New York Live Arts, directed by Bill T. Jones of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, is holding an interdisciplinary festival, Live Ideas 2018: Radical Vision, April 18–22, at the New York Live Arts Theater.

The festival will include five days of public forums, performances, readings and workshops meant to critique four American democratic institutions: the press, big tech, the criminal justice system and the electoral process. Performances will include Dahlak Brathwaite’s hip-hop dramatic soliloquy Spirituals; monologist Mike Daisey’s The End of Journalism; a variety show hosted by drag king Elizabeth (Macho) Marrero; and more. Jones says this year’s festival is meant to inspire audiences to make a difference in their democracy. “How do we not simply protect democracy, but make it stronger?” asks Jones. “What are new ways forward—ways that go to the roots of our current democratic crisis? During the festival, we will investigate new ways to make our liberal democracy bolder and stronger.”

New York Live Arts’ Prayers of the People takes place April 22 as part of Live Ideas. Photo by Kenyon Victor Adams, courtesy of New York Live Arts.