TO THE SOURCE.
Upstream Performance Collaborative creates vital theatre.
Rejecting norms, championing play, and interrogating truth - to the source.
Upstream Performance Collaborative was founded by award-winning, multidisciplinary artist Angela Bey in 2019.
Our collaborators are talented, tenacious activists - diverse in identity, experience, and point-of-view.
Upstream Performance Collaborative is Global Majority-led and centered, on and off-stage.
Pictured: Angela Bey. Kate Raines Photography
Pictured: Quinton J. Alexander as "X" in The White Feather Project. Rowan Quincy Davis Photography
Upstream Performance Collaborative was founded by award-winning, multidisciplinary artist Ang(ela) Bey in 2019.
We go Upstream: against the current and to the source. The magic of live, embodied performance is its ability to reflect, analyze, and transform the world. In that vein, we create vital theatre that rejects norms, champions play, and interrogates truth.
Upstream Performance Collaborative is Global Majority-led and centered, on and off-stage.
PRODUCTION HISTORY
The inaugural production was The White Feather Project. Funded by the Inclusive Community Grant at Ursinus College, this radical ethnographic devised-play responded to a racially-charged hate crime committed at the institution. Despite administrative efforts to close the show, The White Feather Project sold-out its on-campus performance and successfully remounted at the Shoe Box Short Theatre Festival at Venice Island Performing Arts Center the same year.
WHISPER was Upstream’s second show, co-produced with Shoe Box Theatre Collective. An experiment in improv, scripted text, and technology, WHISPER tackled themes of online community, mental-health, and suicide awareness. It was performed to a live, unsuspecting audience via Twitch and garnered rave reviews during and after its premiere at Director’s Gathering DG Jam 2020.
Pictured: Ryan Rebel as "VideoBlobby" and Taylor Cawley as "theelvencat" in WHISPER. Screenshots from performance.
Pictured: Quinton J. Alexander as "X" in The White Feather Project. Rowan Quincy Davis Photography
COMING SOON...
COMET is a site-specific play adapted from a short story by award-winning playwright and actor Angela Bey.
COMET takes us to a stormy night-in-the-life of a young girl grown up too fast. Equal parts memory-play and parable, COMET is a celebration of the formative years of our imagination and the worlds it creates to protect us. What is the cost of staying in a child’s place - not to be seen nor heard?
COMET is supported by the Black Theatre Alliance of Philadelphia and crowdfunding from Indiegogo. Between now and August, we are raising an additional funds to increase artist salaries and overall production value. Donate to Upstream through Venmo. Click here for more information about our budget and timeline. Every little bit helps!
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