Founding of the american vicarious | Brooklyn, NY | Feb 5 — the american vicarious formally receives 501(c)(3) not-for-profit status under the artistic direction of Christopher McElroen and producing direction of Erica Laird, dedicated to creating work across disciplinary boundaries that confronts America’s ideals and lived realities.

Piedmont Blues: A Search for Salvation | Port Townsend Jazz Festival, WA | July 26 — Festival presentation of a multimedia collaboration with GRAMMY nominee, Gerald Clayton, exploring race and resilience in the American South through the legacy of the Piedmont blues.

Far From the Nile (Development) | El Gouna Film Festival, Egypt | Sept 21 – 26 — Early development work of Sherief Elkatsha’s feature documentary, following 12 musicians from seven Nile Basin countries on a 100-day U.S. tour.

(A)loft Modulation| A.R.T./New York Theatres, NYC | Sept 26 – Oct 27 — A world premiere play by Jaymes Jorsling with live jazz, set in a 1950s downtown loft; a meditation on art, surveillance, and America’s uneasy transition from the 1950s into the upheavals of the 1960s.

Winter Jazz Festival: Piedmont Blues | Sheen Center, NYC | Jan 11 — Following its presentation in Port Townsend, WA, Piedmont Blues premieres in New York City.

COVID-19 pandemic / Lockdown | Mar 15

Static Apnea | The Invisible Dog Art Center, Brooklyn, NY | Sept 12 – Oct 17 — Immersive in-person installation in a 40’ shipping container, exploring breath, endurance, and vulnerability at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. (NYT Critic’s Pick & Highbrow/Brilliant, NYMag Approval Matrix).

Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley | BRIC, Brooklyn, NY | Oct 22–24 — Broadcast premiere of a re-staging of the 1965 Cambridge Union debate, adapted and directed by Christopher McElroen, performed by Teagle F. Bougere (Baldwin) and Eric T. Miller (Buckley). Conceived in the wake of the summer of 2020 and streamed live during the pandemic, the work opened a space for civic reflection at a moment of national reckoning on race and democracy.

Negative Liberty / Positive Liberty | The Invisible Dog Art Center, Brooklyn, NY | Mar 18 – Apr 18 — World premiere installation for one viewer at a time, inspired by Isaiah Berlin’s seminal lecture - Two Concepts of Liberty. Created in the intimate aftermath of the pandemic, the work distilled Berlin’s political philosophy into an experiential encounter, asking audiences to consider the boundaries between freedom from authority and freedom to act.

Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley (Workshop) | Women’s National Republican Club, Manhattan | Oct 13 — A development workshop with a live audience at a venue where Buckley himself once spoke. This workshop marked an early step in bringing the 1965 Cambridge Union debate to the stage, testing the format that would define the project moving forward.

Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley (NYC Premiere) | South Oxford Space, Brooklyn, NY | Mar 5 – Apr 3 — New York Premiere staging of the 1965 debate. (Highlighted as “Highbrow/Brilliant” on NYMag’s Approval Matrix).

Shooting Celebrities | The Flea Theater, NYC | Apr 23 – May 22 — A World premiere of John Ransom Phillips’ surreal meditation on fame. A hallucinatory portrait of America’s obsession with celebrity, the work confronted how spectacle, power, and image shape the nation’s identity.

Piedmont Blues: A Search for Salvation | Harlem Stage, NYC | Jun 22–23 — Harlem premiere of Gerald Clayton’s multimedia collaboration with Christopher McElroen, weaving live music, film, and archival imagery to explore race and resilience in the American South.

Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley (NYC Tour) | Old Stone House, Brooklyn | Oct; Queens Theatre, Queens | Nov — the american vicarious launches a five-borough NYC tour, bringing Baldwin and Buckley into diverse civic spaces and underscoring the debate’s enduring resonance.

Far From the Nile | Cairo International Film Festival | Nov — World premiere of Sherief Elkatsha’s feature documentary following 12 musicians from seven Nile Basin countries on a 100-day U.S. tour. Winner of Best Non-Fiction Feature Film.

America at War (Project Pitch) | Jan 26 — Artist Neal Wilkinson pitches an idea for a new project exploring America through the lens of conflict and gamification. This early concept, titled America at War, evolves into what becomes Fight for America!

Negative Liberty / Positive Liberty (International Premiere) | The Performance Arcade, Wellington, NZ | Feb 22–26 — International premiere of the one-viewer installation inspired by Isaiah Berlin’s lecture, staged as part of Wellington’s major waterfront arts festival.

