Peter Santilli's recent Associated Press review of Dispatches from (A)mended America took notice of the social media dialogue Misfit Media designed to prompt audiences to share their experiences with race in America.

Review: Americans talk about race, identity in provocative ‘Dispatches from (A)mended America’

NEW YORK — When theatergoers arrive at “Dispatches from (A)mended America,” they’re presented with four broadly phrased questions about race and personal identity, which appear in printed handouts and overhead projections.

The prelude is meant to jump-start a dialogue — whether internal, verbal or even online, with audience members encouraged to use their smartphones or social media stations provided by the theater to weigh in before and after the performance (just not during, please).

Once the actors take the stage, tempers flare and polarizing viewpoints abound in this ambitious, frenetic play. Tough questions spawn still more questions with very few clear-cut answers to be had.

Read the entire review at the Washington Post.

We were thrilled when Epic Theater Ensemble came to us for some digital advice on their upcoming production of Dispatches from (A)mended America. Here's the synposis:

Dispatches From (A)mended America is a documentary theater piece written by Brandt Adams & Godfrey Simmons Jr. In the month leading up to the 2009 Presidential Inauguration, Simmons and Adams traveled throughout the American South (along the path of the Freedom Riders 5 decades prior) conducting 100 interviews in an attempt to better understand the significance of the election of America’s first African-American President. The interviews were digitally recorded and crafted into this documentary theater piece.

We crafted a site for them that will capture their digital interaction with audience members, who will be prompted to report on their own interaction with race and racism in America. Official opening night is Thursday, October 18, 2012, check in with @amendedamerica for what's sure to be an interesting dialogue.

Check out the dialogue in real time by clicking the image below.

Jester's Dead returns to The People's Improv Theatre Sunday, October 21, 2012 at 8pm for a special VIP performance featuring their new line up. Names will be there. BIG NAMES. We hope you will be too!

Through August 31, 2012 everyone can sign up for SXSW's panelpicker system and vote for the panels they want to see at next year's Interactive conference. We've spent a lot of time thinking about what digital public space could look like while building BrooklynTheBorough.com and we want to bring these ideas to the country's foremost indie media marketplace. Watch the video, read about about the concept below, then sign up and vote for us and share with your friends! Thanks!

Description:

Today, corporations have the ability to know when you need diapers, where you had dinner last night, and whether or not you are cheating on your spouse.

When the internet was first introduced publicly, its promise was to be the great equalizer. This digital public free speech venue was going to connect people, and soon technology would begin solving all of our problems.

Yet these market solutions have created an entirely other, and even creepier problem. The panopticon is watching us and knows our every move. So where is our public space? Where is the public good that was promised with advent of the airwaves in the last century?

As more of us sync data to clouds and rely on the tracking features of our smartphones, it's overdue that we start asking questions about real intuitive privacy regulation and where our public space will be on the internet of the future.

Questions Answered:

What is the difference between privacy and anonymity on the web and what are we protecting?

What does digital privacy and anonymity look like today, and is the solution to just get off of Facebook?

What are the social, economic and political impacts of living in the panopticon under corporate terms of service?

What tools are out there to safeguard our rights, content and information right now?

How do we create a digital infrastructure for the future that builds in our rights to privacy and anonymity online?

“This critically acclaimed exercise in action-packed parody has a simple, happy formula: the classic ’80s flick “Top Gun” as it might have been interpreted by William Shakespeare.” -Megan Angelo

Jester's Dead returns to The People's Improv Theatre this summer for sneak peek performances at the new cast in advance of some big plans for the fall. 

Misfit Media designed and built the pop up video release page for Outernational's single "We Are All Illegals / Todos Somos Ilegales" featuring Rene Perez (Calle 13), Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine). The site allows fans to view Facebook friends who liked the band and instantly disseminate both the video and streaming audio of the full length album across social networks simultaneously.  

Outernational's first video off of the album "Todos Somos Ilegales: We Are All Ilegals" was directed by Jessica Habie and produced by Misfit Media's own Nicole Brydson. Together with Director of Photography Ashley Noelle, the lot of us set up shop to film the fun for catchy dance punk salsa groove "The Beginning is Here" in the Mojave Desert just a few hours southeast of Los Angeles. Yes, we dragged a piano onto a dusty desert road. Edited by the talented team at ErezOs, this has to be the most fun we've had working to date.

As part of John Varvatos' Thursday Nite Live Series, showcasing emerging musical talent on the hallowed grounds of the former CBGB's in New York City, Outernational took the stage with Chad Smith on the kit. The show was an unbelievable success, and those who missed it can watch the video above and an interview the band did with Chad and Matt Pinfield on the February 24, 2012 episode of 120 Minutes on MTV2. Click the image below to watch the interview (at 31:00).