KLII

The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival at Chelsea Factory

KLII

Monday, Jan. 9, 2023 at 8:00PM
Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023 at 7:00PM
Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023 at 7:00PM
Friday, Jan. 13, 2023 at 7:00PM
Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023 at 7:00PM
Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023 at 7:00PM
Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023 at 7:00PM
Friday, Jan. 20, 2023 at 7:30PM
Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023 at 7:30PM
Sunday, Jan. 22, 2023 at 2:00PM

65 minutes

KLII exorcizes the ghost of King Leopold II through a mytho-biographical performance by theater-maker Kaneza Schaal. Designed and co-directed by Christopher Myers, KLII draws on Mark Twain’s King Leopold’s Soliloquy published in 1905, a fictional monologue written after Twain’s visit to Congo Free State and Patrice Lumumba’s 1960 independence speech in Congo. Increasingly our demons are invisible, long-hidden racism, misogyny, misinformation, and even the virus. How do we handle these threats which are as central to our everyday life as they are hidden? Schaal and Myers propose an exorcism in theater, starring one of the villains of the 19th century whose actions resonate through the present day.


Creative Team
Creator and Director – Kaneza Schaal
Designer and Co-Director – Christopher Myers
Sound Designer – Camila Ortiz, Ian Askew
Lighting Designer – Itohan Edoloyi
Dance Consultant – Jonathan Kubakundimana
Recorded Vocals – Kenita Miller, Ian Askew
Technical Director – Cheyanne Williams
Design Associate – James Gibbel
Managing Director – Chelsea Goding
Performers – Kaneza Schaal, Ian Askew, Sifiso Mabena, Cheyanne Williams
Original Lighting Design – Lucrecia Briceno, Asst. Emmanuel Delgado

Director’s Note
I have been thinking about the nature of evil. Today, we look at a figure like King Leopold II with mock horror. His atrocities stun and outrage. However, we rarely look at a figure like Leopold II without the safety of saying he is bad and we are done with him. What of his residue in our everyday lives? And the new Leopolds that emerge every day? Increasingly our demons are invisible, long hidden racism and misogyny, misinformation, even the virus. How do we handle these threats which are as central to our everyday life as they are hidden. KLII proposes an exorcism, in theater, starring one of the villains of the 19th century whose actions resonate through the present day. This remixing points towards the flush of revolutionary thought and practice that flooded between black people internationally in the mid 20th century and ignited movements of solidarity between formerly enslaved and colonized peoples around the world. A moment where the looking inward and outward at imperialism and evil mobilized powerful South-South alliances from Cuba to Ethiopia to Senegal to Vietnam to Haiti to Rwanda. Unless we look at these Leopolds both within us and around us we are doomed to relive their horrors.
–Kaneza Schaal

About Kaneza Schaal
Kaneza Schaal works in theater, opera and film, and is based in New York City. Schaal's work has shown in divergent contexts from NYC basements, to courtyards in Vietnam, to East African amphitheaters, to European opera houses, to US public housing, to rural auditoriums in the UAE. By creating performances that speak many formal, cultural, historical, aesthetic, and experiential languages she seeks expansive audiences. Domestically her work has shown at Brooklyn Academy of Music, LA Philharmonic, The Shed, The Kennedy Center, Walker Arts Center, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, REDCAT, The New Victory Theater and others. Schaal received a 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship and 2021 Herb Alpert Award in Theatre.

KLL Sponsors and Additional Support
KLII is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Walker Art Center, in partnership with Contemporary Arts Center Cincinnati and REDCAT. KLII was co-commissioned as part of the Eureka Commissions program by the Onassis Foundation. KLII was supported by French Institute Alliance Française through a Work-in-progress presentation at Crossing the Line Festival.

Special thanks to Amy Cassello, Vallejo Gantner, Daniel Alexander Jones, Tommy Kriegsmann, Kamal Nassif, Naima Ramos-Chapman, Malaika Uwamahoro, Jade Ventura, PAOS GDL and Lorena Peña Brito, and Bea Laszlo.

Texts: King Leopold’s Soliloquy by Mark Twain, Patrice Lumumba’s 1960 independence speech in Congo, Discourse on Colonialism by Aimé Césaire, monologue by Christopher Myers

Health and Safety Protocols

• Masks must be worn at all times when inside Chelsea Factory.

• While Chelsea Factory strongly recommends vaccination against COVID-19, proof of vaccination is not currently required for audience entrance to performances and public programs.

Click here for our full Health and Safety Protocols.