Detour Premieres Immersive Theater Event WE BUILD HOUSES HERE May 4

Detour, a devised theater and dance company, has announced the world premiere of WE BUILD HOUSES HERE at the historic Oasis nightclub in San Francisco's South of Market district. Conceived and directed by Detour Co-Founder Eric Garcia, in collaboration with a cast of 10 performers, We Build Houses Here takes place at 7 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, May 4 - 20, 2023.

We Build Houses Here is a work of immersive theater, transforming Oasis nightclub's two-story space into a desert island. Shipwrecked on this island is a band of glittering castaways, each with their own story of hardship and survival. Scenes will take place simultaneously throughout the venue, and audiences may choose from a variety of itineraries.

"At the heart of We Build Houses Here is a desire to honor the sanctuaries that nurture and protect our queer communities," said Garcia. "With the rise in violent attempts to silence us - from the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando to the Proud Boys disrupting Drag Queen Story Hours here in the Bay Area - We Build Houses Here is an urgent call to support our cultural hubs. It is an invitation to connect, to reflect and to dream new futures."

We Build Houses Here is the culmination of more than five years of research into immersive theater forms. Detour's last major work, Fugue, featured a site-specific tapestry of performances along the streets and alleyways of San Francisco's Mission district before culminating inside a small theater. Playwright Brian Thorstenson, who served as a co-writer on Fugue, has returned as a lead collaborator on We Build Houses Here, lending his talents to the whole - a blend of dance, storytelling and drag.

Joining the team are contributing directors Cornelius and Maurya Kerr. Cornelius, also known as VivvyAnne ForeverMORE, is a choreographer, drag queen and a member of The Stud Collective, the first worker owned cooperative queer bar and venue in the United States. Kerr is the artistic director of tinypistol, a contemporary dance company. She is also a critically acclaimed poet. Over a span of 12 years earlier in her career she danced with Alonzo King LINES Ballet.

The cast of We Build Houses Here includes Cheetah Biscotti, Quinn Dixon, Lisa Frankenstein, Syd Franz, Audrey Johnson, Melissa Lewis, Alex Locust aka Glamputee, Mudd, Erin Mei-Ling Stuart and Saharla Vetsch. The designers include Roco Córdova (sound), Del Medoff (lighting) and Abdiel Portalatín Perez (costumes). Jax Blaska and Amanda Vigil are the stage managers.

The development of We Build Houses Here received additional support from New York's renowned Third Rail Projects, the maker of numerous immersive theater events including the long-running, award-winning hit Then She Fell. Detour is also proud to name the Queer Cultural Center, The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and Fresh Meat Productions as its community partners this season.

For more information visit detourdance.com/we-build-houses-here.

Founded in 2009 by Eric Garcia and Kat Gorospe Cole, Detour is a devised dance-theater company that creates bold performances rooted in community-based creative processes. Led by queer people of color, Detour's work radically questions and amplifies urgent issues facing QPOC communities. Detour presents a home season every two years. The company also produces professional development workshops and a monthly performance cabaret for experimental dancers and drag artists called Clutch the Pearls. Among its honors are the Margaret Jenkins' CHIME Award, an Izzie Award nomination for Best Choreography, a Dancers' Group commission to reimagine Pina Bausch's iconic Nelken Line and a curatorial commission from the McEvoy Foundation for the Arts to present an evening of live performance and dance film at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco. For more information visit detourdance.com.

To post a comment, you must register and login.