200+ Artists Unite For Collaboraction's PEACEBOOK Finale

Collaboraction will reunite 200+ Chicago artists involved in the creation of this year's third annual PEACEBOOK Festival for a one-day-only, marathon celebration showcase of more than 20 world premiere short works about peace Sunday, October 7 at The Chop Shop, 2033 W. North Avenue in Bucktown.
The 20+ works will be "re-mixed" into three one-hour, themed programs: POWER at 3 p.m., LOVE at 5 p.m. and HOPE at 7 p.m.

The PEACEBOOK finale includes a free community meal between performances, peace panels and special guests. Tickets to each program are $30/$15 for artists, students, educators and veterans, or $50/$25 for an all access pass to all three shows. Pay What You Can admission is also available for standing room only.
Visit collaboraction.org/peacebook, email boxoffice@collaboraction.org or call Collaboraction, (312) 226-9633, for tickets and more information.

PEACEBOOK is Collaboraction's free festival of theater, dance, music, visual art and spoken word works, each seven minutes or less, that just completed its annual fall tour to three Chicago Park District neighborhood venues: LaFollette Park in Austin, Kelvyn Park in Hermosa and Hamilton Park in Englewood.

Chicago artists and activists who created original works for this year's PEACEBOOK include Amy "The Hope Dealer" Williams, Chicago rappers The Boy Illinois and PHENOM, Bril Barrett of M.A.D.D. Rhythm, Loretta Firekeeper Hawkins, Nancy García Loza, Avi Roque, Sir Taylor of Example Setters Youth Poetry and Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre. ? Collaborators also include Wu Tang Clan and artist Amanda Williams, who gave Collaboraction permission to showcase her recent Color(ed) Theory project as part of this year's set design and marketing graphics.

On October 7, the PEACEBOOK finale will be a unifying showcase of how the live performing arts can open minds, hearts and spur critical community dialogue. POWER: 3 p.m.

Manspread Madness By Donna Latham, directed by Lee Hannah Conrads This over-the-top theatrical piece brings a comedic perspective to the exploration of peace as women on the subway band together and battle the oppression of a manspreader.
Working By Chicago Worker Collaborative's Workers Theatre, directed by Jasmin Cardenas Dividing black and brown workers strategically allows sky rocketing profits for corporations and temp agencies. Chicago Worker Collaborative's Workers' Theatre Collective fights for workers' rights by revealing the real struggles - exploitation, racial discrimination, poverty, gender violence and more - facing temp workers in the U.S.

In the Air Tonight By Andrew Rios, directed by Sean Patrick Leonard A hilarious spoken word testimony of a young boy's encounter with the police after a misunderstanding with a toy gun in his mom's new apartment.
Erased By the Collaboraction Peacemakers, directed by Luis Crespo Race and equality in Chicago are explored in this short piece written, developed and performed by the Collaboraction Teen Ensemble.

Thursday Night Choreographed by Yariana Baralt Torres and Maria Blanco Dance is uniquely matched with feminism to explore the experience of being a woman, with Torres and Blanco aiming to empower women and inspire unity among them.
Wind for a Sail By Katie Angelica Abascal, directed by Abbey Bobzin In this minimalist satirical play, six privileged extraterrestrials board a spaceship to escape interstellar war, and share their thoughts on traveling with aliens from a different planet and their options for dinner.

Walkout By Nathaniel Swift This devised piece explores the perspectives and opinions of students who chose to protest gun violence by walking out. Will these marches do anything to create real change? And what do we do next?

Example Setters Youth Poetry Written and directed by Sir Taylor Sir Taylor, the legendary director, performer (Jesse White Tumblers, US Men Gymnastics Team, The Lion King on Broadway, Golden Gloves boxer) and teacher who grew up in Cabrini Green leads a powerful ensemble of urban teens all focused on setting the example for the city of Chicago.

The Boys in the Hoods By Frederick Alphonso, directed by Cordaro Johnson Alphonso uses theater to reflect the recent influx of drug use in the youth in Englewood, show awareness to the gentrification in the neighborhood and promote the need for positive change.

Spoken word artist Loretta Firekeeper Hawkins in Five Families
Five Families By Loretta Firekeeper Hawkins Hawkins's spoken word piece, a tribute to black men shot by police, promotes peace and understanding among different groups and concludes that humans are more alike than they are different.

Quiet By Noelle T. Hedges-Goettl, directed by Rose Shapiro This spoken word piece shows how a transgender woman escapes the volume of her thoughts and the cruelty of societal judgment by immersing herself in the music from her headphones.
Oak & Pallets By Nancy García Loza, directed by Ana Velazquez García Loza often draws from personal experiences that fluctuate between lived trauma and comedic coping. Her newest theatrical story depicts the citizenship process for her Mexican immigrant family, recalling a key moment of connection between a daughter and her father.

