A new stage production and motion picture about a fictional community fighting to survive a movie theater massacre. Denver actors studio, Visionbox (www.Visionbox.org), is workshopping Dark Night 3D at Denver Open Media. Edited rehearsal sessions and discussions with the studio audience will be premiered through DOM.
The production is based on the July, 2012 shooting attack during a midnight screening at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. The alleged gunman, James Holmes, has been charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder, and may face the death penalty.
Since August, 2012, Visionbox actors have been improvising scenes centered around mass casualty shootings, active shooter response, rescue operations, employee training, and liability issues.
The first open workshop was held at 910Arts in Denver's Arts District on Santa Fe on Sunday, October 7, 2012. It involved the presentation of 3 short scenes followed by a lively discussion with the audience.
Upcoming workshops will explore the dynamics of community meetings, fraud alerts, criminal and civil court battles, jury deliberations, family turmoil, and debates on violence, responsibility, mental health issues, and the death penalty.
Writer-director John Simmons will lead the workshops for Dark Night 3D in collaboration with Jennifer McCray Rincon, the founding artistic director of Visionbox.
According to Simmons, the phrase "dark night" refers to the poem, "Dark Night of the Soul," written by 16th-century Spanish mystic Saint John of the Cross describing a spiritual crisis.
Conducting workshops at Denver Open Media will provide opportunities to experiment with new "intermedia" production and stage presentation strategies, and produce programs that give community TV audiences direct behind-the-scenes access to a creative process.
For example, police radios will be used in Studio A to create a "sound wall" that conveys the panic of the night of the movie theater shooting.
About Visionbox
Visionbox develops the work of visionary artists through professional training and public performance. Visionbox Studio is the first and only professional actors studio in Denver. Visionbox Productions creates new intermedia projects in the low-friction style currently being explored by the Visionbox Ensemble. 'Low-friction' refers to a minimalistic approach to production that emphasizes the essential relationship between the actor, text, and audience, where the audience is exposed to the immediacy of the creative process. Through its production work Visionbox seeks to engage audiences in a dialogue about the challenges and concerns now facing their own communities and contemporary society. These low-friction projects will then become large-scale national productions or adapted for film. Visionbox is a project of the Colorado Nonprofit Development Center. For more information, visit www.Visionbox.org.
Contact:
Nathan Bock
Amanda Brown
(720) 810-1641
info@visionbox.org
