THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HOME... MAYBE to be Presented in Los Angeles

Can theater deliver solutions to the nation's housing crisis? Mark-n-Sparks (Mark Valdez and ashley sparks) think so. The creators of The Most Beautiful Home...Maybe, a campy, funny and deeply serious work of interactive theater are bringing their multicity series of live performances and community events to Los Angeles. Their goal? Planning a future where everyone has a home.

Los Angeles events include performances at REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater), on May 19-21 and day-long symposium on housing at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center on May 21. Click here for tickets to REDCAT performances. Link to reservations to the symposium TBA.

"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."

In the spirit of creative problem solving, The Most Beautiful Home asks audiences to embrace both humor and sincerity. In the multimedia, immersive performance hosted by chanteuse Zébra (Karla Mosley), housing data meets torch songs and stories of Americans facing housing insecurity. 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.

Produced by the Mixed Blood Theater of Minneapolis, The Most Beautiful Home was developed through conversations with advocates, developers, government stakeholders, renters, and housing-insecure citizens. The Most Beautiful Home launched as a virtual production for the annual conference of the Network for Energy, Water, and Health in Affordable Buildings (NEWHAB). "With humor and insight, it took us beyond business as usual, creating cues for problem-solving outside of our usual practices," said Faith Graham, Managing Director, NEWHAB.

The Most Beautiful Home 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. The Most Beautiful Home had its world premiere at St. Paul Minnesota's Mixed Blood Theater in October 2021. After REDCAT, the production will travel to Syracuse Stage in Syracuse New York, June 15-20, and Arizona State University in Phoenix, Arizona in August, dates TBA.

The Most Beautiful Home... Maybe is created and co-directed by Mark Valdez and ashley sparks (Mark-n-Sparks), collaborators since 2008. Mark-n-Sparks bring over 40 years of experience working in and with communities, helping to lift up local stories and address local concerns while pushing aesthetic boundaries of community-based artmaking.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT PROJECT FUNDERS AND PARTNERS.

REDCAT performance is funded by the generous support of Fariba Ghaffari.

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