid turned criminal, message boards referred to him as a "dumb nigger," and many even championed the officer as "heroic" in his self-defense. Free Street Theater's radically politicized ensemble of young performers The Young Fugitives felt differently.

The Young Fugitives' TRACK 13 takes the death of Deonta Mackey as a launching pad to explore the history of crime and policing, the present-day realities of relentless racialized state violence, and the impact of growing up in Chicago in communities under pressure. Written and performed by young adults of color too often in the line of fire, TRACK 13 grapples to understand:

Why is it that fifty years after the Civil Rights Act youth are being shot by those enforcing the laws their grandparents fought to change? As we chant #blacklivesmatter, are some deaths easier to rally behind than others? How does state violence against Black women, Latinos or queer and trans people fit into this equation? Are some youth really just "thugs?" TRACK 13 approaches these questions in a 50-minute physical theater piece directed by Ricardo Gamboa with Sean J.W. Parris and with an original soundtrack composed by Sadie Woods.

TRACK 13 first premiered to standing-room only crowds during January-February, 2015 and marked the one-year anniversary until Mackey's death. While that run came to an end, police violence against people of color has not. Free Street reunites Gamboa and The Young Fugitives to kick-off their 2015-2016 season with an updated version of this urgent, provocative play.

DETAILS:

TRACK 13 opens Friday, September 18 for a 6-week run at Free Street Theater, 3rd floor of the Pulaski Park Field House, 1419 West Blackhawk.

Fridays: September 18, September 25, October 2, October 9, October 16, October 23.

All shows begin at 7:00pm, doors open at 6:30pm.

As part of Free Street's commitment to accessibility, Free Street's tickets are pay-what-you-can.

Advance ticket purchase recommended: track13.brownpapertickets.com

Track 13 is recommended for audiences 13 and over.

Free Street Theater

1419 West Blackhawk Street, 3rd Floor.

Chicago, Illinois 60642

P: (773) 772-7248

About The Young Fugitives

Originally recruited by Gamboa for a youth summer employment program, The Young Fugitives formed during 2013, their third summer working with Gamboa, When their show "Cold Summer" was censored for critiquing political figures by name, Free Street Theater offered The Young Fugitives the opportunity to independently produce "Cold Summer," then asked them to formally join the organization. Since then, The Young Fugitives has become a professional ensemble of young writers and performers who create original theatrical works that challenge Chicago's status quo and offers an artistic home to individuals excluded from other avenues of production.

ABOUT FREE STREET THEATER

Free Street Theater, founded in 1969, has a long history of using theater to build community and expand the capacity of marginalized populations to tell their own stories. And while the company is best-known as a pioneer in the youth arts movement, Free Street's work features an increasing array of multi-generational programming.