The Ridiculous Project is taking over Derby Square with Dream Love Escape, an exciting remix of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at 7pm on September 3, 4, 5, 11, 12. Directed by Rebecca Holderness and Kate Kohler Amory, Dream Love Escape is a free-to-the-public immersive outdoor performance event that invites audience members to learn dance sequences on Instagram (@dreamloveescape) to join our Faeries in a rave culture inspired flash mob which initiates the show. This performance is made possible in part by the City of Salem Public Art Commission’s Summer Performance Series grant.
Guest Director Rebecca Holderness joins Kate Kohler Amory to envision this play in response to today’s world. “After so long in isolation, we centered our response to this moment around the resiliency of the characters known as Mechanicals, which represent today’s essential workers, and their ability to persevere as cause for celebration through their beloved play-within-a-play.” The interwoven stories and realities that Shakespeare conjures offer a playground for a spirited adaptation that speaks to our moment, our communities, and offers a transformational experience of access and connection. The joyful and irreverent Dream Love Escape gives audiences the opportunity to experience civic space and communal celebration as we revisit what it is like to be in public together. Dare to dream in public. Please visit our website www.ridiculousproject.com for more information and link to event pages and crowdfunding portal.
The Ridiculous Project was founded in 2014 by a group of Salem State Theatre Alumni. Through clowning, physical acting and other techniques, the group has brought a fresh approach to classic works as presenting original, devised work. With an ensemble focus, the group works on ways to engage with audiences in Massachusetts on a mission to spread joy by giving audiences a fun and immersive theatrical experience where they are both reacting to and interacting with the story. We approach our work collaboratively and use extreme physicality and an experimental attitude to explore the highs and lows of the human spirit.
To learn more about our project and its artists, contact us by emailing theridiculousproject@gmail.com.