Far From the Nile (Screenings):

• Stiftelsen Festivalkontoret, Norway | Mar

• AFI Silver Theatre & Cultural Center, Washington, DC | Mar

• IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Netherlands | Apr

• Arab Film Festival, Djerba, Tunisia | Jun

• ROMAFRICA Film Festival, Rome, Italy | Jul

• Tripoli Film Festival, Lebanon | Sept

• Rotterdam Arab Film Festival | Sept

• Arabisches Film Festival, Stuttgart, Germany | Oct

• Melkweg, Amsterdam | Dec

• DCTV Firehouse, NYC | Dec

Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley (NYC Tour) | Harlem Stage, Manhattan | Mar; Staten Island, Newhouse Center | Mar; Bronx River Arts Center | May — NYC 5 borough tour continues with engagements in Harlem, The Bronx, and Staten Island.

Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley (London Premiere) | Stone Nest, London, UK | Apr 15 – May 15 — A five-week engagement marking the project’s international premiere. Performed in the round in the heart of London’s West End, the work was acclaimed by The Guardian, The Times,and The Observer, praised for its rigor, urgency, and resonance with contemporary politics.

Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley (Special Performances)

• Cambridge Union, Cambridge, UK | Oct 24–25 — Performed at the site of the original 1965 debate between Baldwin and Buckley.

• Bristol Old Vic, UK | Oct 22 — Historic engagement at one of the oldest continuously operating theatres in the English-speaking world.

Fight for America! (First Workshop) | the american vicarious, Brooklyn, NY | Dec 7 — The very first workshop of the project, marking the launch of its development process.

Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley (U.S. Southern Tour) | UTC Fine Arts Center, Chattanooga, TN | Feb 22–24; Charleston Literary Festival, SC | Nov 4 — Debate extends its reach into the American South with engagements in Tennessee and South Carolina.

Fight for America! (Workshops)

• Painting Begins | Apr — The process of painting 10,000 28mm miniatures for Fight for America! begins, enlisting artists, volunteers, and collaborators across the U.S.

• the american vicarious, Brooklyn, NY | Apr 13–14

• Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY | Apr 15 & 17

• the american vicarious, Brooklyn, NY | Aug 7

• Serious Play Conference, Toronto, CA | Aug 13 — First international presentation, introducing the project to the serious games community.

• River Horse, Nottingham, UK | Aug 23–26 — First UK workshop with game designer Alessio Cavatore.

Our American Queen (World Premiere) | The Flea Theater, NYC | Jun 11–29 — World premiere of a new play exploring Kate Chase and the limits of women’s power in 19th-century America.

Far From the Nile (Screenings)

• Teachers College, Columbia University, NYC | Nov

• ADIFF New York City, Cinema Village | Dec — Continuing the film’s international festival run with New York presentations in academic and independent cinema contexts.

Fight for America! (Workshop) | the american vicarious, Brooklyn, NY | Jan 24–26 — The first at-scale realization of the project, featuring more than 10,000 hand-painted miniatures, a 1:64 model of the U.S. Capitol, and live participatory gameplay. This workshop tested the mechanics of the mega-game installation and proved the concept’s impact, as highlighted in NPR’s coverage of the event.

Far From the Nile (Screenings):

• Florida Middle East Film Festival | Jan

• Portland Annual Cascade Festival of African Films | Feb

Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley (Tour)

• TimeLine Theatre, Chicago, IL | Jan 29 – Mar 2 — Marking the project’s fifth year of exploration into civic dialogue and the American dream.

• Ebony Repertory Theatre, Los Angeles, CA | May 1–11 — West Coast premiere.

• University of Florida, Gainesville, FL | Nov 6–7 — Further extending the tour into public university settings.

Fight for America! (World Premiere) | Stone Nest, London, UK | Jun 11 – Jul 7 — Returning to Stone Nest after the London premiere of Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley, the american vicarious unveiled its most ambitious work to date: a participatory tabletop mega-game installation dramatizing January 6, 2021. Staged at scale with thousands of hand-painted miniatures and a 15-foot model of the U.S. Capitol, the work was covered by The Washington Post, Slate, The Observer, and CNN.

Doctor Quarter (Workshop)— London, UK | September – In development: a new play examining authority and morality through the lens of Nietzsche’s concept of the Übermensch.

Chambers vs. Hiss (Reading) — NYC | October – In development: a dramatic retelling of the Hiss–Chambers case, exploring ideology, truth, and loyalty in America.

Fight for America! (U.S. Premiere & Tour) | Details to be announced.