Rain or shine, The Theater Squad, a Seattle-based political theater group, hopes to draw in activists, joggers and other passers-by to Sleepwalking Apocalypse: 9/11, an outdoor event at Green Lake Park that will take place Sunday, Sept. 11.
With its lush green scenery and Sunday-afternoon peace vigils, Green Lake seemed a natural choice for the group, who considered producing the event in Pioneer Square or downtown.
"We like Green Lake visually," said Wallingford playwright Edward Mast, who, in collaboration with The Theater Squad, is directing and scripting the event.
"We wanted to go somewhere different," agreed Jenna Stephens, a Squad member. "We figure we will have a different audience than of those downtown."
Challenging 9/11 memories
Sleepwalking Apocalypse: 9/11 begins at 2 p.m. near the corner of North 63rd Street and East Green Lake Way North and is schedule to last about an hour. The event will include singing, spoken word and political demonstrations.
The audience also will be invited to participate in a guided interactive procession around a small section of Green Lake, exploring grief, memory, homeland security and the conflicting dreams and fears of a divided people at war.
Some will hold signs that read, "Tears of blood are falling from the sky" in Japanese and "What is it that causes death? Is it the dagger or the lie?" in Arabic.
There also will be mask-like signs in the shape of tombstones with hand-painted faces in mourning.
Subtitled "Reclaim Remembrance of the Day," Sleepwalking Apocalypse: 9/11, will challenge the officially sanctioned memories of Sept. 11, 2001, and bring to mind the living, the dead and the still dying, organizers say.
The performance will combine new themes, images and texts with some elements of the original Sleepwalking Apocalypse, produced earlier this year at the two-day Art of Resistance Conference on Capitol Hill.
"We're trying to engage people in remembering and sometimes taking action," said Stephens, who also was involved with the Adelante political street-theater group years ago in New York. "I think it's quite effective."
More than 20 local artists will participate in the event, including musicians Jay Hamilton and Janet Stecher, dancer Delilah Flynn and actors Meg Savlov and Rob Burgess.
"It's deliberately casting a wide net, inviting people to be part of it, whether they share our politics or not," Mast said of the event. "The theatrical challenge to director and scriptor is to find things that people can do."
Mast has been orchestrating the event, arranging the various components, into something he hopes will be emotionally coherent and make sense to the audience.
"It's appropriate for just about anybody," said Mast, adding that his 2-year-old daughter was in the Capitol Hill production.
The outdoor production has been in the planning stages for about six months. Some musicians have been preparing their own songs for the Green Lake event. A group of Butoh dancers plan to develop a piece, as well.
"I'm calling on the strength and skills of different people to do to what I know they can do," Mast said. "It's kind of a challenge, but it's a rewarding challenge."
The aftermath
A professional playwright, Mast wrote the play "The Million Bells of Ocean," which was produced in Los Angeles and Chicago. He also adapted "A Jungle Book" and "A Wrinkle in Time" for Seattle Chil-dren's Theatre.
Although not directly impacted by the events of Sept. 11, Mast said he could see the aftermath of it through other people's eyes.
"It has a huge impact on my life because I'm very close to the huge, immediate impact it had on the Arab community," he said. "It's possible to feel grief and loss for everyone, for all of the civilians who were killed before and after."
The Theater Squad grew out of the Palestine Solidarity Committee about three years ago, focusing exclusively on Middle Eastern issues.
In the past, The Theater Squad has performed street theater at the gallery walk in Pioneer Square and at Northwest Folklife Festival. In May 2004, the group produced "Shadows of Exile," a performance about refugees.
Admission to Sleepwalking Apocalypse: 9/11 is free. For more information, call 633-1086, or e-mail to theater squad@aol.com.
Jessica Davis writes about arts and entertainment for the Herald-Outlook.
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