Following its critically acclaimed sold out run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Freeman makes its Midwest debut as the largest international production ever presented by Physical Theater Festival Chicago.

 

Winner of a Spirit of the Fringe Award and shortlisted for Amnesty International’s Freedom of Expression Award, Freeman is inspired by the first man in America to plead Insanity as his defence. 

 

Throughout time and across waters, the show weaves the story of William Freeman, a black man driven to violence in the US, together with those of David Oluwale, Sarah Reed, Sandra Bland, Daniel M’naghten and Michael Bailey, exploring the unspoken link between systemic racism and mental health in the US and in the UK. The controversial lives and deaths of these real-life protagonists also highlight why it is necessary for movements like Black Lives Matter to exist in the 21st Century.

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These six true stories are threaded together and told through physical theater, spoken word, gospel singing, shadow puppetry and more. History is bound to repeat itself when the thumb is permanently bearing down on the loop button, so has anything really changed?

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“Freeman is a revelation, a piece of stunning physical theatre” 
★★★★★ The Guardian

 

“Outstanding artistic courage”

★★★★★ Broadway Baby

 

“A production of sheer class and talent”

★★★★★ The Wee Review

 

"Both exciting and devastating...everybody should see it"

★★★★★ Edinburgh Guide