The Neo-Futurists to Open THE SOVEREIGN STATEMENT, 10/21

The Neo-Futurists enter a life-sized game of "choose your own autocracy" with The Sovereign Statement. The show opens Monday, October 21 at 7:30 p.m. at The Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland.

Using the genre conventions of political thrillers and procedurals, The Neo-Futurists explore the strange phenomenon of "micro-nations" by attempting to establish their theater as an independent state in its own right, utilizing the audience as citizens of the endeavor. Working in multiple spaces in The Neo-Futurarium to play this life-sized game of politics and intrigue, cast members of The Sovereign Statement fight against paranoia, misinformation and script changes in their quest for power and micro-nation domination. Audience members are given the opportunity to vote or abstain in the creation of the modern nation, ultimately affecting the outcome of the show. The Sovereign Statement examines not only the birth of nations, but also the circumstances that lead to their fracture and collapse. Can the new Neo-Futurist nation survive? And if so, should it?

Bilal Dardai states, "I was compelled by the thought process that leads a person to take the step of declaring themselves and their backyard an independent state. In many cases all you have are monuments to ego or groups of people playing elaborate games--but you find the same in many 'valid' countries as well. I wanted to explore what felt to me like a very current topic--between revolutions and civil wars in the Middle East, newly partitioned nations like North and South Sudan, and the number of American states that keep making noises about seceding--while also examining the patterns of nations that had been established and survived as well as those that collapses into ruin."

Bilal Dardai (Creator/Performer) is one of The Neo-Futurists' current Artistic Directors and has been an ensemble member for nearly a decade. With the Neo-Futurists he has been part of the creative teams for Contraption, A Very Neo-Futurist Christmas Carol, CRISIS: a musical game show, Fear, and Alice, as well as a curator for It Came From The Neo-Futurarium and a regular writer/performer in Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind. He is also the author of the plays Vox Pandora, Redeemers, and The Man Who Was Thursday (Joseph Jefferson nomination for Best New Work - Adaptation), all produced by New Leaf Theatre, and several other short plays that have been produced across the United States and in parts of Europe. Other credits as an actor include The Permanent Wayfor New Leaf (Joseph Jefferson nomination for Best Ensemble), A Passage to India for Vitalist Theatre, andMemory for Backstage Theatre Company.

Brandon Ray (Director) is the new Artistic Director of Chicago's Red Tape Theatre, and was formerly the inaugural Artistic Director of New Leaf Theatre. While at New Leaf, he directed the Joseph Jefferson award-nominated productions of As It Is In Heaven and the US premiere of David Hare's The Permanent Way. Other Chicago directing credits include Reckless and Accelerando at New Leaf, Three Hymns of Apathy at the side project, With Every Wish at Petri Dish Theatre and Beatrice and Beau at Collaboraction's 9th Sketchbook festival. This spring, he will direct the US Premiere of Earthquakes In London by Mike Bartlett for Red Tape. Brandon received his MFA in Directing from Illinois State University's prestigious School of Theatre and Dance in 2012. He has taught theatre and literature at both Prairie State College in Chicago Heights and the University of St. Francis in Joliet.

The cast of The Sovereign Statement includes: Jen Ellison who has worked with Trap Door Theatre, The Mammals, Theatre Seven and Collaboraction and is a director for Second City's national touring company; Clifton Frei who is a Neo-Futurist Artistic Associate where he has worked on Fear, CRISIS: a musical game show, andChalk and Saltwater: The Ladder Project; Gwynn V. Fulcher who was seen in Chalk and Saltwater: The Ladder Project and is an artistic associate with Shattered Globe Theatre; Mike Manship who has worked with Barrel of Monkeys and Zeitgeist Stage and co-founded Boston's unconventional comedy show, MOSAIC; and Phil Ridarelliwho is a long-standing ensemble member of The Neo-Futurists and has also worked with Victory Gardens, Lookingglass, American Theatre Company, Next and Northlight.

The Sovereign Statement staff includes: Dan Broberg (Set Designer), Mike Durst (Lighting Designer), Nick Keenan (Sound Designer), Laura Moore (Props Designer), John Szymanski (Composer), Evan Hanover(Dramaturg), JD Cannady (Assistant Director), Maggie Fullilove-Nugent (Production Manager), Victoria R. Golden (Asst. Production Manager). Amanda Frechette serves as Stage Manager.