Dahlak from REDCAT on Vimeo.

A young African American man is stopped by the police without clear cause. Again and again and again. The 10th stop leads to entanglements with the courts, jail, and attorneys with potentially life-changing results. Dahlak Brathwaite’s incisive humor and poetic wisdom transforms this chilling personal story into a vivid theatrical event in collaboration with celebrated DJ Dion Decibels and gifted directors Marc Bamuthi Joseph and Sean San Jose.

A virtuosic and timely exploration of the criminal justice system, Spiritrials chronicles the journey of Dahlak’s own criminalization along with his struggle to be vindicated and decriminalized in the eyes of the law and society. The piece works through the personal shame of criminal stigmatization to examine the factors — both internal and external — that have misplaced him in what appears to be a cultural rite of passage.