Wilbury New Works to Premiere INVISIBLE UPSOUTH

The Wilbury Theatre Group New Works program proudly announces the world premiere of a new commissioned work by Providence performance artist Christopher Johnson and slam poet Vatic Kuumba, Invisible UpSouth, February 26-March 6. Commissioned by The Wilbury Group in response to the #BlackLivesMatter movement and the ongoing discussion of race in America, and inspired by Ralph Ellison's masterpiece novel Invisible Man, Invisible UpSouth aims to challenge the way traditional theater-going audiences think about race and humanity and how they move through the world; how one can be well-educated and still blind to the world around them.

Invisible UpSouth runs February 26-March 6 at The Wilbury Theatre Group, 393 Broad Street, Providence RI. Tickets are $10-$15, and Sundays are Pay-What-You-Can. Call 401-400-7100 or order online at thewilburygroup.org.

About Invisible UpSouth
Layered with text adapted from and inspired by Invisible Man,Invisible UpSouth aims to enhance the connection between historical racism and the ongoing tensions of today's world. Additional source inspirations include: Louis Armstrong, Hitler, the KKK, and Birth of a Nation; examining how there can be a fine line between using language for empowerment or hate.

"We're incredibly excited to be working with artists of the caliber of Christopher Johnson and Vatic Kuumba on Invisible UpSouth as part of our New Works program, which aims to present original work from diverse artists and perspectives," says Wilbury Artistic Associate Kate Kataja. "Both are active and prolific voices not only in the spoken word and poetry worlds, but in our Providence community as well. WithInvisible UpSouth, Christopher and Vatic are able to experientially explore what it means to them to live in a 'post-racial society,' using multimedia and nontraditional theater forms to unpack privilege, love, poverty, and who has power in our power structure. "