PERFORMANCE ART | SUNDAY, JUNE 15 | 2–3:30 PM | PWYC (Suggested $35)
High Desert Playback presents Don’t Stop Us Now: A Celebration of Pride + Joy
High Desert Playback is returning to FUSION on June 15 from 2–3:30 PM for Don’t Stop Us Now: A Celebration of Pride + Joy!
What makes you feel unstoppable?
We are facing a far-right movement focused on criminalizing queer + trans stories, burying Black stories, locking up immigrant stories, and otherwise silencing the voices of any form of dissent.
In response, we are prepared to defend, honor, and celebrate these stories at all costs.
High Desert Playback listens to your real-life stories and plays them back on the spot using theater, music, spoken word, and ritual.
Our 2024-25 season closes with Don’t Stop Us Now: A Celebration of Pride + Joy. In this Playback Theatre show, we invite interested folx to share moments when you:
Refused to let yourself (or someone else) be silenced
Understood what it really means to be queer + trans at this time in history
Felt absolutely unstoppable!
Let’s come together for a supersonic good time and an extra dose of queer joy!
Featuring:
Allison Kenny, Dalilah Naranjo, Danielle Simone, Jessie Lane, Johnny Olesen, Lasha Helena Kirker, Lynn Johnson, Noe Field-Perkins, and Tatiana Isabel Gil
Tickets:
All tickets are "Pay What It's Worth" which you will pay AFTER the show. We believe everyone deserves to experience the transformative power of Playback Theatre! Join us and let your story unfold on stage. Pay what feels right after the show, because YOUR story matters whether you can give $5, our suggested ticket price of $35, $100, or more. Any amount ensures work like this can continue in New Mexico and beyond.
About High Desert Playback:
High Desert Playback makes theater for social change in New Mexico and beyond.
Our multiracial, queer + trans-centered ensemble uses the art of playback theatre to mobilize and amplify social issues through community outreach, engagement, dialogue, and celebration.
Founded in 2023 by Allison Kenny and Lynn Johnson, we are a queer, Black, women-owned social enterprise and a fiscally sponsored project of the New Mexico Foundation. High Desert Playback is the first and only professional playback theatre company in New Mexico.
FAQs:
Question: If I come to your show, do I have to tell a story?
Playback Theatre is a participatory art form, this is true. Folx share moments and stories from their lives and we play it back on the spot. HOWEVER, Playback Theatre is also a consensual art form. You never have to tell a story if you don’t want to. Ever.
When you’re at a HDP Playback Theatre show, there are 3 ways to participate:
🥹A WITNESS - You come in. You find your seat. You watch and listen to the stories being told and enacted. Hopefully you will also laugh and cry and allow the stories of the strangers around you to become part of your story too.
🙋🏽A TELLER FROM YOUR SEAT - At the beginning of the show, we warm you up to Playback Theatre by asking you to share feelings and short stories right from your seat. It’s a low-pressure way to share what’s on your mind in the moment.
🎤A TELLER ON STAGE - Finally, we will ask for volunteers to join us on stage, sit in what we call “the teller’s chair,” and share a longer story. If you choose to participate in this way, you will be seated next to Allison or Lynn, our co-founders who act as our “Conductors.” Their job is to guide you through it the whole way. Imagine sharing a story over coffee or a glass of wine with a good friend. Except with other folks watching.
No matter how you choose to participate in an HDP Playback Theatre show, you are 100% valuable to the experience.
Question: Can I bring my kids?
We love an intergenerational moment! At the same time, because of the improvisational nature of audience members sharing real-life stories on the spot, we cannot control the content of the stories. So, it’s up to you whether or not you are comfortable with your kids being there for whatever happens.
For parents and caregivers of young children, we do ask that, if your young one needs to express their feelings loudly during the show, that you take a moment to step outside so that our focus can be on the tellers and their stories.