A THOUSAND WAYS

picture of illustrated objects with text that says "the 600 highwaymen's a thousand ways"

 

A THOUSAND WAYS


A multi-venue three-part series  |  August 20-September 3, 2021

Part One: A Phone Call  |  August 20-22, 2021
Part Two: An Encounter  |  August 27-29, 2021  |  Ent Center for the Arts
Part Three: An Assembly  |  August 25-September 3, 2021  |  Osborne Studio Theater, Green Box Arts, Heller Center for Arts & Humanities, or Shockley-Zalabak Theater


A THOUSAND WAYS is a three-part performance in which you are the actor and you are the audience. Your words, actions, gestures, silence, thoughts, and willingness are the tools. You need no training. You are the expert. 

Obie Award-winning theatremakers 600 HIGHWAYMEN, known for exhilarating performances that challenge the very definition of theater, have created a quietly radical response to this new world with A THOUSAND WAYS. Taking place late August into early September, each distinct installment presents a new chance at making contact with a stranger. It is a chance at being heard, a brave moment to show up. “Simple but sublime…the show alerts us to the awesome strangeness, and the utter ordinariness, too, of being alive in the here and now.” – The New York Times

This is an invitation. Will you attend?

 

HOW DO I PARTICIPATE?

A THOUSAND WAYS (PART ONE): A PHONE CALL
illustrated objects on a peach background

Begin your journey here! On a simple phone call, you and another audience member – nameless strangers to one another – follow a carefully crafted set of directives. Over the course of the journey, a portrait of each other emerges through fleeting moments of exposure and the simple sound of an unseen voice.

**Parts do not need to be done in order to have a fulfilling experience**

You may choose to participate in Part One only or purchase a discounted package for all three events.

PRODUCTION CREDITS


This production was commissioned by The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi, Stanford Live at Stanford University, Festival Theaterformen, and The Public Theater, and was originally commissioned and co-conceived by Temple Contemporary at Temple University. Part One: A Phone Call was developed in partnership with On the Boards production and technical teams. Original support for the production was provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, Philadelphia. 

Writers & Creators: Abigail Browde & Michael Silverstone
Executive Producer: Thomas O. Kriegsmann/ArKtype
Dramaturg & Project Design: Andrew Kircher
Line Producer: Cynthia J. Tong
Part One: A Phone Call Sound Design: Stanley Mathabane

These performances are produced in Colorado Springs by the Department of Visual and Performing Arts, the Ent Center for the Arts, and Green Box Arts.
 

 

AUDIENCE TESTIMONIALS

“A Thousand Ways was like a combination between a seance and a blind date and a memory and a meeting with your best friend before you even knew them. What a gift to be given that time away from the chaos of the world, to build a new little world in the space between your phone and a stranger, walking the delicate balance between spacious and intimate, between universal and ultra-specific. I so grateful to have experienced it in a week when everything felt like it was lost, it was a reminder that we still take care of each other, in the end, in so many ways”

“This performance was exercise in hope in a time when I don’t have much. It sweetened my love for humanity that I thought had soured.”
 
“It was a introspective, intimate, unique, and emotionally impactful experience for me. For that hour, I felt a little less alone.”
 
“A tender and magical gift in these times!”
 
“My heart is full. This is the art we need right now.”
 
“WOW. What a unique, touching, and deeply intimate experience. I found myself moved in ways I could not have anticipated.”
 
“It was pure poetry, synchronicity, and magic. It reinstated my faith in the power and beauty of the image world. It has stayed with me for days and remains the most powerful theatrical event I have had since sheltering.”
 
“It really was amazing and moving. Almost spooky, really electric.”
 
“Smart, poetic and still surprising experience. It's so well put together and composed that I'm sure it would have been impactful regardless of the pandemic. In other words: I think the feeling of doing this piece would have been meaningful as a human in any moment in time, but seems particularly resonant right now.”
 
“Slowly, over the whole experience, I found myself feeling like I had totally lost track of time, how long we had been sitting together. I had also lost track of the other person as a stranger. I don’t know quite when this happened, but it felt a bit like magic.”
 

ABOUT 600 HIGHWAYMEN

Since 2009, 600 HIGHWAYMEN (Abigail Browde and Michael Silverstone) have been making live art that, through a variety of radical approaches, illuminates the inherent poignancy of people coming together. The work exists at the intersection of theater, dance, contemporary performance, and civic encounter. Though the processes are varied, each project revolves around the same curiosity: what occurs in the live encounter between people. 

600 HIGHWAYMEN has been called the “the standard-bearers of contemporary theater-making” by Le Monde, and “one of New York’s best nontraditional theater companies” by The New Yorker. They have received commissions from The Public Theater, Temple Contemporary, Salzburg Festival, and Festival Theaterformen. They are recipients of an Obie Award and Switzerland’s ZKB Patronage Prize, and nominees for Austria’s Nestroy Prize, the prestigious Alpert Award and NYC’s Bessie Award. In 2016, Browde and Silverstone were named artist fellows by the New York Foundation for the Arts. “Just when you thought you might be getting a little cynical about the theater…think about 600 HIGHWAYMEN.”  – The New Yorker