WE ARE BANDITS.
All of us. We all can draw our own imaginary map.
Applied Mechanics worked on WE ARE BANDITS for over a year. A year of research, stories, experiences, songs, dances, discoveries. It was a pleasure to finally get to share this work with audiences, and celebrate with them.
The characters in our play made a band: The Bandits, inspired by the activists and performance artists Pussy Riot. The Bandits stretched their songwriting muscles and wrote over a dozen punk songs. With them, we shouted, cheered, and wailed our feminist values.
On this project, we worked with over a dozen artists who we’d never worked with before. It was such a special experience to share our collaborative practice them, and be enriched by their brilliant work and imaginations. With them, we made a piece of live art that was free and inclusive, that invited audiences in and was in turn transformed by the 650+ people who saw it. Everyone who was in that room—yes you!—is a vital part of our work.
It was a pleasure to bring to life eight contemporary feminists (of varying stripes and stamps) and eight historical feminist figures. These women spoke to us throughout this process.
Their voices, among many others, echo through this work.
Our eyes are adjusting to the world of bandits. We see each other. And we see you.
And we want to say: thank you.
WE ARE BANDITS.
