From May 19 through 21, 2022, Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT), CalArts' center for contemporary arts in downtown Los Angeles, presents artist Mark-n-Sparks (Mark Valdez and ashley sparks) with The Most Beautiful Home... Maybe, a campy, funny, and deeply serious work of interactive theater that poses the question, "Can theater deliver solutions to the nation's housing crisis?"
The Most Beautiful Home... Maybe offers a nerdy and raucous vision for guaranteed housing. Hosted by chanteuse Zébra (a zebra), this multimedia performance juxtaposes housing data, Lyndon B. Johnson, and torch songs, while time traveling through stories of Americans facing home insecurity, past and present. The work takes audiences on a fantastic sensurround journey to envision a future where everyone has a home. During interactive portions of the show, audience members join the conversation to consider such approaches as rent stabilization, re-zoning, building new housing, and more.
"We have heard repeatedly that there's a lack of imagination in policy spaces," says Valdez. "The thinking gets smaller and smaller, while the housing crisis only gets bigger and bigger. Solutions to this crisis will require the arts."
Created by Mark-n-Sparks and produced by the Mixed Blood Theatre of Minneapolis (where it world premiered in October 2021), The Most Beautiful Home...Maybe grew from conversations with housing advocates, activists, developers, government workers, renters, and people facing home insecurity.
The production is part of the current movement using the arts to generate societal change. An outgrowth of creative placemaking and arts activism, Mark-n-Sparks' project stands alongside artist Roston Woo and Sojourn Theater's creative collaborations with civic organizations, and Los Angeles Poverty Department's (LAPD) performance-based advocacy for L.A.'s Skid Row community. The project's virtual and live performances, seminars, and community workshops address the concerns of its host cities within the context of the national housing crisis.
This performance is part of a multi-year, multi-platform experiment by Mark-n-Sparks to influence housing policy through art and dialogue. Mark-n-Sparks has also partnered with the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (JACCC) and Sustainable Little Tokyo (SIT) for a day-long housing symposium on May 21, 2022 entitled,
"Housewarming: Little Tokyo & Skid Row."
TICKETS & INFORMATION:
Mark-n-Sparks: The Most Beautiful Home... Maybe
Thursday, May 19 at 8:30 p.m. (in-person)
Friday, May 20 at 4 p.m. (in-person)
Friday, May 20 at 8:30 p.m. (in-person)
Saturday, May 21 at 8:30 p.m. (in-person and virtual)
Ticketing:
$25 for General admission ($15 virtual)
$20 for REDCAT members and students ($12 virtual)
$13 for CalArts students, faculty and staff ($8 virtual)
Tickets can be purchased at:
https://www.redcat.org/event/mark-n-sparks-most-beautiful-homemaybe
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