RIiot

Riot, a new original play and part of The Highwood Theatre’s 3rd annual Open Source Theatre Project, is an engaging, audience-immersive performance centered around an event with which residents of the DC area are all too familiar with: a protest.

Set in Sam’s Coffee Shop, an “everybody knows your name” kind of place on the campus of fictional Whitney University, a diverse group of characters from very different backgrounds get caught up in a nearby protest-turned-riot. False information, spread via social media, fans the flames of dissent, causing the coffee house patrons to turn against one another, and the heated debate becomes violent.

Dealing with relevant issues such as race, discrimination and class inequality, Riot is a unique performance that gives the audience the rare opportunity to voice their opinions throughout the show, guide the choices characters make, and steer the direction of the plot to a different climax at each performance.