Boom Arts Presents 600 HIGHWAYMEN'S A THOUSAND WAYS (Part One): A Phone Call

Boom Arts will present A THOUSAND WAYS, a live, interactive theatrical experiment about finding one another through distance and negotiating shared space. This triptych of encounters is designed around social distancing rules to meet participants where they are and when they are. Obie Award-winning theatermakers, 600 HIGHWAYMEN, known for exhilarating performances that challenge the very definition of theater, have created a response to this new world with A Thousand Ways exploring the line between strangeness and kinship, distance and proximity, and how the most intimate assembly can become profoundly radical.

In three distinct installments, individuals co-create an extraordinary communion with and for one another. Part One: A Phone Call takes place over the telephone, with two audience members coming together around a carefully crafted set of audio directives. Part Two: An Encounter takes place inside an empty theater, with two people seated across from one another at a table navigating the complicated terrain between intimacy and strangeness. Finally, Part Three: An Assembly, is an opportunity to recast the participating audience as an ensemble in a culminating experience that brings individuals together again, this time en masse, to experience togetherness in shared space.

Boom Arts can't wait to bring this triptych to Portland over the next year, beginning with Part One: A Phone Call this winter. Pick up the phone. Someone is on the line. You don't know their name, and you still won't when the hour is over, but as you follow the recorded instructions, a portrait of your partner will emerge through fleeting moments of exposure. Without leaving your home, a transporting narrative unfolds. The performance is entirely analogue. Anyone can do it. All that is required is a telephone and the curiosity to connect with a stranger.

"Something I have missed since the pandemic started are random yet profound interactions and with strangers. I am hoping that this show will begin to heal our sense of isolation as we move through the winter, and help us ease back into togetherness over the next year with parts two and three as it becomes safe to come gather again." says Boom Arts Artistic director Tracy Francis

Boom Arts will present Part Two: An Encounter in Spring of 2021, and Part Three: An Assembly will be presented as soon as it is safe to gather again. In a time when we're accustomed to division, when isolation is required, A Thousand Ways offers a path from isolation to congregation.

Details:

What: A THOUSAND WAYS (Part One): A Phone Call

Who: 600 Highwayman, presented by Boom Arts

When: December 10-13 2020 & January 21-23 2021 (numerous time slots available)

Where: via interactive phone call

Tickets: www.boomarts.org | sliding scale $20-$40

Media comps: Complimentary tickets for media representatives available from tracy@boomarts.org

CREDITS

A THOUSAND WAYS

by 600 HIGHWAYMEN

written & created by Abigail Browde & Michael Silverstone

Executive Producer: Thomas O. Kriegsmann / ArKtype

Line Producer: Cynthia J. Tong

Dramaturg & Project Design: Andrew Kircher

Part One: A Phone Call Sound Design: Stanley Mathabane

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