LEOS ENSEMBLE PRESENTS THE WORLD PREMIERE PRODUCTION OF TEN ARGUMENTS A SATIRE ABOUT THE WAYS SOCIAL MEDIA IS UNDERMINING OUR LIVES
Leos Ensemble Theatre Presents
TEN ARGUMENTS
by A. EMMANUEL LEADON
A World Premiere Play Conceived by Nick Leos
Directed by Kelli J. Howard and Nick Leos
STARRING MATT CRAWFORD, JON GARRARD, PRINCESS JAMES, SARAH MENDEZ, LAUREN OXFORD, VINNIE SERIONEL, SAVYNA VIRAPHONH
Part of the 2022 Arts Mission Oak Cliff Artist-in-Residence Program
Leos Ensemble Theatre is funded in part by the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture.
PRESS CONTACT: Elaina Alspach eaalspach@gmail.com
Nick Leos leos.nick@gmail.com // 214-801-1226
Interview Requests: LeosEnsemble@gmail.com
Where: ARTS MISSION OAK CLIFF & STREAMING WORLDWIDE
When: APRIL 8, 9 Time: 8pm
Cost: $15 General Admission // $10 says Pay-With-Your-Phone // $5 Streaming Access
Ticket Link:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ten-arguments-by-leos-ensemble-theatre-tickets-277087475097
Website: https://www.artsmissionoc.org/artist-residency
https://www.nickleos.com/leos-ensemble
Leos Ensemble is proud to kick off the 2022 Arts Mission Oak Cliff Artist-in-Residence (AiR) series with the world premiere production of Ten Arguments by Oak Cliff-based playwright A. Emmanuel Leadon. Conceived by Nick Leos and loosely framed by technology activist Jaron Lanier’s Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts, Ten Arguments will be co-directed by Kelli J. Howard and Nick Leos. The show premieres April 8 & 9 in-person at Arts Mission Oak Cliff and will also be streamed worldwide. Tickets for the in-person performance are $15, and streaming access is $5. Audiences can also choose to Pay-With-Your-Phone by leaving their phone at the box office to receive a $5 discount.
Ten Arguments takes the form of a series of ten sketches set over the last decade, all about the ways social media is undermining our lives. It’s MadTV crossed with The Colored Museum wrapped up in your uncle's conspiracy Twitter rants. Audiences will meet Saturday and Sunday: siblings who have to let their subscribers know that the star of their channel, their grandpa, is dead (Social Media Hates Your Soul) –they’ll see Joaquin Phoenix head to clown school in Dallas’ Deep Ellum Comedy District (Social Media Is Undermining Truth) and check in on Post Malone’s work at the Dallas Branch of the NAACP (Social Media is Making You Unhappy).
Co-Director Nick Leos says of the production:
“The goal is that this show helps audiences assess our culture’s obsession with social media. I notice myself reaching for it mindlessly, spending hours scrolling when I’m bored, feeling myself becoming more emotionally attached to it –yet I can’t seem to pull myself away. Emmanuel’s script explores those feelings with biting satire, creating a whirlwind of a show that is simultaneously hilarious and haunting. Who hasn’t had the uncanny experience of thinking about something and then an ad for it pops up on your newsfeed?
I’m excited to be able to bring this show to life for audiences in Dallas and beyond–digital theatre has become a focus for Leos Ensemble, and the potential of telling a digital story via digital means is jumpstarting our creativity. ”
Co-Director Kelli J. Howard says of the production:
“Once again, I am thrilled to be making work with Leos Ensemble that seeks to explore societal phenomena in such a way that is both affirming and challenging for the audience, as well as we the artists. Leadon’s play holds up a mirror to our collective dependence on social media that is both terrifyingly comedic and rife with sickening self recognition and demands that we question how the digital space is impacting our consciousness, our humanity, and the ethical imperatives of our continued use of digital platforms as individuals and as creators.”
Arts Mission Oak Cliff Artistic Director Anastasia Munoz says of Ten Arguments:
"It’s exciting to see Leos Ensemble taking a risk in their work because of the time and space the AMOC AiR program offers. They are pushing their boundaries, and ours! This is exactly what the program was created for and it's inspiring to see in action."
Playwright A. Emmanuel Leadon is a humorist, visual artist, and chef from Dallas. His stage work approaches current events with surrealism, mystique, and a distorted sense of language. His first play CAVE CANEM was shortlisted for the Relentless Award, presented at the National New Play Network Showcase, received development at the Play Penn and Great Plains Conferences, and is slated for its college premiere this spring at Yale.
Leos Ensemble Theatre is a contemporary theatre group based in Dallas, Texas led by Nick Leos. The mission of Leos Ensemble is to feature plays with international themes, embrace technology and innovative storytelling techniques, and provide access to theatre for all. Our theatre work is also focused on new ways of producing with environmental and emotional sustainability. In 2021, Leos Ensemble won acclaim for its groundbreaking production of Gertrude Stein's Turkey and Bones and Eating and We Liked It which unfolded on TikTok, and was produced in partnership with the international Lost Ladies of Theatre Project. Last December, we presented a free staged reading of The Leopard Play, or sad songs for lost boys by Isaac Gómez directed by Gloria Vivica Benavides at Arts Mission Oak Cliff. In 2019, Leos Ensemble's production of small hours by Lucy Kirkwood and Ed Him was named Best Alternative Theater by Frank Garrett of Theater Jones
WEB LINKS & SOCIAL MEDIA
Jaron Lanier/Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media: http://www.jaronlanier.com/tenarguments.html
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@leosensembletheatre
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeosEnsemble/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leosensembletheatre/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzMy3eXd7pxRBYBmY6IL7ng
LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/LeosEnsemble
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