12 Steps to Free (2020)

A Post-theater performance

Conceived, Written and Created by C.K.Itamura

Commissioned by The Imaginists

Performed by You

Inspired in part by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, a theory in psychology proposed by Abraham Maslow in 1943.

Type

Self-contained play for one actor, in five acts. Includes script, artist notes and props created as a limited edition of 90 signed and numbered objects.

Production Locations

In a public place. In front of a mirror. In your head.

Distribution

Distributed to “Bedrock Donors” (aka “Bedrockers”) of The Imaginists via United States Postal Service First Class Mail.

Date

Debuted in October 2020 for an indefinite run.

Q & A

Read the Q & A with C.K.Itamura here.

Playwright / Artist Notes

So long as a person is kept in a state of constant struggle, unable to achieve or complete any combinations of Scenes from the first four Acts, they will remain under the control of, obedient and indebted to those who retain the power to gain from and perpetuate the conditions. Those on the subjugated end of this construct, by design rarely reach Act Five where the Scenes of “achieving creativity”, “transcending” and “realization of freedom” are possible. Even if some are successfully able to elude the gauntlet of oppression, the process continues mechanically, repeating efficiently to create and process the next generation of indentured and enslaved subjects anew, and the next and next generations thereafter.

What systems are currently in place that create levels of desperation, division, danger, disenfranchisement, and [fear of] death? What circumstances ultimately instill fear, deny freedoms and subjugate entire populaces? What individual personal values and behaviors play a part in perpetuating subjugation on successive generations of beholden?

What will YOU work for?

Thank you

Additional support for this project was provided by Conrad Praetzel III, Conrad Praetzel II, Diana & Steve Jameson, R.C.Wong.