Radical Evolution is proud to present For the Streets! A Festival of Political Performance, on Saturday, October 4 at La Plaza Cultural Community Garden on Manhattan’s Loisaida. The event will celebrate artists and performance works that engage with audiences in public spaces and take on serious topics with imagination, humor, and forward-thinking vision. For the Streets! will be a vibrant celebration and continuation of the rich and potent tradition of street theatre as a form of organizing in New York City. The event will present an array of performing artists, filmmakers, visual artists, and political organizers and campaigns hailing from the five boroughs and beyond. 

Liberation Arts Collective is a multidisciplinary arts organization born out of protest and fueled by the belief that art is a force for liberation. Founded on the steps of the New York Stock Exchange in 2016 during a performance denouncing PROMESA, the austerity bill imposed on Puerto Rico, our origins are rooted in artistic resistance and the demand for justice. From that first action, we have continued to create work that confronts colonialism, systemic racism, poverty, and immigration while centering joy, healing, and community care.Through theater, poetry, music, video, and film, we tell stories drawn from our lived experiences as marginalized people in the United States. In collaboration with community organizations and unions, we build connections that amplify collective power and deepen impact. Liberation Arts Collective is committed to building community through arts, education, healing, and the courage to imagine a more just world.

Moon Joy Divine is the spirit of the moon and the child of Mother Earth. Moon has many faces, ranging from Full to New, each with a different purpose and power. But through it all, the one constant is that Moon wants you to nurture your love for the mother and yourself enough to keep your community healthy, joyous and peaceful. Backed by their own community and armed with powers from the celestial family, Moons rituals and performances lay bare their love and rage, and demands you join.

The Street Theatre Crew was founded in Oct 2023 by a group of theater makers who participated in a two-week exchange with the historic, New Delhi-based street theater company Jana Natya Manch (aka Janam). Collectively we are a multidisciplinary crew who are writers, musicians, choreographers, performers, producers and community organizers. We make work in support of left and progressive social movements in NYC and beyond.

Theatre of the Oppressed NYC (TONYC) brings the power of live theatre to the revolution. In partnership with communities confronting racism, housing injustice, and inequality, TONYC creates plays that put real struggles onstage and invite the audience to step in, take risks, and rehearse change. Inspired by the global Theatre of the Oppressed movement, our work transforms spectators into “spect-actors” who collectively imagine bold alternatives. TONYC’s performances spark dialogue, ignite action, and prove that theatre is a rehearsal for the world we want.

These exciting organizations and individuals will be present at the festival. Check them out when you arrive!

Donkeysaddle Projects works towards building a liberated world free from state violence in all its manifestations. We provide entry points into this movement work and nurture deep and sustained engagement by integrating political education, organizing and advocacy, and art/storytelling projects. https://www.donkeysaddle.org/mission

Francesca Barr is a working artist and writer from Massachusetts. She loves screenprint for the physical labor it demands, as well as its value in movement-making past, present, and future. Her practice intertwines the tradition of the propaganda poster with modern photographic methods, exploring the relationship between image and message. Before her term as Harvard University’s Henry Russell Shaw Fellow in Ireland and Spain, she graduated from Harvard College with a degree in Sociology and Art, Film, and Visual Studies. Francesca is now based in Brooklyn, NY where she leads arts education programming for community organizations—including The People’s Forum, Penikese Island School, and Strother School for Attention.

More Partners Coming Soon!

Radical Evolution’s Street Theatre Crew is supported in part by: 

The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs
New York State Council on the Arts