Head to the Sky By Jason Makia Robinson, directed by Madi Delk This musical piece moves, touches and inspires people to take action and create a better future for those living in Chicago.

Reflections, Thoughts and Reminders Written and co-devised by Avi Roque In this visceral devised piece, Roque contemplates the idea of peace and how to achieve it while examining identity, gender and race in a very binary Chicago.

Tearz
Tearz By the Wu Tang Clan, directed and adapted for the stage by Anthony Moseley Anthony Moseley adapts the Wu Tang Clan's song Tearz from their 1993 debut album to the stage sharing the tales of caution about street violence and safe sex featuring Chicago artists The Boy Illinois and Phenom.

HOPE: 7 p.m.
Sandusky By Dani Mauleon, directed by Esteban Arévalo Bare and straightforward, this devised theater piece about an undocumented student's journey home is a call to come together in love and rally against hate.
Somewhere in Uptown By Andrea Sutherland, directed by Myesha-Tiara McGarner This testimony, in the form of a monologue, chronicles the experience of a new Chicago resident as they try to find peace and community in their Uptown apartment.

T'Yanna Smith in Heal CTA
Heal CTA By Sophia Pietrkowski and Elenna Sindler An ethnographic exploration of how public space is navigated by survivors of sexual trauma. Through the depiction of one woman's commute on the CTA, this piece aims to show how communal respect and understanding are essential to healing.

Enough is Enough By Janice Fields Janice Fields's spoken word piece illuminates minds, confronts societal issues and encourages change.

Ruh/Ruach By Shawn Lent This dance and music collaboration is part of a social intervention addressing insularity and division in Northwest Chicago. The piece celebrates the resiliency and mobility of the human spirit and features apprentice refugee performers. Temporarily, the space is made radically inclusive for religiously conservative performers and audiences.

School Daze by Emcee Skool, led by PHENOM of POETREE CHICAGO The vision of Emcee Skool is to develop young artists into community organizers and youth ambassadors for peace under the mentorship of Teh'ray Hale aka PHENOM.

Amy "Hope Dealer to the Dope Dealer" Williams in Hope is My Homie
Hope is My Homie By Amy L. Williams, directed by Juan Castaneda A theater piece about the realities of incarceration that highlights what people don't know about "the visits" - the first hug, the depression, haircuts and fresh uniforms - and the challenges of returning back to society.

#unapologeticallyblack By Bril Barrett and Star Dixon Chicago tap dance legend Bril Barrett choreographs this team of female dancers exploring tap-dance as an effective form of protest and a powerful catalyst for change.

"The 24 'chapters' in this year's third annual PEACEBOOK, chosen from more than 200 submissions, united over 200 artists, from household names to neighborhood peace activists, all intent on creating real connections with Chicagoans in communities around the city," said Anthony Moseley, PEACEBOOK Festival Director and Artistic Director of Collaboraction. "We encouraged Chicagoans to come out to the parks, discover new neighborhoods, hear new stories and have deep conversations with each other about peace and equity. In doing so, we saw our similarities and connections to one another. The PEACEBOOK marathon is our culminating event, the final opportunity to reunite all of this year's amazing artists and showcase their 24 works, all in one day."

Collaboraction (collaboraction.org), Chicago's social contemporary theater, collaborates with a diverse community of Chicagoans, artists and community activists to create original theatrical experiences that push artistic boundaries and explore critical social issues. Since the company's founding in 1996, Collaboraction has worked with more than 3,000 artists to bring more than 60 productions and events to more than 150,000 audience members.

Collaboraction is led by Artistic Director Anthony Moseley, Managing Director Dr. Marcus Robinson, a company of 20 talented Chicago theater artists, and a dedicated staff and board of directors. The company's vision is to utilize theater to cultivate dialogue and action around our most critical social issues throughout Chicago.
For the past five years, Collaboraction has partnered with the Chicago Park District through their Night Out in the Parks program, returning each year to cultivate relationships and theater in Englewood, Austin and Hermosa through the Crime Scene, PEACEBOOK and Encounter tours. Production highlights also include its series of Crime Scene productions responding to Chicago's crime epidemic; Sarah Moeller's Forgotten Future: The Education Project; 15 years of the SKETCHBOOK Festival; the Chicago premiere of 1001 by Jason Grote; the world premiere of Jon by George Saunders and directed by Seth Bockley; and The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow: an instant message with excitable music by Rolin Jones.

Collaboraction also maintains an active Collaboraction For-Hire division, which creates custom special event design for private, corporate and civic clients, including the Art Institute, the City of Chicago and many more.

Collaboraction is supported by The Chicago Community Trust, The Joyce Foundation, The Field Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, DCASE and the Wicker Park & Bucktown SSA #33 Chamber of Commerce. This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.
For more, visit collaboraction.org, follow the company on

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