TRANSCEND - the play
Production Contact: Kilusan Bautista
Senor.Bautista@gmail.com
415-496-9413 | www.kilusan1898.blogspot.com
“Through an expressionistic movement vocabulary, urban/hip hop-inspired projections and sound design, and anecdotal storytelling, Kilusan relays his experiences with greedy landlords, gentrification, and limited relief for hustling artists in NYC.” – Theatre is Easy 2016
“Throughout this journey, Bautista deftly sketches characters in the narrative portions and uses his body expressively. The projected images, often of distorted NYC skylines or panoramas, often play across his body, suggesting their interconnection, for better or worse. His performance reminds us that New York has long been a haven for artists, but that it is nearly impossible to be able to afford to create art in the new NYC.” – Culture Catch 2017
New York, NY - TRANSCEND is a new one-man show which examines the effects of gentrification for a working artist in modern day Brooklyn, NY. Written and performed by Kilusan Bautista, TRANSCEND fuses theatrical storytelling, multimedia visual projections, hip hop and electronic music, and spoke word poetry to take audiences on a 3-week train ride to explore homelessness, poverty and self love. In August of 2016, TRANSCEND made it’s world premiere at the 20th annual New York International Fringe Festival at the Alpha Omega Dance Studio Theatre. In October of 2016, TRANSCEND toured to De Anza College in Cupertino, California through the sponsorship of the Office of Equity, Social Justice and Multicultural Education. And recently, TRANSCEND was co-presented by Frigid New York at Horse Trade Theatre Group for a 5-night performance series at Under St. Marks Theater in the Winter of 2017.
The TRANSCEND production team consists of Playwright/Performer Kilusan Bautista; Transmedia Director Wi-Moto Nyoka; Music Direction by Fernando Royal Singleton; Visual Artist/VJ Siriphong Tipayakesorn; and Dramaturge Espii Sadah Proctor. The goal of TRANSCEND is to humanize the discussion around gentrification in order to positively influence public policy based on fair and non-discriminatory housing/renting practices.
Set inside of a New York City Subway, TRANSCEND reveals an honest story about what artists and other working class residents of modern day NYC experience when trying to find a descent place to live within an aggressive housing market. The macro housing policies are driving rents up and economically forcing hard working residents out of their homes/apartments. This culture of displacement is growing rampant, forcing New Yorkers into uncomfortable situations such as homelessness, couch surfing or overcrowding apartments, even unsafe homeless shelters. Kilusan Bautista shares a true story about his recent battles being displaced out of his Brooklyn apartment, resulting in 3-weeks of couch surfing and doing whatever it takes to survive. TRANSCEND asks the audience to question the idea of hope during times of hardship and struggle.