Mixed Media

Still suffering from post-party depression now that the Democratic National Convention is over? Listen Productions has just the cure: DNC Mediamockracy, a multimedia production that combines original video footage from the convention with scripted satire and audience interaction. There’s been lots of action just getting the script together; producer/director Mitch...

By Patricia Calhoun

September 25, 2008

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Still suffering from post-party depression now that the Democratic National Convention is over? Listen Productions has just the cure: DNC Mediamockracy, a multimedia production that combines original video footage from the convention with scripted satire and audience interaction. There’s been lots of action just getting the script together; producer/director Mitch Dickman says it wasn’t locked down for the actors — Karen Slack, William Hahn and GerRee Hinshaw — until late last week. And even with a script that sets up Slack and Hahn as news anchors speaking in front of video clips, each performance will shift as Hinshaw breaks into the action to lead the audience in discussions of how the relationship between the media and politics impacts us. “It’s easy to put in a sound bite,” Dickman points out, but not so tidy when opinions are spilling out on a stage.

Speaking of sound bites, Dickman collected plenty during the DNC, “just jumping up and trying to see what we could get,” he says, and supplemented that video with footage from the network feeds. “My favorite clip so far would be the interview with Ralph Nader that we did,” he notes. “He’s a political hero of mine. Also, there’s a clip of this protester hitting a bell right next to her ears, and she’s got her ears plugged. That’s a powerful image.”

And there’ll be more when DNC Mediamockracy opens tonight at Buntport Theater, 717 Lipan Street, with productions continuing at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and 4 p.m. Sunday, through October 25. Tickets are $20; for information and reservations, call 720-290-1104 or go to www.dncmediamockracy.com.
Thursdays-Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.; Sundays, 4 p.m. Starts: Sept. 26. Continues through Oct. 25, 2008

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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