To say that conversations about guns in our city are complex is an understatement.
With ‘The Great American Gunshow: Philadelphia‘, Team Sunshine will explore American gun culture, gun violence and trauma, and the tension within our society over the “right of the people to keep and bear arms.”
Team Sunshine Performance started in 2010 with the intention of creating original works of “experimental yet approachable performances.” With this latest showcase, the organization will present a hybrid theatrical presentation through a live performance, a participatory forum and 75+ hours of interviews with Philadelphians about guns in the city.
It’s all meant to explore the humanity at the heart of the issues, or as Team Sunshine puts it, using the performers and audience work to understand the confusion, frustration, and exhaustion that come with these issues as a way to imagine a future for Philadelphia.
As a release notes, during the show, Team Sunshine Co-Artistic Director Makoto Hirano, along with co-creator Jackie Soro and community performers will guide the audience through an interactive performance event. The showcase will delve into different themes, including the impact of gun violence, the intersection of drugs and firearms, incarceration and re-entry, and how vulnerable Philadelphians are to gun violence. These issues are meant to put the focus specifically on the City of Brotherly Love’s unique circumstances.
Hirano was inspired by his own relationship to gun culture. He was able to put together the show through his experience traveling to cities and towns across the U.S. to understand the role of guns in different communities, and by interviewing a variety of individuals with varying experiences and opinions.
The Pilot Phase of this project was created in collaboration with Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble, with “work-in-progress showings” at Caldwell Consistory in Bloomsburg, and the Asian Arts Initiative in Philadelphia in August of 2022. Unique, location-specific iterations of the project will soon be developed and presented in New Orleans, Hudson, New York, and Whitesburg, Kentucky, a release also states.
Created in collaboration with a team of Philly-based designers and directed by Alex Torra, ‘Gunshow’ will play at Safe-Hub Philadelphia (1020 E Venango St.) beginning next weekend with dates set for Aug 7 to 9, at 7 p.m. Tickets ($5) are available now through Eventbrite.
To find out more information on ‘The Great American Gun Show’ and Team Sunshine Productions, visit teamsunshineperformance.com
