TO THE SOURCE.
Pictured: Rayne. Kate Raines Photography
Upstream Performance Collaborative is a Philly-born theatre company specializing in boundary-breaking new works by underrepresented, emerging artists.
We were founded by award-winning, multidisciplinary artist Rayne in 2019.
Upstream is against the current and to the source.
We create vital theatre that rejects norms, champions play, and interrogates truth.
The magic of live, embodied performance is its ability to reflect, analyze, and transform the world.
Pictured: Quinton J. Alexander as "X" in The White Feather Project. Rowan Quincy Davis Photography
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
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COMET was the second Barrymore-eligible show of the 2024 season, including our accompanying art exhibition featuring twelve brilliant creatives.
Thank you to the entire theatre community of Philadelphia for this honor.
"COMET was simply amazing! My fourteen year old son who is homeschooled and I were able to catch you in action at the Painted Bride on Friday night. This was our first theatre event for the year, and you did not disappoint. When I tell you that we were both mesmerized by your stage presence, performance, and creativity. Your character spoke to so many layers that we both experienced. Thank you for bringing real like to ART. Your gifts are beyond amazing! I'm looking forward to seeing you on the stage again."
"COMET is a very unique one person show about the relationship between a daughter and her father. The show presents a fresh take on the concept of a solo performance, delighting audiences with lots of heart, hope and nostalgia."
"[The Barrymore Award for Outstanding Original Performance is...] [w]ell deserved! Congrats! So glad I got to see this lovingly crafted and performed play."
Written by Rayne
Directed by Ryan Rebel
Story by Rayne and Ryan Rebel
Stage Managed by Lindsey Silver
Performed by Rayne with Ciera Gardner, Jo Vito Ramirez, Ava Weintzweig, Ryan Rebel, Kash Goins, and Wendi Smith.
Written by Rayne
Directed by Ryan Rebel
Stage Managed by Lindsey Silver
Exhibition Assistant & Choreography Consultant: Taylor Cawley
Assistant Stage Management: Ciera Gardner
Lighting Design: Bless Rudisill
Set Design: Andrew Robinson
Sound Design: Ava Weintzweig
Prop Design: Jo Vito Ramírez
Assistant Prop Design: Lindsey Silver
Production Manager: Ryan Rebel
Photography: Gregory Bissell
Production Photography: Anna Ryabova
Production Videography: Alex Wiles
Exhibition Artists: Karen Dorman, "LOW" Lucas O Woelk, Tania Maatouk, Hannah Dymowski, Shreya Ragavan, Amir Gad, Sunflower Rose, Grant Schatzman, Laurie Rebel, Alison Lindley, and Taylor Cawley
COMET is supported by the Black Theatre Alliance of Philadelphia, The Painted Bride Art Center, crowd-funding, and private donors.
You can still donate to Upstream through Venmo. Every little bit helps support the artists responsible for COMET.
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Many world religions grapple with the End of Things through prophecy and poetry. In 1995, two Christian fiction writers and prophecy enthusiasts, Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, released the first book in the “Left Behind” series. Their wildly popular sci-fi interpretation of the book of Revelation became the de facto contemporary Christian understanding of the end times. Many claim the Rapture is the only valid interpretation of God’s truth. This is extremely narrow and problematic, to say the least...
Upstream Performance Collaborative is creating an Afrofuturist dark comedy about the end times called WhatWhiteJesusDo?. Leeway Art & Change Grant Recipient playwright Rayne sought the insights of an intersectional, multifaith community to deepen the play’s development.
“Reading the Rapture” was a series of group dialogues about apocalypse and afterlife. Participants were from all backgrounds and discussed a variety of religious and secular texts. Rayne invited participants to share their questions, responses, and lived-experiences, to their comfort-- be they religious or secular.
Meetings were completely free, open to the public, and drop-in with no requirement for consistent attendance. Sessions were an hour and a half and took place on:
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Thursday, March 7th, 2024 - What is the Rapture?
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Thursday, March 21st, 2024- Prophecy
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Thursday, April 4th, 2024 - Prophecy: Part 2
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Thursday, April 18th, 2024 - Race & Religion
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Thursday, May 2nd, 2024 - The Body
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Thursday, May 16th, 2024 - Racism & Rapture
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Thursday, June 6th, 2024 - Fate
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Thursday, June 20th, 2024 - Paul
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Wednesday, July 3rd, 2024 - JOHN?
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Thursday, July 25th, 2024 - End Times
Click here to access anonymized session transcripts.
