CITY OF REFUGE - New Play by artistic associate Tommer Peterson
City of Refuge
City of Refuge is an interactive theater piece that examines and illuminates the stories of the movement of people from one life to another. Whether by choice or by circumstance, the act of leaving what was once home and facing an unknown future is at once an act of desperation, courage, and hope. City of Refuge will embody and tell the true stories of individuals who have made these journeys.
The elements of this production
• A series of interviews with individuals who are recent or past immigrants, migrants, and/or refugees will be conducted by the core creative team, using the methodology developed by American Records Theatre Company. These stories will be used to develop the central narrative of the performance.
• City of Refuge is entirely presented in movement, based on the techniques developed by Japanese theater artist Shogo Ohta called “slow tempo.” Ohta’s style, in which the performers move in exaggerated slow motion, and focus on the act of walking, provides and ideal vehicle to express the stories of migration and relocation. There is no spoken text.
• City of Refuge will not be performed in traditional theatrical venues, but in spaces such as museums, industrial sites, parks, or places of worship.
• There is no passive audience for City of Refuge. There is a core professional cast that will perform the main story line, supported and accompanied by “extras”.