Northwestern Law to Present Collaboraction’s Crime Scene Chicago 2015: Let Hope Rise for Free on Jan. 21 as Part of Martin Luther King D.R.E.A.M. Week

CHICAGO, IL – Collaboraction has updated its acclaimed theatrical docudrama, Crime Scene Chicago 2015: Let Hope Rise, a reaction to Chicago’s history of violent crime and a call to discover what it might take to create lasting change, and will perform it for free on Wednesday, January 21, as part of Northwestern University School of Law’s D.R.E.A.M. Week (Day to Recognize the Efforts and Achievements of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)

The one-night-only performance will be held at Northwestern Law’s Thorne Auditorium, 375 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. The evening starts at 6 p.m. with a pre-show reception followed by Crime Scene at 7 p.m., and a Town Hall Discussion immediately following the 60 minute performance. Tickets are free and can be reserved by emailing boxoffice@collaboraction.org or calling (312) 226-9633. Crime Scene is recommended for ages 14 and up due to violence and mature content.

For this 2015 update, show creator and Collaboraction Artistic Director Anthony Moseley has remixed Crime Scene to include up-to-the-minute stories of Chicago violence, coupled with nonfiction source material such as interviews, articles, social media threads and online comments to raise critical questions surrounding segregation, poverty, the news media and popular culture.

The D.R.E.A.M. Committee is an organization of Northwestern University administrators and students that coordinates lectures and programs to inform faculty, staff and students on the Chicago campus about the teachings and contributions of Dr. King. This special event is partially supported by sponsorships from Northwestern Law law firm sponsors Perkins Coie, LLP, Chapman and Cutler, LLP, and Collaboraction sponsor AV Chicago.

Watch the original trailer for Crime Scene: a Chicago Anthology

More about Crime Scene

The world premiere of Crime Scene was universally lauded by the press when it debuted in 2013, drawing considerable attention and playing to sold-out houses at Collaboraction’s Wicker Park home.

The production returned as part of the Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks program in 2013 and 2014 and toured to targeted neighborhoods including Englewood, Austin, Rogers Park and Bronzeville.

Press response included:

“Crime Scene, far and away the best Collaboraction show I’ve seen these past 14 years, is indeed a call for collaborative action. The ensemble piece probes the current epidemic of violent crime in this city, (and) offers a veritable plethora of problems, contexts and solutions.” – Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune

“Neither politicians, nor the police, nor community activists, nor parents seem capable of stopping the insanity. And it’s a good bet no theater company will be able to turn the tide either. Yet there is something about Crime Scene that is so direct, visceral, youthful and winningly honest (meaning not at all predictably politically correct), that you might at least find yourself listening again – willing to get beyond the overload of disgust, impotence and sense of futility.”

– Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times

“A gripping tale of the Chicago condition that gets to the heart of our suffering” – Mark Konkol, DNAinfo.com

Moseley added, “With the national attention focused on the effects of racism and segregation at all levels, we are excited to continue to use our brand of provocative, non-fiction theatre to explore and cultivate discussion and action towards increasing peace and equality in Chicago and thereby decreasing violence.”

Collaboraction’s Crime Scene ensemble includes Scott Baity Jr., Celeste Cooper, Luis Crespo, Brian Keys, Annie Pritchard and Nat Swift. The design team includes Anthony Moseley (Writer and Director), Adam Sediel (Co-Writer), Liviu Pasare (Video Design), Jeremy Getz (Co-Lighting Design), Heather Sparling (Co-Lighting Design), Elsa Hiltner (Costume Design) and Alexander St. John (Sound Design).

Anthony Moseley, Creator,

Crime Scene Founding Executive and Artistic Director, Collaboraction

In addition to creating Crime Scene, Anthony Moseley has produced over 50 productions, 13 SKETCHBOOK Festivals and over 250 events since Collaboraction was founded in 1999. Most recently he co-curated Collaboraction’s 14th SKETCHBOOK Festival, and starred and co-directed Collaboraction’s world premiere This is Not a Cure for Cancer, an immersive live theater experience that used the same docudrama style conceived via Crime Scene to attack cancer, its treatment and the way we live.

Moseley’s other directing credits also include Collaboraction’s world premieres of El Grito Del Bronx (a co-production with Teatro Vista in association with the Goodman Theatre), The Pull Toy (and His Pasian), and Heroes and Villains; Chicago premieres of dark play or stories for boys by Carlos Murrillo, Be a Good Little Widow by Bekah Brunstetter, Refuge (2000 Jeff Citation nomination for Best Direction), The Cosmonaut’s Last Message to the Woman He Once Loved in the Former Soviet Union, Trueblinka and Guinea Pig Solo; as well as Mud, To Kill a Mockingbird, and numerous world premiere short plays for SKETCHBOOK.

More about Collaboraction

Collaboraction (collaboraction.org) collaborates with artists, community leaders, health professionals and citizens from throughout the city to create original theatrical experiences that push artistic boundaries and explore critical social issues with a diverse community of Chicagoans.

The overwhelming response to its 2013 world premiere Crime Scene: A Chicago Anthology was the first step in Artistic Director Anthony Moseley’s new vision for Collaboraction to be used as an artistic tool to explore critical social issues in an effort to create dialogue and incite change.

Following Crime Scene, Collaboraction employed the same provocative, docudrama style to attack cancer, its treatment and the way we live with the world premiere of This is Not a Cure for Cancer, and examined the state of public education in Chicago and the U.S. with the debut of Forgotten Future: The Education Project.

Collaboraction continues its 2014-15 season with a remount of Forgotten Future, back by popular demand February 12-March 8 at the company’s home in Chicago’s Flat Iron Arts Building, 1579 N. Milwaukee Avenue in Wicker Park.

Soon after, Collaboraction will premiere Family of War, a new immersive theatre piece exploring the costs of war shouldered by American veterans and the ongoing impact on their families. Performances are May 21 – June 21, 2015.

For tickets and information, visit collaboraction.org or call (312) 226-9633.