Vaudeville of the early 20^th Century provided generations of new American citizens a platform to bring unique aspects of their culture to mainstream audiences. It was America’s voix-de-ville or ‘voice of the city,’ a way of saying ‘this is who we are’ in a time of shifting cultural landscapes. Today, Americans are again defining themselves in the face of changing demographics and ideals. With *The Circuit,* The Hinterlands turn their ear to the voices of American subculture past and present – B-boys, riot grrrls, voguers, transcendentalists, ravers, yippies, juggalos, and conspiracy theorists –  for clues into who we really are and what we paint ourselves to be in 2012.

A first showing of *The Circuit* called *Voice of the City* and focused on Detroit’s voix-de-ville premiered at Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) in July 2012 and micro-toured to Detroit’s Bangtown neighborhood in August 2012. The piece was reconfigured in fall 2012 as a part of the Shanghai Biennial’s city pavillions; look for *The Circuit* to premiere in full in late summer 2013.

Performed and created by Torri Ashford, Barney Baggett, Liza Bielby, Jon Brumit, Richard Newman, and Haleem Rasul. Directed by Richard Newman. Funded in part by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and National Performance Network Creation Fund. Co-commission by Alverno Presents and MOCAD, with additional developmental support from Power House Productions.

“…imaginative, subtle and eerie…” –JEREMY SCHALL, Knight Arts Blog

Created by The Hinterlands

Performed by Liza Bielby, Richard Newman, and Dave Sanders

Directed by Richard Newman

Puppet Design and Creation by Rolando Garcia and Carrie Morris

Production Assistance by Barney Baggett, Leanne Turrell

*This project/Liza Bielby is a participant in the Global Connections – IN the LAB program, funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and administered by Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for the professional not-for-profit American theatre

Haleem Rasul/Stringz – The Circuit and Voice of the City performer, choreographer, dance dramaturg; incredible, incredible mind-blowing dancer. Check out his work with his own company, Hardcore Detroit.

Torri Ashford – The Ciruit and Voice of the City performer, hoofer; woman about town, mad ukulele skills.

Dave Sanders – Dreamtigers collaborator; Manifest Destiny! (there was blood on the saddle) performer; techno dancer extraordinaire.

Carrie Morris – Dreamtigers puppet design and construction; seriously amazing idea-lady. Her work will inspire you here.

Rolando Garcia – Dreamtigers puppet design and construction; fantastic graphic designer and event-creator – check out his badass work here!

Gabriel Craig and Amy Weiks – brilliant metalsmith collaborators on Manifest Destiny! (there was blood on the saddle). Check out Gabriel’s work here and Amy’s here.

Steven DeWater – The Circuit collaborator; Manifest Destiny! (there was blood on the saddle) co-creator and performer.

Artpolis – Breaking Bread Performance Project 2010 partners. Amazing organization empowering Kosovar youth through theatre. See this Kosovar organization’s work here.

Jamie Van Camp – The Dead Road (2010) – co-creator, performer, and mask-maker. This Placerville, California king-of-play splits his time between California and Norway. See his work here.

Brian Moore – Isaac Newton is Our DJ - co-creator and performer. A comic genius, Brian can be found in New Orleans.

Branden Byers – Isaac Newton is Our DJ – design, construction and tech. Check out his mask-making work here.

Tara Smith – Isaac Newton is Our DJ - design and puppets. Tara rocks the Chicago puppet world.

LIZA BIELBY, The Hinterlands co-director, is a physical theatre artist dedicated to forging meaningful international bonds among traditional artists across the globe. A former Fulbright Scholar to Sichuan, China, where she became one of six non-Chinese nationals globally to ever study and perform traditional Sichuanese folk “opera” (chuanju), Liza understands the value of preserving local traditions in the face of globalization. In addition to being a founding member of The Hinterlands, she is also the co-founder of the multi-media arts collective (con)temporary works exchange, a founding member of the character-based marching band Glasnost and a member of the Detroit Party Marching Band. Liza is a graduate of Kalamazoo College (major: Theatre Arts, minor: Anthropology) and received her MFA in ensemble-based physical theatre from Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre.

ELENI T. ZAHAROPOULOS is a multimedia artist and physical theater maker from Queens, New York. She is co-founder of (con)temporary works exchange, a multimedia arts and performance collective that creates relationships between artists through skill sharing and spontaneous art making. She is also the founder of The Adrian Cervantes Mejia Fund, a nonprofit whose mission is to support the arts by creating individualized grants for performing and performance-based interdisciplinary artists. When she’s not performing, she is the in-house filmmaker at the Hinterlands, proprietress to an underground social club, and chef to a part-time Greek restaurant. To learn more about this lady, check out her work at www.happyabandon.com.

BARNEY BAGGETT, Hinterlands Ensemble Member, is a theatre polymath haling from Charlotte, North Carolina.  Barney has worked with Mock Turtle Marionette Theater, Pig Iron Theatre Company, The Dell ‘Arte Company, Touchstone Theatre, The Farm Theatre Co., and Machine Theatre – which he co-founded in 2009. Barney’s community-based performance events have paired him with non-profit organizations across the country including the Hispanic Arts League of Allentown (PA), The University of Minnesota’s Aurora Center, The Raven Project (CA), and ArtWorks 945 (NC).  Barney is a founding member of the Glasnost Gypsy Marching Band, and comprises one half of the Uke-Rock duo Space Rockerz. Barney holds an MFA in Ensemble Physical Theatre from the Dell ‘Arte International School of Physical Theatre.

Breaking Bread 2010 was funded by a grant from CEC Artslink and the generous support of individual donors. Project facilitators included Richard Newman, Liza Bielby, Eleni Zaharopoulou, Kushtrim Hoxha, Kushtrim Qerimi, and Zana Krasniqi-Hoxha.

Isaac Newton is Our DJ from The Hinterlands on Vimeo.

Isaac Newton is Our DJ was created by Liza Bielby, Brian Moore, and Richard Newman.

Featuring Richard Newman, Liza Bielby, Eleni Zaharopoulos, Steven DeWater, and Dave Sanders. Directed by Richard Newman; Design by Anthony Cerrato. Produced by Alverno Presents. Learn more about the team.

“Not only does it take you to the fundamental roots of the theatrical experience, it’s likely to change your existing views of the nature of theater.”- John Quinn, Encore Michigan

“This is a frenzy of mood and emotion. It’s a weird, theatrical Rorschach prism with the suggestion of certain themes about destiny, brutality and survival flowing through it all.” – Russ Bickerstaff, Express Milwaukee

Manifest Destiny promo by High Frequency Media

25-minute version of Manifest Destiny! called The Dead Road premiered at The Cooking Fire Theatre Festival, Toronto, Canada and featured Richard Newman, Liza Bielby, Jamie Van Camp, and Jason Waszak

February Community Training: Come experience our creative process, push your physical and creative limits, and interact with other Detroit artists! Our open training session invites anyone 15 and older to participate in our highly physical and unique training. Push beyond your own boundaries. Location and time coming soon.