For Immediate Release

Liminal Media Contact: Bryan Markovitz, 503 890 2993, bryan@liminalgroup.org

Portland, Oregon—From April 19 to May 19, Portland’s theatre and media ensemble Liminal will present Objects for the Emancipated Consumer, a sci-fi spy drama and 360-degree performance that merges theatre and technology into a unique interactive event. Liminal recently presented its new work at the Seattle Fringe Theatre Festival and will perform it at the Vancouver, BC Performance Biennial this fall. The Portland performance will take place on the top floor of downtown Portland’s historic Dekum Building.

Objects for the Emancipated Consumer tells the frenzied story of six characters as they search for answers to an ambiguous series of past, present and future crimes in a fictitious international airport city. Scenes from the performance’s six episodes run simultaneously as audience members activate sound, video and other media throughout the space to reveal clues about the characters and their crimes. Objects for the Emancipated Consumer allows the audience to customize their own theatre experience and follow any thread of the story that they wish to pick up. Audiences may approach characters to watch scenes up close or stand aside to watch the whole event from a broader perspective.

“Liminal gives you many direct opportunities to choose how you experience our performance,” says Director Bryan Markovitz, “While it is not new to break down the division between performers and audiences, Liminal heightens the impact of this open interaction by giving you access to media and technology that can change and inform the environment.”

Through a blend of surreal situations, intimate live action and cinematic sounds and images, Objects for the Emancipated Consumer brings audiences to the hallucinatory threshold of new performance.

Objects for the Emancipated Consumer
April 19—May 19, 2001, 8:00 pm
The Dekum Building, top floor
519 SW Third Avenue between Washington and Alder, Portland
Tickets: $8 Thursdays, $10 Fridays and Saturdays
Liminal Box Office: 503.229.3979

Liminal is an ensemble of artists collaborating through live performance to discover new disciplines that merge theatre, the fine arts, and multimedia technologies. Our mission is to expand public interaction with performance and engage in critical dialogues about contemporary culture through an ongoing evolution of new work.

Supported by The Allen Foundation for the Arts, Meyer Memorial Trust, H. Naito Properties, STEP Technology.

###