Collidescope: Adventures in Pre- and Post-Racial America

Inspired in part by the unjust killing of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and others, Collidescope is a prismatic exploration of the history of violence directed at African Americans from the Colonial Era to the present. Collidescope uses theater, movement, video projections and a collaged soundscape to create a collision course view of the legacy and psyche behind this history of violence in America. The conceptual conceit of the production is that this history would be examined by an intelligent alien species trying to make sense of this dilemma.

Following the premiere production, Ping Chong and Company created a new touring model that transforms the original Collidescope production into a flexible performance platform that can address racial history in communities around the United States, incorporating local historical events through documentary material, devised theatrical responses to recent community events, and personal experiences of individual performers.