By 9/11 Toronto actor Darren O’Donnell was already fed up with the political limitations of traditional representational theater. So, after the 2003 northeast blackout, when he saw the disparate residents of his neighborhood come together in something of a utopian moment, he set out to find a new approach to making art, one that stimulates civic engagement. He calls his method “social acupuncture”—structured moments that break down boundaries between performer and audience.
