Bradass87
“and god knows what will happen now…hopefully worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms…if not…than we’re doomed…as a species”
Near Fort Meade, Maryland the Whistleblowers Theater of Occupy Wall Street will present the world premiere of Bradass87. Bradley Manning allegedly released the largest leak of government documents in American history. The leaks have been the catalyst for pro-democracy uprisings worldwide, changed the face of journalism and brought an end to the Iraq War. Manning has been imprisoned for two years now, 10 months of which were in solitary confinement where he was denied access to sunlight, meaningful exercise and made to respond to guards every five minutes.
Bradass87 is a guerilla theater piece using documentary sources highlighting the isolation experienced by Bradley in solitary confinement paralleled with the isolation he felt while stationed in Iraq when the chat logs took place. Communicating via the internet connects us to people around the world as well as isolating us. Reaching out for some “non-isolation,” he discusses being an openly gay man under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, growing up in small town Oklahoma, his gender dysphoria, his awakening of conscience in Iraq and his decision to release secret government documents to WikiLeaks. The chat logs were ultimately turned over to the FBI and lead to his incarceration.
The production will tour around the Northeast throughout the summer at the Fort Meade trial, various NYC locations, July 4th National Occupy Gathering in Philadelphia and the Republican and Democratic National conventions in August as well as other dates and locations.
Director Claire Lebowitz travelled to Afghanistan a number of times in the past year to create theater with young people and has seen the instability Bradass87 refers to in the chat logs firsthand. We are currently in rehearsal and it's going really well.
Two years after his arrest, Bradley is finally facing trial, and the Whistleblowers of Occupy Wall Street will be performing Bradass87 to make sure that the world knows about him. You can follow us online at Bradass87.wordpress.com and on twitter @Bradass87ows.
What We Need
We rely on your generous donations to make this important piece of theater happen. The funds will go towards:
Lights: $650
Sound: $830
Costumes: $500
Set: $600
Generator: $700
Gas: $2000
Food (for full cast for 2 months):$2000
truck maintanence: $200
Printing and marketing:$150
rehearsal space: $300
See you in the streets!
Claire Lebowitz- (Director) Assistant Director to Judith Malina for The Brig at the Living Theatre (Obie awards for direction and ensemble). In the past year she has directed Afghan students in plays they wrote based on Our Town set if Afghanistan. She has helped create and performed in plays using found texts in The Transportation of Judith Malina (solo performance, Theaterlab) and Three Sisters Come and Go (Theaterlab). She worked with director Diane Paulus on The Donkey Show and Measure for Measure. She has made site-specific theater in front of the army recruitment building in Times Square (No Sir!) in a community garden (Medea) and most recently in numerous street theater actions with Occupy Wall Street. At OWS Claire has organized and/or performed with the Performance Guild, The People’s Puppets and the Tax Dodgers. She was a co-organizer of Occupy Broadway, the 24-hour performance occupation in a privately owned public space in Times Square in December. She would like to seamlessly bridge the gap between art and activism and bring meaning back into the theater and the theater into the world.
We hope that you are excited about the incentives will have to thank you for your donation.
