Discover Houston This Spring with Alley Theatre's Live Theatre Experience REMOTE HOUSTON

Alley Theatre presents REMOTE HOUSTON, a participatory, pedestrian-based live theatre experience where groups of 50 individuals meet and discover the city of Houston from a new remote perspective. The performances begin April 12 and run through May 13. Tickets are on sale now online (alleytheatre.org) or by phone (713.220.5700).

REMOTE HOUSTON, produced by Alley Theatre, and presented in association with the University of Houston Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts and 2016 CounterCurrent Festival, was created by Berlin based performance company Rimini Protokoll. This custom designed experience is an extension of the Remote X project, which has been performed in major cities including Berlin, Moscow, New York and Zurich.

"I like to put spectators and their experiences in the center. I want the audience to be exposed to the unforeseen of the city in combination with the multiple layers of our text and the soundscapes," says Stefan Kaegi of Rimini Protokoll.

"After discovering this project at an international theatre festival in Santiago, Chile, I am thrilled we were able to partner with the UH Mitchell Center to bring this interactive theatre piece to Houston. We are excited to participate in a live theatrical piece that introduces our audiences to a different Houston experience -- that is beyond our theatre walls," said Alley Theatre Managing Director Dean R. Gladden.

Participants will be lead on a journey across the city that alters perceptions of familiar landscapes, unifies the group and conjures up personal memories. Armed with only a set of headphones, a computer generated synthetic voice guides each participant through downtown Houston, allowing them to craft their own interpretation and unique story of the sights, music and surrounding environments they encounter.

The REMOTE HOUSTON journey begins at the Evergreen Cemetery. The performance reveals a "secret Houston," continuing to places normally unseen, places where humans encounter their limits, places where crowds gather, Houston's underground tunnel system, back alleyways, dark hallways, unseen areas of Houston, and common areas seen through a new lens. At times the group is given tasks -- take the Metrorail, participate in or view the city through special binoculars.The experience will conclude in the Houston Theater District.

REMOTE HOUSTON begins at Evergreen Cemetery, 500 Altic Street and concludes in the downtown Houston Theater District. Participants are advised to park in the Theater District and take the MetroRail Green Line to the Altic/Howard Hughes stop.

Performances are Monday - Friday at 4:00 p.m. and performances last approximately two hours. Preview performances of REMOTE HOUSTON are offered during the UH Mitchell Center's CounterCurrent festival. Admission to these preview performances is free (April 12-15). Ticketed performances run April 18-May13.

Tickets to REMOTE HOUSTON are now on sale and are $39. Tickets for groups of 10+ are available for $25 each and may be reserved by calling 713.315.3346. Student tickets are available with valid I.D for $16. Tickets can be ordered online (alleytheatre.org) or by phone (713.220.5700). Free preview performance tickets during the CounterCurrent festival may be reserved at countercurrentfestival.org beginning February 25, 2016. Please note that REMOTE HOUSTON requires moving on foot around the city. Wear appropriate clothing for weather, and bring a water bottle if desired.

Based in Berlin, Stefan Kaegi, Helgard Haug and Daniel Wetzel create theater, sound and radio plays, films and installations under the collective label of Rimini Protokoll. Their widely acclaimed work focuses on the continuous development of theater tools that allows for new and unusual perspectives on our common reality. "Remote X" is a production of Rimini Apparat. In coproduction with HAU Hebbel am Ufer Berlin, Maria Matos Teatro Municipal and Goethe-Institute Portugal, Festival Theaterformen Hannover/Braunschweig, Festival d'Avignon, Zürcher Theater Spektakel, Kaserne Basel. Supported by the Capital Cultural Fund Berlin and by Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia and Fachausschuss Tanz und Theater Kanton Basel-Stadt. A House on Fire coproduction with the support of the Cultural Program of the European Union.

Concept, Script, Direction: Stefan Kaegi; Co-Direction, Realisation in Houston: Jörg Karrenbauer; Sound Design: Nikolas Neecke; Sound Editing: Ilona Marti; Dramaturgy: Aljoscha Begrich; Production Management: Juliane Männel.

The Alley Theatre, one of America's leading not-for-profit theatres, is a nationally recognized performing arts company lead by Artistic Director Gregory Boyd and Managing Director Dean R. Gladden. The theatre was founded in 1947 and welcomes more than 170,000 audience members each year. The Alley produces up to 16 plays each year in our newly renovated theatre, ranging from the best current work, to re-invigorated classic plays, to new plays by contemporary writers. Home to a Resident Company of actors, the Alley is one of the few professional American not-for-profit theatres to embrace this ideal. In addition, a 75,000 square foot state-of-the-art production center houses scenery construction, costumes, properties, wigs, lighting and sound design - all on-site. Alley All New, the initiative to commission and develop new work year round, features the Alley All New Festival each season presenting workshops and readings of new plays and musicals in process. Additionally the Alley serves 65,000 students annually with award-winning education and community programs including in-school arts integration residencies, school tours and student matinees. A recipient of the Special Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, the Alley has brought productions to Broadway, 40 American cities including New York's Lincoln Center and internationally to London, Berlin, Paris, and St. Petersburg throughout its 69 year history.

The Alley Theatre completed a $46.5 million building renovation in the 2014-2015 season, the first major improvements since the building opened in 1968. With more than 500 performances in 2015-2016, the Alley will produce more shows than all other performing arts organizations in the Houston Theater District combined.

CounterCurrent is a festival of bold experimental art that occupies a range of unexpected sites in the city of Houston. Presented by the University of Houston Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, CounterCurrent includes audio and visual installation, live performance and participatory events by artists from around the world. Collaborations with dynamic organizations and artists in the Houston community are included as well as fresh new works by University of Houston faculty and students. Visit countercurrentfestival.org for more information about the festival.

The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts is dedicated to interdisciplinary collaboration across the performing, visual, and literary arts. Based at the University of Houston, the Mitchell Center commissions and produces new works, presents public performances and exhibitions, offers curriculum and scholarships, and hosts residencies with renowned visiting artists from throughout the world. The Center is home to the Mitchell Artist Lecture, an annual event featuring a pioneer in contemporary art-making, as well as CounterCurrent, an annual spring festival of new performance. The Mitchell Center forms an alliance among five departments at UH: the School of Art, Moores School of Music, School of Theatre & Dance, Creative Writing Program, and Blaffer Art Museum. Visit www.mitchellcenterforart.org for more information.

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