Braddock, PA
May 21 – June 13
7:30 p.m.
Pittsburgh’s dramatic topography—with juxtapositions of winding city steps, urban hollers, skeletons of industry and nestled row houses—seems to engender an intersection of past, present and future. In Bricolage Production Company‘s newest immersive experience, Saints Tour, audiences will eschew the passive seats of conventional theater and traverse the storied terrain of Pittsburgh’s Mon Valley in and around Braddock.
Teaming up with Pittsburgh’s newest theatre makers, Real/Time Interventions, Saints Tour takes the fluid form of a bus and walking trip designed to reveal “mystical things” along its route. Created by playwright Molly Rice—who founded Real/Time with director/producer Rusty Ring Thelin—Saints Tour follows on the heels of Bricolage’s recent shows, OjO and STRATA, which created buzz locally and garnered international attention as part of a burgeoning wave of immersive theatre.
Becoming active participants rather than passive observers, tour-goers will connect with the environment and explore both perspective and perception as they move through the “nooks and crannies of Braddock, North Braddock and Braddock Hills, led by the Tour Guide (played by Bria Walker) whose family has been rooted to the land for centuries.”
A site-specific play crafted specifically for these neighborhoods (read: latitude and longitude 40.403402/-79.868382), the adventurous trek promises encounters with “visual enchantments, sudden music, mysterious occurrences and other sub rosa traces of the saints that shape the narrative of this community.” Exploring the concept of “local saints,” with tour stops and narratives inspired by area artists, youth and residents, the theatrical journey will lead audiences along the Monongahela River, up hills, over train tracks and through “sites of local lore.”
Participating Saints Tour artists are Nathan Barnes, Sanford Barnes, TaeAjah Cannon, Lenka Clayton, Vanessa German, New Guild Studios, David Pohl, Zena Ruiz, Linsday Sherloum, James Simon, Bria Walker and others. The tour’s community partners include Braddock Youth Project, Braddock Carnegie Library, Gardweeno, Grow Pittsburgh, Braddock Farms, Superior Motors and UnSmoke Systems ArtSpace.
How does the journey end? With a shared meal in a secret setting, and we could not dream up a better culmination.
Ready to believe? The production is likely to sell out, so be sure to book your spot on the Saints Tour today.