dog & pony dc Presents A KILLING GAME, Now thru 12/22

dog & pony dc is hosting a play... a play with a game inside...a game of crisis and survival, quick decisions and chance. In A Killing Game, performers and audience discover themselves at ground zero of a plague outbreak. A plague with high contagion and fatality rates. Where will they turn for assistance-the media, the government, the community? Do they have what it takes to stay alive?

A Killing Game was created by dog & pony dc's ensemble of theatre artists and will run Wednesday through Saturday nights at 7:30pm, tonight, November 28 – December 22 at Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW), 545 7th Street SE, Washington, DC. Tickets are available at dogandponydc.com.

In a not-so-distant time, in a city strikingly similar to this one, a deadly plague begins killing the citizenry--inexplicably, indiscriminately, and fast! What's going on? Can the disease be contained? Where can you turn? Only your cunning and skills can keep you alive 'til the end of dog & pony dc's newest production A Killing Game. Do you have what it takes to survive? We can't all die, can we?

A Killing Game is a series of scenes that journey the audience through the frenzied phases of a public health emergency. In a highly playful, game-filled environment, the show explores how we get caught up in chaos and hysteria during times of crisis.

"In the moments when an emergency first emerges, confusion and misinformation often leads otherwise clear-headed citizens to make irrational choices," says Director Colin K. Bills. But Bills sees this loss of focus occurring regularly in daily life. "We buy into frenzy so easily," he says. "By clowning a crisis and playing at survival, A Killing Game allows us to examine this greater cultural phenomenon which occurs around everything from the birth of a celebrity's baby to a potential biohazard attack." ?

dog & pony dc's last production, Beertown engaged audiences in a community debate, integrating them into the action of the story and enabling them, through discussion and vote, in determining the outcome of the show. With A Killing Game, dog & pony dc integrates the audience right from the start, providing them agency to build conflict and raise the stakes as the show progresses.

"We have a propensity to play at our fears--like our fear of death--in games," says Ring Leader Rachel Grossman. "We also see our fears played-out for us in disaster and post-apocalyptic movies, novels, and tv shows. A Killing Game allows for audiences to play-at death and see it played-out for them during a fun night at the theatre."

A Killing Game takes its inspiration from Eugene Ionesco's Jeu de Massacre (Killing Game), Orson Welles' War of the Worlds 1938 radio broadcast, and the card game Fluxx, and creates a thrilling, playful brand of storytelling, where the illusion of control and the very real fact of chance compete in a moment by moment race for survival.

A Killing Game has "gone viral." For insight into the show's creation, visit dogandponydc.tumblr.com or #killinginggame or @dogandponydc on Twitter. d&pdc highly encourages audiences to bring a smart device (iPhone, Android, iPad, tablet etc) when attending A Killing Game. You never know when emergency will strike and so it may just give you the competitive advantage you need to survive.

A KILLING GAME
Directed by Colin K. Bills.
Developed & Scripted by Colin K. Bills, Rachel Grossman, Lorraine Ressegger, J. Argyl Plath, Jon Reynolds, Rebecca Sheir, Gwydion Suilebhan
Designed by Colin K. Bills & Ivania Stack, with Christopher Baine
Stage Manager Melanie Harker

A KILLING GAME ENSEMBLE: Wyckham Avery, Christopher Baine, Colin K. Bills, Genna Davidson, Sean Paul Ellis, Rachel Grossman, Melanie Harker, Jessica Lefkow, Shannon Davies Mancus, Elaine Yuko Qualter, J. Argyl Plath, Lorraine Ressegger, Jon Reynolds, Rebecca Sheir, Ivania Stack, Gwydion Suilebhan, Yasmin Tuazon. Genna Davidson, Sean Paul Ellis, Jessica Lefkow, J. Argyl Plath, Jon Reynolds and Yasmin Tuazon.

All performances in the black box theatre of Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW) 545 7th Street SE, Washington, DC, running tonight, November 28 – December 22, 2012, Wednesday – Saturday nights. Press night is Friday November 30 (alternative: Saturday December 1). RSVP to pr@dogandponydc.com.

General Admission tickets are $17 online at dogandponydc.com. General Admission tickets at the door are "Play to Pay" and will range from $5 – 40. Audience members will play a simple chance-based card game to determine the ticket price. Name Your Price Nights dog & pony dc is making this show as accessible as possible by providing numerous opportunities for audiences to reserve online for free and then name their own price at the door. "Name Your Price" performances are November 28 – December 1 and every following Wednesday night (December 5, 12 and 19). Reserve at dogandponydc.com.

dog & pony dc dog & pony dc is an ensemble-based company who creates innovative performances that incorporate new ways for audiences to experience theater. d&pdc creates ("devise") theatrical productions from inception to production as a collective ("ensemble"). d&pdc's approach engages artists and audiences as a cohesive team, "conspiring" as integral participants in the creation of each performance. With every production d&pdc challenges itself and the DC theatre community to explore the elastic relationship between performer and audience through its "audience integration" approach. d&pdc was nominated in 2010 as a "Best Theatre (Small)" by the Washington Post Express and received a 2011 Helen Hayes Award nomination for Outstanding New Play for Beertown.

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