Running September 26-28, 2024.
On September 26-28, 2024, Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater (REDCAT), CalArts’ center for contemporary arts in downtown Los Angeles, will present Back to Back Theatre with the Los Angeles premiere of The Shadow Whose Prey The Hunter Becomes.
“When artificial intelligence takes over human intelligence, how will people be treated?”
Set in a public meeting, this bold theater work, crafted and performed by an ensemble of neurodivergent actors, weighs the balance of individual and collective responsibility in a democracy. As the actors engage in political debate and community conversation, their narrative considers human rights, sexual politics, and relationships with technology. Inspired by mistakes, misreadings, and misunderstanding, The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes is a funny and poignant theatrical revelation that asks how people come together to make decisions that are in the best interest of a civic society.
Presented in English with surtitles.
Please note: The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes contains adult themes and coarse language.
Based in the Victorian regional center of Geelong, Australia, Back to Back Theatre is widely recognized as the country’s theater company of national and international significance. The company is driven by an ensemble of actors who identify as having an intellectual disability or are neurodivergent and is considered one of Australia’s most important cultural exporters. Over the last decade, Back to Back Theatre has presented 44 national and 82 international seasons of its work.
Since 1999, under the artistic directorship of Bruce Gladwin, the company has nurtured a unique voice with an emphasis on the ensemble’s commentaries on broad social and cultural dialogue. Created through a process of research, improvisation, and scripting, new work is realized across time via collaboration between the ensemble, artistic director, and guest artists. In addition to its professional practice, Back to Back collaborates intensively with communities around the world, with a focus on artistic excellence and elevated social inclusion for people with disabilities.
Back to Back Theatre has received 23 national and international awards, including the 2024 Venice Biennale Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Theatre, the 2022 International Ibsen award, a Helpmann Award for Best New Australian Work, an Edinburgh International Festival Herald Angel Critics Award, two Age Critics Awards, a New York Bessie, and the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Group Award for its long-standing contribution to the development of Australian theater. In 2015, Bruce Gladwin received the Australia Council for the Arts’ Inaugural Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatre. The ensemble was awarded the “Best Ensemble” in the 2019 Green Room Awards.
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