Immersive Theatrical Experience FIGHT BACK Adds Three More Presentations

Fight Back, the immersive theatrical experience created by David Wise has added three additional presentations, set to take place in New York City on Monday, May 4, 11, and 18. Producer Benson Drive Productions has joined the production as a producer. All net proceeds going forward will be donated to The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center (208 W 13th St) where Fight Back takes place, in the actual room where the 1989 meeting happened.

In addition to joining as producer, Benson Drive Productions has assembled a committee of ambassadors to support the project including Amber Ruffin, Joel Kim Booster, Margaret Cho, Michael Urie, Peppermint, Rosie O’Donnell, Roxane Gay, Ryan O’Connell, and Wilson Cruz.

The premise of this theatrical experiment is simple: It’s the March 13, 1989 meeting of ACT UP New York, the passionate group taking direct action to fight AIDS. But – there are no actors and there’s no audience. When participants come to Fight Back, from the minute they arrive, they are a person attending the meeting.

Participants get a biographical profile of their persona and instructions for how to engage. Some (self-selected) people will also get details about specialized roles they’ll have at the meeting. Every persona will be an actual person who was at that meeting. When participants register for Fight Back, they will fill out a brief questionnaire so that they get matched with a persona that suits them.

In a statement, producer George Strus said: “As our current Administration continues to attack the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community across the nation, I have been reflecting on the necessity of grassroots knowledge preservation, communal gathering, and collective power. David Wise's stupendously effective and gripping theatrical experiment, Fight Back, transports each participant to 1989 and thrusts one into the mindset of a real human who sought justice and cultivated greater urgency as their government suppressed information and failed to help their constituents affected by the AIDS crisis. The experiment had a profound impact on me when I participated, and I believe it has true potential to radically transform the ways in which one collects and disperses information, resources, and community support in a time when fighting back and acting up is more crucial than ever.”

For more information and to sign up, please visit www.fightback.nyc. A $19.89 donation is suggested for all participants. You can follow @fightbacknyc on Instagram for additional updates.