About This Show
In this 2024 premiere, interdisciplinary artist Benji Hart’s World After This One uses movement and spoken word to examine how Black people have historically reclaimed the materials of empire to construct portals to impossible futures. Looking through the lenses of three Black art forms—the queer street style of vogue, the Afro-Boricua dance and drumming tradition of bomba, and gospel music—World After This One blurs the lines between the secular and the sacred, celebration and mourning, the past and the yet-to-pass, imagining Black liberation not as a metaphor, but a possibility.
The Friday, March 22 performance will include a talkback with playwright Kristiana Rae Colón.
The premiere of World After This One will take place across three different weekends at three venues, culminating at the LookOut Series at Steppenwolf. To see the full list of performances, visit benjihart.com/premiere.
About Benji Hart
Benji Hart is an interdiscplinary artist, author and educator whose work centers Black radicalism, queer liberation and prison abolition. Their words have appeared or are forthcoming in anthologies from Oxford University Press, Beacon Press, Motto Books, Pluto Press and have been published at Time, Teen Vogue, The Advocate, The Funambulist and elsewhere. They have led popular education and arts-based workshops for organizations internationally, including Project NIA, Forward Together, SisterSong, Dissenters and presented at the Barnard Center for Research on Women, the American Repertory Theater, the National Museum of African American History & Culture and the Chicago Architecture Biennial. Their performances have been featured at the Poetry Foundation, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Den Frie and Museo del Chopo. They have received fellowships from Yaddo, MacDowell, Chicago Dancemakers Forum and are a Kistenbroker Family Artist in Residence at the Lab School.
Artist Links: @benjifemini, www.benjihart.com
Running Time
Due to the high volume and wide breadth of work we present, we are often not able to proactively offer content advisories for individual performances. However, if you have specific concerns about stage effects (such as strobe lights or fog/haze) that might have a bearing on comfort or well-being, or if you would like to know more about the age appropriateness of the performance, please contact the box office at 312-335-1650.
ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES
American Sign Language will be provided for the performance on Friday, March 22nd.
MASKED PEFORMANCES
While masks are not required for these performances they are strongly recommended. Please note, however, that the Steppenwolf is a public building and that there will be unmasked people in the building, including in the lobby space immediately outside of the theatre and the bathroom.
SPONSORS
Running Time
Content Advisory
Due to the high volume and wide breadth of work we present, we are often not able to proactively offer content advisories for individual performances. However, if you have specific concerns about stage effects (such as strobe lights or fog/haze) that might have a bearing on comfort or well-being, or if you would like to know more about the age appropriateness of the performance, please contact the box office at 312-335-1650.
ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES
American Sign Language will be provided for the performance on Friday, March 22nd.
MASKED PEFORMANCES
While masks are not required for these performances they are strongly recommended. Please note, however, that the Steppenwolf is a public building and that there will be unmasked people in the building, including in the lobby space immediately outside of the theatre and the bathroom.