Sojourn Theatre
BUILT
Project Description
Sojourn Theatre’s BUILT explored the future of evolving U.S. cities with a multi-location series of exploratory performance events that culminated in a theatrical event in Portland, OR. Using Evanston/Chicago; Hartford, CT; and Portland as backdrops, the group organized conversations with artists and community members in each city. Through a unique combination of performance, dialogue, and research, its public explorations examined the ethical and logistical challenges that a rapidly growing population poses to shifting urban landscapes.
The project was grounded by two broad questions—Where will we live? and Who are you responsible for?—which fostered dialogue on the past, present, and future of urban development. In each location, the group developed new ways of engaging its audience, extracting local opinions and perspectives on city planning and population growth, as well as challenging personal assumptions about cities and homes, wants and needs. BUILT experimented with different methods of facilitating interaction, combining short theatrical performance with improvisation, surveys, games, tours of venues, and dialogue.
The project’s focus on place rendered each venue important to the dialogue’s progress. Performance spaces, ranging from the bowels of an old university building to a state capitol’s legislative hall to an immense urban condo showroom, were incorporated into the structure of the piece and provided a unique environment for each discussion. Additionally, throughout BUILT’s progression, local artists and community members played an integral role in its simultaneous development and performance, ensuring civic dialogue at all stages of the project.
Civic Engagement/Dialogue Activities
In Evanston/Chicago, Sojourn partnered with Northwestern University’s School of Communication and the Boeing Company to stage multiple draft versions of the piece in a process that engaged a variety of constituents, including university students, social service agencies, religious congregations, and public housing residents. From conversations with these and other communities, the group constructed a five-night “site-specific traveling game-based dramaturgy” that facilitated interaction and was half set performance, half improvised. Each night three different community members guided the audience through the performance and, consequently, shaped the discourse with their biases.
In Hartford, CT, Sojourn artists collaborated with HartBeat Ensemble to further investigate the specific relationship of planning and community development to policymaking. They drew on the Evanston/Chicago experience to tailor participatory pieces to performance for and with the local city council and the Connecticut state legislature.
Upon returning to Portland, the group incorporated its experiences on the road into the final stage of the BUILT project, which was commissioned by the South Waterfront’s Artist-In-Residence program and curated by Linda K. Johnson. In the final months before the culminating event, Sojourn reached out to community members by hosting public forums, open workshops, and a series of small prologue performances.
BUILT, in its final form, was presented in a large, high-end condo showroom on the South Waterfront as a main stage event for The Portland Institute for Contemporary Art’s 2008 Time-Based Art Festival. The interactive performance began with a tour of the different rooms, followed by questionnaires and an elaborate board game, first played individually, then in groups of 6, then groups of 12, and finally as a full audience of 60. Similar to earlier versions of the piece, dialogue with the audience and improvisation were interwoven with and supported by the performers’ scripts. Participation encouraged audience members to examine personal choices, not only in light of the historical and economic context, but also in relation to other people’s decisions.
Information Sources
Alison Hallett, “Performance: Sojourn’s BUILT,” The Portland Mercury. Posted 10 Sept. 2008. <http://tba.portlandmercury.com>
Michael Rohd, BUILT Home. Created 29 April 2008. <http://built.wetpaint.com>
Sojourn Theatre. <http://www.sojourntheatre.org>
