Upside Down (Patas Arriba)
Inspired by the works of Eduardo Galeano and Naomi Klein
Written and Directed by Emiliano Silva
Live Music by the Pachamama Band
Music Direction by Cherolyn Fischer

September 19th -28th
at the Center for Independent Artists.
4137 Bloomington Ave S, Minneapolis 55407

When: Fridays-Sundays from September 19 to 28
Fridays at 8:00, Saturdays at 8:00, and Sundays at 7:00

Tickets: $12 General / $10 Students, Seniors, and Low-Income
Pay What You Can Night Sunday September 28

Somewhere in a university basement bunker, a free market economics professor is hiding out. As he remembers better days and his mind begins to unravel, he is haunted by the ghosts of the people his neo-liberal policies have exploited and the worldwide destruction his ideas have caused. With humor, satire, song and dance, a cast of 5 actors, and live music by the Pachamama Band, Upside Down (Patas Arriba), explores issues of human rights, justice, and democracy in the context of globalization.

As our society faces the prospects of war without end, legalized torture, environmental catastrophe, and other challenges, Upside Down (Patas Arriba) creates an aesthetic of resistance that challenges the assumptions of those most responsible for the creation of this “upside down” world, and strives to find a balance where critical thinking and parranda (joyful celebration of life) can meet.

Upside Down (Patas Arriba)

Escrita y Dirigida por Emiliano Silva
Inspirada en los escritos de Eduardo Galeano y Naomi Klein
Música En Vivo con la Pachamama Band
Dirección Musical de Cherolyn Fischer

Desde el 19 hasta el 28 de Septiembre
Viernes y Sábados a las 8:00pm, Domingos a las 7:00pm

Centro de Artistas Independientes (El Colegio)
4137 Blomington Ave S, Minneapolis

Entradas: $12 General. $10 Estudiantes-Adultos Mayores.
Paga Lo Que Puedas: Domingo 28 de Septiembre

Parte de Prensa

En el sótano transformado en bunker de una universidad, un profesor de economía de libre mercado se esconde. Mientras recuerda mejores días, su mente comienza a desintegrase, agobiada, obsesionada con los fantasmas de las personas que sus políticas neo-liberales han desechado y la destrucción mundial que sus ideas han causado. Con humor, sátira, música en vivo y baile, un elenco de 5 actores, y la música en vivo de la Pachamama Band, Upside Down (Patas Arriba), explora temas de derechos humanos, justicia, y democracia en el contexto de la globalización.

En este momento en el cual nuestra sociedad se enfrenta a la posibilidad de una guerra sin fin, la legalización de la tortura, catástrofes ambientales, y otros desafíos, Upside Down (Patas Arriba) crea una estética de resistencia que desafía las suposiciones de quienes son más responsables por la creación de este mundo al revés, y se esfuerza por encontrar un equilibrio donde el pensamiento critico y la parranda (la celebración de la vida) puedan encontrarse.

About the Play

Upside Down (Patas Arriba) is an adaptation of the book by Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano, one of the most published Latin American intellectuals and perhaps the most relentless critic of corporate globalization and capitalism in the Spanish-speaking world. Using live music and a style of performance drawn from various Latin American aesthetics of resistance, the piece will explore different aspects of the Colonial and Neo-Colonial history of the Americas, advancing the perspectives of peoples who have been, and continue to be, oppressed by the institutions of the global capitalist economy. The piece will also draw from Naomi Klein’s best-seller The Shock Doctrine: the Rise of Disaster Capitalism.

Although Galeano’s scope is global- and necessarily so since it’s impossible to understand the workings of the capitalist world economy without having some notion of how the international institutions that sustain it work- its applications are very local. Anyone who buys a pair of Nike sneakers or a “fun size” bag of M&M’s should know about the hellish conditions faced by Indonesian girls sewing those sneakers in sweatshops (sometimes up to 17 hours a day), or about the slave children of Ivory Coast who harvest 40% of the cocoa beans that end up in the chocolate for sale at the neighborhood corner store. Our approach is not paternalistic, but we are well aware that there is an active campaign of misinformation carried out by mainstream media outlets every day in the U.S. Progressive intellectuals like Noam Chomsky have done a very good job documenting the intricacies of the “consent manufacturing” machine.

Our goal as artists is to use community art to create spaces were the critical questions of our times- questions and ideas that are usually not part of the agenda of Corporate America- can see the light of day. Another goal we strive to achieve is to provide a framework to better understand how the historical struggles for justice in the Americas- from Harriet Tubman to Emiliano Zapata- are related to our communities’ search for true democracy. The fundamental change that we seek to effect has to do with empowering disenfranchised communities, using art as a catalyst. We believe that today, as we face the prospect of war without end, legalized torture, environmental catastrophe, and other challenges, it is critical to open spaces where the assumptions of those most responsible for the creation of this “upside-down” world can be challenged.