Sojourners Project: Busing is a new, devised theatre work created by Alicia "Lisa" Young and a collaborative team of predominantly Black female artists. It is produced by IDEA Stages and Control Group Productions. For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Patrick and Lisa at:
Please see our Press Release and our Press Photos.
In the News:
KGNU Community Radio: September 9, 2021
Denver Post: September 20, 2021
Colorado Public Radio: September 21, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Sojourners Project: Busing
An immersive performance produced by IDEA Stages & Control Group Productions
September 8-26, 2021, Outdoor Performance at Rising Star Missionary Baptist Church (location)
Contacts:
Lisa Young (director/producer)
Founder & Director, IDEA Stages
email: ideastages2020@gmail.com
phone: 720.218.2030
Patrick Mueller (co-producer)
Artistic Director, Control Group Productions
email: patrick@controlgroupproductions.org
phone: 303.947.2827
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 28, 2021
IDEA Stages, with co-producer Control Group Productions, is excited to announce its debut live production – Sojourners Project: Busing, running in the Denver area Sept. 8-26, 2021.
This pop-up immersive event unpacks the history of “desegregation” busing in Denver Public Schools, from Mrs. Rachel B. Noel (the first Black woman elected to public office in Colorado) to the 1970 school bus depot bombing, through nearly three decades of movement of young Black and Brown bodies across our city.
Sojourner’s rich immersive experience combines artistry and education, with a focus on personal experiences across three generations. An interactive virtual gallery with hyperlinks will offer further learning, expanding the storytelling to reveal historical research and interviews. School performances, with accompanying curriculum, will spark dialogues with current students.
Sojourners Project: Busing is an intergenerational tale of family, community and the political socio-economic landscape changes that affect how they live, learn and love. The Mason family represents the eras of segregation, integration and the new virtual hybrid systems of education. They are the caregivers and owners of Chombo Basi Mashua (vessel-bus-boat in Swahili) a sentient bus who speaks with the memory, music and emotion of the folks who once rode inside its walls and the soundscape of the city they traversed. The key to this story is their love and passing of family history, culture and knowledge.
Busing marks the first live production created by IDEA Stages, and the beginning of Sojourners Project: a series of works exploring the movement of Black and Brown bodies, with or without their consent, nor the agency to tell their own stories. The project emerges from dialogue between Alicia “Lisa” Young (IDEA Stages) and Patrick Mueller (Control Group), and initiates a producing partnership focused on elevating non-White / non-cis-male lead artists through the support of Control Group’s Artist Services programming. Sojourners Project: Busing is created by an all Black woman creative team, incorporating an all Black cast, and predominantly Black design and technical teams.
Further details at: http://sojourners.live/
Tickets $10-40 at: controlgroup.wellattended.com/events/sojourners-project-busing
Please contact producers Lisa and Patrick if you’d like to hear more about the work.