NY PREMIERE
/peh-LO-tah/
Oct 18—Oct 21, 2017
 
Theater | Dance

By Marc Bamuthi Joseph/The Living Word Project
Directed by Michael John Garcés
Choreography by Stacey Printz
Composed by Tommy Shepherd

 

Soccer—as both an intricate, euphoric choreography and an exploited corporate cash cow—is the subject of this electric meditation on the racial dimensions of the sport from multi-talented theater artist and performer Marc Bamuthi Joseph (red, black & GREEN: a blues, 2012 Next Wave). Using spoken-word poetry and fútbol-inspired footwork, Joseph and four performers dribble and pass their way from the pickup games of rural Haiti to the mega stadiums of Rio and Johannesburg, parsing the social justice of soccer to the sounds of hip-hop and samba. Against his own childhood memories of the game as a race-transcending source of happiness, Joseph posits a global reality in which black joy is all too often co-opted for financial gain, yet perseveres nonetheless.

 

Set and video design by David Szlasa
Lighting design by Tom Ontiveros
Sound design by Rob Kaplowitz
Costume design by Meghan Healy

Commissioned by the Kennedy Center for the Arts and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Chicago.

Produced by MAPP International Productions

 
 
RUN TIME
1hr 20min
VENUE
TICKET INFO
FULL PRICE TICKETS START AT  $25
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ACCESSIBILITY
Balcony seating is only accessible by 70 stairs.
Leadership support for dance at BAM provided by:
The Harkness Foundation for Dance
“... a poetic appreciation of the joys of soccer, both watching it and playing it, and Joseph’s words vividly conjure those physical thrills.”
— SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Read More
peh-LO-tah
Video
“Rolling Rock”
A spoken-word essay about the joyful and sinister sides of soccer by Marc Bamuthi Joseph.
ARTICLE
Marc Bamuthi Joseph on his latest performance art piece
The piece as it's emerging is both a thing that explores sports but also explores sport as a conduit to black joy in the face of political and systemic opposition.
Marc Bamuthi Joseph on his latest performance art piece
Beautiful Game: An Interview with Marc Bamuthi Joseph
BLOG
Beautiful Game: An Interview with Marc Bamuthi Joseph
The theater artist and performer discusses the New York premiere of /peh-LO-tah/.
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