What's Goin On
Requiem for an Electric Chair
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Location: The Black Box Theater, 128 Washington Street (no parking at the Playhouse)
Date: Friday, March 20 at 7pm
Toto Kisaku’s one-man play, Requiem for an Electric Chair, tells the harrowing
true story of his persecution, imprisonment, and near execution in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where his musical comedies exposing child exploitation and government complicity put him on death row.
Opening with his interview with a U.S. immigration officer, the play takes audiences from his arrest and incarceration - using mannequins to represent cellmates whose faces he could not make out in the dark - to his escape in 2015 and eventual asylum in the United States in 2018. Written and performed by Kisaku, the piece explores the psychological and emotional toll of waiting for execution, reflecting Kisaku’s desire to show “what’s going on inside the human being in that moment” and to make every second of life count. Requiem For An Electric Chair invites audiences to witness a story of courage, survival, and the power of art to defy oppression.
Toto Kisaku is an award-winning Congolese playwright, actor, director, and producer. Written and performed by Toto Kisaku. Developed by Toto Kisaku, Hanifa Nayo Washington and Will MacAdams with translations from Robert F. Barsky.
ARTFARM, the CT Death Collective & Compassion and Choices (as part of ARTFARM's the Art of Resilience Film series) will present:
A mini Film Festival and community dialog on Medical Aid in Dying (MAID).
Films include: My Friend Kim, Sit With Me While I Die and one full length film- Other Side- all featuring or directed by people from Connecticut. These films engage audiences to be present with questions around end of life, suffering, compassion, ethics, beliefs, choices and laws. (MAID is not legal in CT.
A facilitated Community Dialog will follow the films.
Location: The Black Box Theater, 128 Washington Street (no parking at the Playhouse)
Date: Sunday, March 22 at 2pm
Workshop with Congolese Theater Artist TOTO KISAKU
Stay tuned for upcoming events!
Toto Kisaku is an award-winning Congolese playwright, actor, director and producer who studied dramaat the National Institute of Arts in Kinshasa. After establishing the K-Mu Theater in 2003, he spent thenext 15 years traveling the world producing and participating in plays.
Toto arrived in the United Statesin late 2015 seeking political asylum, which he was granted in March 2018.Since his arrival in the U.S., Toto has spent his time learning and redefining his artistic expression basedon the tension that both his country of origin and the country which has welcomed him endure. In hiswork, Toto transcends the constraints of daily life and examines how people living in poverty or underoppressive regimes can recreate their environments and improve their lives through artistic activities.Toto’s pieces invite both spectator and actor to find ways to go beyond the walls of both theperformance and living space.
Performance-Based Community Ritual
ARTFARM Ensemble members
are working in the Studio
exploring
the next Community Immersions
for Performance and Play
Trauma Informed Training for Teaching Artists
This ARTFARM Training is led by Joanna Curry‐Sartori (MS, LMFT) & Dr. Julie Abrams Faude (M.A., Ph.D.)
Workshop Facilitators
COMMUNITY RITUAL
We recognize ritual as the origins of theater (the Theater of Dionysus), Ritual as container and marker of initiation and transition, Ritual as individual, joint and community space for healing and transformation.
Coming from an earth-based, mindfulness spiritual practice we are interested in the exploration of the nature of consciousness and holding space with and for other people to embark upon their own personal journeys.
ARTFARM leadership has been facilitating earth-based circles for over 30 years.
Keep your ear out for the next Community Ritual in your area (or contact us to craft one that serves you and your community).
CIRCUS FOR ADULTS
"Circus for Adults" is a chance for grownups to run away and join the circus in a fun, inviting, non-competitive environment. Ages 18-118, All levels are welcome, and no circus experience is necessary. Taught in rotation by veteran circus performers, directors and educators Allison McDermott and Naja Muller, you self-select where you want to put your focus, and work at a level that is comfortable for you. Keep your ear out for the next session!