New York City theater collectiveThe Assembly will present a curated conversation series to accompany the West Coast premiere of HOME/SICK, a theatrical re-imagining of the history of the Weather Underground. Select performances of The New York Times 'Critic's Pick' production, which is set for a limited, four-week engagement in a co-production with West L.A.'s Odyssey Theatre Ensemble from June 11 through July 3, will be followed by discussions with former Weathermen, historians, activists and artists engaged with today's political struggles. To date, four speakers have been confirmed: Los Angeles Poverty Department founding artistic director John Malpede on June 15; activist Eric Mann on June 16; historian Jon Wiener onJune 17; and former Weatherman Mark Rudd on June 19.
HOME/SICK explores real events during the 1960s U.S. student political movement. Disgusted by the Vietnam War and rampant inequality at home, a handful of leaders from the 1960s U.S. student movement seized control of Students for a Democratic Society and reshaped it in the name of overthrowing the United States' government. This conversation series will examine the Weather Underground's inspiration and idealism, infighting and ultimate disintegration in a passionate examination of collective action. The Assembly is a collective of multi-disciplinary performance artists committed to realizing a visceral and intelligent theater for a new generation. Assembly members unite their varied interests in service of wide-reaching, unabashedly theatrical and rigorously researched ensemble performances that address the complexities of our ever-changing world. The company embraces collaboration as the core of the creative process, allowing all the elements of text, action and design to develop side-by-side within the rehearsal environment. The Assembly is dedicated to rooting its artists, audiences and peers in a profound sense of community. Central to The Assembly's mission is creating work that fosters dialogue within our community, and the company is excited to offer up this wide range of experience to audience members.Participant Information:
John Malpede (June 15) directs, performs and engineers multi-event arts projects that have theatrical, installation, public art and education components. In 1985 Malpede founded and continues to direct the Los Angeles Poverty Department (LAPD), the first performance group in the nation comprised primarily of homeless and formerly homeless people. LAPD creates performances that connect lived experience to the social forces that shape the lives and communities of people living in poverty. Malpede has produced projects working with communities throughout the U.S. and in the UK, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Bolivia. Malpede has received New York's Dance Theater Workshop Bessie Creation Award, San Francisco Art Institute's Adeline Kent Award, Durfee Sabbatical Grant, LA Theater Alliance Ovation Award and individual artist fellowships from New York State Council on the Arts, NEA, California Arts Council, City of Los Angeles' COLA fellowship and California Community Foundation's Visual Artist Fellowship, as well as numerous project grants.Videos