Based on the acclaimed novel of the same name, this production is a dramatic adaptation of the futuristic 1908 novel that accurately predicted the First World War, the rise of fascism, authoritarianism, rebellion, and suppression. It features human sized puppetry, giant hand-painted cantastoria illustrations of the story, and live music.
The production features Isolte Avila, David Bower, Paunika R. Jones, Antoine Hunter and Zahna Moss, all members of the Signdance Collective International, a dance/ music theatre company led by deaf and physically disabled dancers and artists, and the Urban Jazz Dance Company of Oakland. Noted saxophonist Andrés Soto will accompany this performance with an original score he composed specifically for this production.
The performance also features Jack London family members Tarnel Abbott, Chaney Delaire and Devin O’Keefe. Jack London’s great-granddaughter Tarnel Abbott reading the part of socialite-turned-revolutionary Avis Everhard. Abbott’s son Devin O’Keefe reads as the revolutionary Ernest Everhard. Zack Reiheld reads various roles, and Nina Ruymaker reads as the historian from the future era of the “Brotherhood of Man.” The cast will also include Artistic Director Regina Gilligan, Glynnis Fowler, Kathy Gurawaya, Patsy Byers, Liz Watts and Eduardo Martinez.
2016 marks the centennial of Jack London’s death at age 40. In recognition of his unique contributions as a renowned writer, adventurer, social activist, and innovator, The Iron Heel Collective is donating the profits from this production to the Richmond Progressive Alliance and Sunflower Alliance, to assist with their efforts to unite the community and combat climate change.
About the Iron Heel Theatre Collective:
Tarnel Abbott, Regina Gilligan, David Solnit, Devin O’Keefe and Nina Ruymaker are all activists, artists and community organizers. The Iron Heel Theatre Collective was formed in 2012 when Jack London’s Iron Heel was commissioned for, and premiered at, the Ankara (Turkey) Ethos International Theater Festival. This will be the sixth performance.
Suggested donation is $20, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
A moving account of four women sensationalized by the media as a “Gang of Killer Lesbians” reveals the role that race, gender identity and sexuality play in our criminal justice system. Under the neon lights in a gay-friendly neighborhood of New York City, four young African-American lesbians are violently and sexually threatened by a man on the street. They defend themselves against him and are charged and convicted in the courts and in the media as a ‘Gang of Killer Lesbians’.
