A troupe of misfit Blacktivists struggle to build a coalition via the rallying power of rock and roll!
They want to damn the dam, a partition constructed to “protect” Lake Michigan from the restless people of Chicago.
Working together, the protestors can defy the Artificial Intelligence overseeing their city and find their way back to balance with the natural world.
water riot in beta
a cyber punk rock opera
music samples
songbook workshops at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago 2020 - 2022
ANTHROPOCENE’S END (2022)
UPLOAD ME (2020)
more about the show
featuring four primary performers and a live band, water riot explores the potential for movement-building across virtual and physical realities.
the music draws on the under-acknowledged legacy of Black voices in rock, punk, electronic, and experimental music.
2020 - 2022 collaborating ensemble
Lawrence Baker, Myra Boone, Steve Corley Goldgrrl,
Nicole Michelle Haskins, Jerrell L. Henderson, Aaron Holland,
Nancy Moon, Casey Robards, DMA, Jasmine Robertson,
Meika Sha, Matthew Skillz
2024 ensemble leadership
Derek Lee McPhatter - writer / producer
Michael Przygoda - composer
Maija García - director
Dionne McClain-Freeney - music director
In February 2024, New York Live Arts and the National Black Theatre co-produced a private workshop, focused on script and score. The show is currently in development, anticipating a world premiere and tour in 2025-2027.
water riot is part of McPhatter’s NightQueen Performance Suite, a series of live-performance works that follow an ensemble seeking hope in one another as their world is transformed by a global water crisis, unbridled network technologies and resurgent fascism.