Performance Photos by Errich Petersen: TWENTY-EIGHT by Tyler English-Beckwith, August 4 - 19, 2017

 

 Performance photos by Errich Petersen

 

 

TwentyEight is a play based on the Malcolm X Grass Root report Operation Ghetto Storm that states in 2012 a black person was murdered by a police officer, or vigilante every 28 hours. 66% of the people killed were under the age of 31. Texas had the highest amount of extrajudicial killings with 29. It is greatly inspired by the Afro-futurism genre, and will incorporate the music of Kanye West.

TwentyEight takes place in Settlement Forty, Texas, an all Black township, where 19 year-old Isaiah Willis is working on the first craft headed for the Liberian Space Station. The American government has offered the citizens of all Black townships the opportunity to start new lives on the LSS, but in actuality it is less of an offer, and more of a forced exodus. The citizens of Settlement Forty protest against the Liberian Space Station, and twenty-eight hours before take off is scheduled, a 14 year-old protestor is shot and killed by township enforcers. Isaiah, who’s brother Martin was murdered by a vigilante just a month before, is in complete opposition of the protest, and is hoping to leave all of his troubles for the LSS, until he meets the older sister of the murdered teenager, Najee. Isaiah and Najee make a quick love connection, but Najee is hoping to convince Isaiah to stay and fight against the enforcers, while Isaiah longs for the freedom and endlessness of outer space. With only twenty-eight hours to decide, the question is, “Who will survive in America?” 

Directed by Tyler English-Beckwith & Matrex Kilgore

An Afrofuturistic look at police brutality and survival in America.

Audio feature by Michael Lee, KUT-FM, July 27, 2017


Twenty-Eight
by Tyler English-Beckwith
Gale Theatre Company

Thursdays-Sundays,
August 04 - August 19, 2017
The Vortex
2307 Manor Road
Austin, TX, 78722

AUGUST 4-19, 2017

“Industry Night” Wednesday, August 16
Live-Streaming Friday, August 11 CST howlround.com/tv
ASL-Interpreted TBA (Free to deaf and hard-of- hearing audiences)
VORTEX Connects Post Show Discussions TBA

TICKETS: $35-$15

  • $35 Priority Seating, $25 General Admission, $15 Discount/Child/Artist/Student/Senior
  • Advanced Reservations Recommended. Limited seating.
  • Radical Rush Free Tickets: Limited free tickets for each performance in the spirit of sustainability, accessibility, and the gift economy. Radical Rush tickets released at 7pm each night-in- person only.
  • 2-for- 1 admission Thursday and Sunday with donation of 2 cans for SafePlace

Purchase tickets on-line via www.vortexrep.org