Mass Live Arts: 'Send For the Million Men'

Send for The Million Men, a critically acclaimed piece by writer/performer/designer Joseph Silovsky, deals with the controversial trial and execution of Sacco and Vanzetti, two immigrants wrongly accused of robbery and murder in Braintree, MA in 1920. Silovsky interprets this story as a fever-paced piece of multimedia-infused theater.

Silovsky uses and misuses text, cutout puppetry, and homemade crude machines. The tale of Sacco and Vanzetti, known from history books, is enriched and transformed by an unconventional approach to storytelling. The result is passionate and relevant reflection on marginalized classes, justice, the judicial system, and what happens when this system fails. What emerges at the meeting point of scholarly knowledge and artistic innovation is a portrait of the two men and the divided era in which they lived, as told by a crazed inventor.

Work on the project began in the late 1990s when he workshopped a version of the piece with a group of collaborators in Chicago. He subsequently spent many years conducting extensive document research and visiting places important to understanding events surrounding the tragic injustice to Sacco and Vanzetti.

The show premiered at NYC's HERE in 2014 and returns in its original form, featuring striking video design by Victor Morales and music by Catherine McRae.

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