This dissident artist had to leave Hungary.
Now he’s making theater about U.S. gun culture.
- Read the full article by Lily Janiak in the San Francisco Chronicle HERE.
Poster by levimillerart
S D A (Someone Dies Again)
Directed by Árpád Schilling
May 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28, 2022 Z Space
June 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 2022 at the Imaginists
From acclaimed European director Árpád Schilling, in collaboration with the Imaginists, comes S D A (Someone Dies Again). A family struggles with the task of moving forward while caught in the unbearable past. They want the truth, but which truth? Whose truth? A tragicomic drama, S D A asks the uncomfortable question: How do we know when we could have stopped the inevitable?
The origins of S D A go back to 2014, after a visit to Budapest, when a friendship was struck between Schilling and the Imaginists. Through multiple exchanges, and against the backdrop of Ferguson and the relentless course of mass shootings in the United States, a question emerged. What is the meaning of the gun in American life? Beyond (or beneath) its role in carrying out violence and enforcing oppressive systems, what is its force in shaping American identity, possibility, imagination? These questions percolated in an artistic conversation that has lasted eight years. S D A is a result of that conversation.
Performed by: Emma Attwood, Alexsandro Bravo, John Craven, Zahira Diaz, Yareny Fuentes Jara, G. Brent Lindsay, John Most, Stephen K. Patterson, Amy Pinto, Karina Pugh, Tessa Rissacher, and David Roby.
Based on the actor’s improvisations, written by Árpád Schilling
Directed by Árpád Schilling
Music and Sound Effects: Xtevion
Costume Design: Coleen Scott
Production Manager: C.K.Itamura
Production Assistant and Research: Ildikó Ságodi
Production Intern: Rae Lipman
Research: Lennart Nielsen
S D A Producing Artistic Directors: G. Brent Lindsay and Amy Pinto
Song: Some Sweet Day by Si Khan (Used with permission by Mr. Khan)
Special thanks to our San Francisco Team:
Lighting Design: Gabe Maxson
Sound Design and Engineer: Jason Kick
Light Board Operator: Daniel Hall
Assistant Lighting Designers: Daniel Hall and Miles Young
Video Documentation: Julianna Schuldt
Pictured: Emma Atwood, John Craven, Yareny Fuentes, Stephen K. Patterson, Karina Pugh, and David Roby.
Photos by Robbie Sweeny
Promotional Video: Julianna Schuldt
Árpád Schilling | Photo by Zágon Nagy
"Theatre creates movement, it makes you angry, it provokes and asks unpleasant questions, while promoting freedom.”
About the Director
Find Árpád Schilling’s website HERE.
Read more about the work of Árpád Schilling here: Meeting with Árpád Schilling | Árpád Schilling, the theater of resistance
S D A Podcast & Dispatch A podcast chronicling the process is available HERE. A dispatch featuring an excerpt from the podcast is available HERE.
Santa Rosa theater commissions work by Hungarian playwright, director.
- Read the full article by Dan Taylor in the Press Democrat HERE.
the Imaginists has been selected as a recipient of a Hewlett 50 Arts Commission, a program of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The Imaginists is among a stellar group of 10 Bay Area-based non-profit organizations that will receive funds to commission important and unique works of theater, musical theater, and spoken word. More information about the Hewlett 50 Arts Commissions HERE.
S D A is an incredible undertaking. We appreciate the encouragement and support we’ve received so far. If you’d like to contribute to this project, please donate!
This work was made possible by Trust for Mutual Understanding, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Center for International Theatre Development, Individual Donors, and Imaginists’ Bedrock Donors.
