Titicut Follies: The Ballet

Titicut Follies: The Ballet, a world premiere ballet choreographed and performed by James Sewell and inspired by Frederick Wiseman’s startling 1967 documentary, will run for three performances. It will feature an original score by Lenny Pickett.

Wiseman’s landmark documentary, shot in a Massachusetts prison for the criminally insane, provides a close and candid look at the lives of psychotic people, many of whom committed serious crimes. As with the film, the ballet is organized around an inmate and staff variety show called “Titicut Follies.” The ballet is not a literal presentation of scenes from the film but rather an expression of the ideas and feeling of the film, transformed into the language of ballet.