A Thousand Ways

PART ONE: A PHONE CALL

Created by 600 Highwaymen

Begins January 21, 2021
Tickets $25 | Run time: 45-60 minutes
All showtimes are Pacific Standard Time
Recommended for ages 16+

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Pick up the phone. Someone is on the line. You don’t know their name, and you still won’t when the hour is over, but through this exchange – as you follow a thread of automated prompts – a portrait of your partner will emerge through fleeting moments of exposure.

About the Project

A Thousand Ways is a triptych of encounters between strangers. Guided by a score of instructions, questions, prompts, and physical directives, people who have never met build a series of performances for one another. Each installment of the piece explores the line between strangeness and kinship, distance and proximity, and how the most intimate assembly can become profoundly radical.

A Thousand Ways is made possible in part by generous support from Stephanie Bergsma and Dwight Hare.

Creative Team

600 Highwaymen (Abigail Browde and Michael Silverstone) are a theatermaking duo who are aiming at a radical approach to making live art by creating intimacy amongst strangers and illuminating the inherent poignancy of people coming together. Their work, which they’ve been making since 2009, exists at the intersection of theater, dance, contemporary performance, and civic encounter.

Executive Producer: ArKtype / Thomas O. Kriegsmann
Line Producer: Cynthia J. Tong
Dramaturg & Project Design: Andrew Kircher
Part One Sound Design: Stanley Mathabane
Illustrations: Cass Sachs-Michaels

This production was commissioned by The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi, Stanford Live at Stanford University, Festival Theaterformen, and The Public Theater, and was originally commissioned and co-conceived by Temple Contemporary at Temple University. Part One: A Phone Call was developed in partnership with On the Boards production and technical teams. Original support for the production was provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, Philadelphia.

“The term ‘experimental’ tends to signal an ambition to flaunt difficulty and occlude meaning, but 600 Highwaymen’s experiments with theatrical form are distinctly generous. That is the case with A Thousand Ways, which takes a simple premise and turns it into magic.”
» The New Yorker

“Represents truly adventurous, assumption-busting thinking about what theater is and what it can be.”
» SF Chronicle

“Achieves more goals of theater — telling stories, triggering imagination, nurturing empathy, fostering connection — than nearly any other show I have experienced since pre-pandemic days.”
» The New York Times

This experience cannot take place without you.
This is an experience for two people – just you and another ticket holder. The other person is counting on your attendance. If you do not attend, the experience cannot take place.

How does it work?
24 hours before, we will send you a phone number to call at your scheduled performance time. Please call this number at your scheduled performance time.

Can I participate with another member of my household?
This ticket is for one person only. Members of the same household must have their own ticket and separate devices to join the event.

Where should I call from?
Your current place of residence, in a quiet indoor space with a strong telephone signal.

What kind of phone do I need?
Any phone will work! All that matters is that it’s charged, cordless, and ready to go.

Can I use headphones or speakerphone?
You can, but please do not use headphones with a Bluetooth/wireless connection.

I’m calling from another country, what should I do?
In the email you receive 24 hours before your performance, we will provide you with a toll-free number.

What else do I need to know?
Due to the intimate nature of this experience, we cannot accommodate late arrivals.

More Info about Parts 2 & 3

Part 2 (An Encounter) and Part 3 (An Assembly) will be announced at a later date.

PART TWO: AN ENCOUNTER

Nested at the center of an empty space is a small table bisected by glass. You sit at the table, opposite a stranger, with a stack of index cards, a handful of objects, and a set of instructions to guide you. What will come from this? It is a chance at being heard, a brave moment to show up.

PART THREE: AN ASSEMBLY

A public convening made up of you and the other strangers from this project’s journey. Using a shared script, all of us who have previously met across distance come together for a final collective experience.

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Top banner credit: illustration by Cass Sachs-Michaels