REDCAT Presents PAUL OUTLAW: BIGBLACKOCTOBERSURPRISE

In the days leading up to the presidential election, Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT), CalArts' center for contemporary arts in downtown Los Angeles, presents a special virtual presentation of experimental theater artist Paul Outlaw's BigBlackOctoberSurprise Oct. 22-24 and 28-31, 2020.

In 2020, Black Americans continue to face disenfranchisement, inequality, and the constant threat of violent death. In the final week before The Most Important Election in Our History, as the nation goes to the polls to elect The Most Powerful Man in the World, BigBlackOctoberSurprise offers a meditation on isolation, imprisonment and imperiled Blackness in America -- not only in this year of COVID-19 and insurrection, but throughout a history that began in the holds of the slave ships.

BigBlackOctoberSurprise: a conservative American white woman finds herself transformed into what she considers a "monstrous vermin" (Kafka) -- a Black man...

"Our first stab at this material last summer was a completely different animal from the piece we are creating now in semi-quarantine, intended to be experienced by viewers in the final days before The Election. It is a reminder of what is at stake," Outlaw explains. "The work on this hybrid production -- part live, part recorded -- has been a staggering, empowering and even joyous experience for me. I think we are making something hideously beautiful, which I hope will be in some way meaningful for you, too."

From the creative team behind the upcoming BBC (Big Black Cockroach), including director Sara Lyons, composer and sound designer Jonathan Snipes, and video designer Adam J. Thompson -- this new take on a reality inspired by Kafka, Ovid, and current events is yet another metamorphosis, an online hybrid provocation combining live and filmed performance. An early version of BBC was presented as part of the 2019 edition of REDCAT's New Original Works (NOW) Festival.

Paul Outlaw is a Los Angeles-based experimental theater artist and vocalist whose award-winning solo projects have been presented across the United States and in Europe. The central themes of his artistic practice are the constructs of race and sexual identity, and how violence has haunted them throughout Euro-American history. Paul is the recipient of a 2012 COLA (City of Los Angeles) Individual Artist Fellowship, which honors artists "who dedicate themselves to an ongoing body of excellent work, represent a relevant progression through their pieces or series, exemplify a generation of core ideas in their field, garner respect from their peers, and serve as role models for other artists." For more about Outlaw and his work, please visit outlawplay.com.

This event is virtual, streamed from the REDCAT stage through the REDCAT website. Tickets can be purchased at:
redcat.org/event/paul-outlaw-bigblackoctobersurprise.com

This performance was created in compliance with Los Angeles County Public Health Guidelines. Any performer appearing without a mask was filmed using appropriate physical distancing, in alignment with those guidelines.