The Ann Arbor Summer Festival and University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) is bringing back 600 Highwaymen’s A Thousand Ways. The show is a two-part performance that makes each audience member an actor themselves. The words, actions, gestures, silence, thoughts, and willingness are tools to become an expert of the show. A multi-park work that offers captivating social interactions as we leave isolation and head towards togetherness, A Thousand Ways is sure to bring a challenge to the definition of theater.
Part 1 of the performance, A Thousand Way (Part One): A Phone Call, will be taking place in November. This will involve a simple phone call between you and another audience member, a complete stranger, following a carefully crafted set of directives. Throughout the performance, a portrait of each other emerges through fleeting moments of exposure and the simple sound of an unseen voice. The experience is conducted entirely over the participant’s phone.
Part 2 of the performance, A Thousand Ways (Part Two): An Encounter, will take place in March and April of 2022. This section involves the audience members and a stranger to meet on opposite ends of a table, separated by a pane of glass. By using a script and a few simple props, a simple exercise of working together becomes an experience of profound connection with the other person.
This groundbreaking theatrical show completely breaks the fourth wall; in fact, it requires that wall to be broken and to be heavily interacted with. Part 1 of the show will take place on November 9-14. Tickets are now available to the public. Students can buy tickets for $5 and general public tickets are $10. Ticket holders will call strangers from their own homes, following a set of directives. Further information will be given after purchasing your ticket.
For any questions regarding tickets or general questions, read out to the box office at thousandways@a2sf.org.
To read more about the show and to buy tickets, visit https://a2sf.org/events/a-thousand-ways-part-one-a-phone-call/.
