Agents & Assets - Los Angeles 2001

CIA INVOLVEMENT IN CRACK COCAINE TRAFFICKING EXPOSED IN "AGENTS & ASSETS"
Los Angeles Poverty Department Dramatizes a Congressional Hearing in Four Special Performances, with Additional All-Star Symposium Tackling the War On Drugs.

Adding insight and energy to LAPD's provocative theatrical production directed by John Malpede, Agents & Assets will run in conjunction with three discussions on the war on drugs featuring internationally acclaimed director Peter Sellars and leading activists and intellectuals.

Agents & Assets
Directed John Malpede and Performed by Los Angeles Poverty Department
Performances & Symposium about Fallout from the War on Drugs

Thursday, January 11
7:30 PM Agents & Assets performance
Discussion with Dave Fratello, Campaign for New Drug Policies and Eric Newby, Deputy Probation Officer in the Sentenced Offender Drug Court, Los Angeles County

Friday, January 12
7:30 PM Agents & Assets performance
Discussion with Sandra Alvarez, head of the Colombia Human Rights Program at Global Exchange in San Francisco and Alfred McCoy, Author and Professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison

Saturday, January 13
1 PM Agents & Assets Performance
2:30 PM Conversation about the arts and social change with Peter Sellars, John Malpede, Alfred McCoy and Sandra Alvarez regarding the war on drugs
7:30 PM Agents & Assets Performance

Denise Hall as Maxime Waters

Read the case study and interviews about LAPD’s performance Agents & Assets in Los Angeles in 2001 by Ferdinand Lewis. Ferdinand Lewis is an arts writer. The Community Arts Network is a fabulous resource for community based arts! www.communityarts.net

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Virgil Wilson as Mr. Dicks, Tony Parker as Mr. Bishop, Alexander Anderson as Mr. Lewis

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

18 December 2000 - In a unique theatrical event combining cutting-edge performance with in-depth discussion, the Los Angeles Poverty Department (LAPD) presents Agents and Assets for four performances only at Side Street Projects on Thursday, January 11th, Friday, January 12th, and Saturday, January 13th, 2001. Side Street Live at Side Street Projects is located at 425 South Main Street, 2nd Floor, in downtown Los Angeles. Tickets: general admission $10; Side Street Project members, seniors, and students $8. For reservations and information call 213/620.8895.

Adding insight and energy to LAPD's provocative theatrical production directed by John Malpede, Agents and Assets will run in conjunction with three discussions on the war on drugs featuring internationally acclaimed director Peter Sellars and leading activists and intellectuals (See complete schedule attached).

With Agents and Assets LAPD takes on a particularly explosive topic the U.S. governmentís escalating war on drugs. LAPD digs deep into the shady world of the CIAís alleged drug connections, drawing a parallel between the battles being fought on the streets of Los Angeles with those being fought in the jungles of Colombia. Mining dramatic material from the "Report on the Central Intelligence Agency's Alleged Involvement in Crack Cocaine Trafficking," presented to the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee in March 1998, Agents and Assets capitalizes on the radical incongruity of inner city actors taking on the roles of Congresspersons and CIA officials. The introduction of crack into Skid Row has deeply affected these actors and their community. Agents and Assets puts the spotlight on the human cost of high-level profiteering.

To further contextualize the U.S. Governmentís drug policies, each performance of Agents and Assets will be followed by a symposium in conjunction with Old Stories: New Lives. A nonprofit production company headed by world-renowned stage and film director Peter Sellars, Old Stories: New Lives uses the performing arts platform to generate awareness, discussion, and action in response to social, political and cultural forces affecting communities in America. Old Stories: New Lives joins John Malpede, LAPD and Side Street Projects to bring you this unprecedented wedding of theater and civic engagement.

"After 25 years, the Drug War has failed to reduce consumption while simultaneously having a devastating effect on communities in America and abroad far in excess of the "drug menace" itself seriously undermining basic freedoms in a democratic society," says Peter Sellars. 'The hypocrisies and contradictions of U.S. drug policy must be exposed and openly debated," he continues. "The time is long overdue for drug use to be understood and dealt with not primarily through law enforcement but as a public health, social, and cultural issue.'

'We want to get the real deal of Skid Row reality out to Normalville" says Malpede, who formed LAPD in 1985 and has spent 17 as an artist and activist making theater with a company of people living in downtown Los Angeles. LAPD works to transform Skid Row into a livable neighborhood with basic human services such as transportation, decent housing, sanitation, safety, and social amenities, and they believe that cultural empowerment is a vital step on the road towards wellbeing.

Sellars and Malpede share concerns that theater be a vital and connected part of the world at large resulting in theatrical experiences that push the boundaries of theater outside the comfort zone of the artistic community. 'We want to get the real deal of Skid Row reality out to Normalville" says Malpede, who formed LAPD in 1985 and has spent 17 as an artist and activist making theater with a company of people living in downtown Los Angeles. LAPD works to transform Skid Row into a livable neighborhood with basic human services such as transportation, decent housing, sanitation, safety, and social amenities, and they believe that cultural empowerment is a vital step on the road towards wellbeing.

Los Angeles is the "homeless capital" of the United States, with up to 75,000 people living on the streets. Agents and Assets works on many levels, engaging the very poor in cultural production, while creating awareness of street issues among the wider public. At the same time, Agents And Assets invites its audience to consider the actions of the U.S. Government, whether it be in a distant third world country, or right on the corner of 5th and Main.

Partially funded by grants from Cultural Affairs Department, Los Angeles and NEA Theater and the La County Arts Commission.