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Animal Farm to Table: The Renegade Company Wants to Start a Conversation on How Food and Literature Impact the Community


  Food is an amazing concept. It fuels our bodies, gives us energy to take on the day and can flat-out taste incredible. The Renegade Company wants to start a conversation on how food and literature both effect our community.

  “Animal Farm to Table” is an installment that is taking your average interactive dinner theater to another level. The Artistic Director of The Renegade Company, Michael Durkin, has been thinking about this performance for the past two years and will finally make it a reality in September 2016. Durkin has built a relationship with local businesses and companies to help bring a conversation to the community about food.

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/Photography by Daniel Kontz

  “We work on creating an environment where we can reflect and share what we are going through in our lives, in social media and internationally,” Durkin says.

  Durkin enjoys figuring out how classic books, movies and plays are interpreted or brought into our city. He has been doing this with The Renegade Company he created in 2009 with past performances of “Damned Dirty Apes!”, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame…A Mute Play” and “Bathtub Moby-Dick.” This specific performance is nothing different from what he is known for creating. Durkin wants to research the connection between “Animal Farm” by George Orwell and what people think about their food; he plans to do so with the help of the community.

  “Food is the most important part of our lives,” Durkin said. “It connects us, separates us, nourishes us; we even sometimes fight over it.”

animal_farm_to_table_2

/Photography by Daniel Kontz

  Those who come to the event will be walking through Urban Creators’ Farm (2315 North 11th St.) — a grassroots organization that helps transform inner-city neighborhoods to become safe spaces that were once neglected. As the show concludes, the guests will be making their own vegetarian dinners with the food picked in the garden.

  “We have been meeting with different organizations east of Broad and west of Broad to talk about where they see the city going in terms of food,” Durkin says. “The audience is very involved in the production and it’s very interactive.”

  One of The Renegade Company’s main goals is to engage all five senses and spark an organic discussion that otherwise would not have happened. The people of the community can be involved in this dinner theater by coming to Urban Creator’s Farm on one of the following dates:

  • Preview – Wednesday, September 7th (6:00PM)
  • Opening – Thursday, September 8th (6:00PM)
  • Friday, September 9th (6:00PM)
  • Saturday, September 10th (6:00PM)
  • Sunday, September 11th (3PM)
  • Monday, September 12th (6:00PM)
  • Thursday, September 15th (6:00PM)
  • Friday, September 16th (6:00PM)
  • Saturday, September 17th (6:00PM)
  • Closing – Sunday, September 18th (6:00PM)
animal_farm_to_table_1

/Photography by Daniel Kontz

  If you plan on attending and have any dietary restrictions, you are asked to email them to info@therenegadecompany.org. You may purchase tickets at http://fringearts.com/event/animal-farm-table/

  Tickets are $20 and there are discounts for seniors, teachers, students and people of the industry. If you are a resident of North Philadelphia, you are able to pay what you wish at the box office.

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