Good Ancestors

A Host of People has committed to a thematic exploration of what it means to be “Good Ancestors” through 2028. More than ever, as we face climate catastrophe and growing divisions among humankind, we seek to look outside of ourselves and our lifetimes to deeply consider the lives of our descendants from, we hope, far future generations. The following are the main centerpiece productions

‍ ‍Good Ancestors: Peregrina premiered 2024 ‍ ‍Good Ancestors: Shining Cities (will premiere in Fall 2026) Good Ancestors: Life Lines (will premiere in 2028)

More information on the upcoming productions below.

Good Ancestors: Shining Cities

Rehearsal photo Spring 2026

Shining Cities asks: What does it mean to be a good ancestor? How do cities shape our legacies? How can we reckon with the deep injustices of urban planning while keeping space for the myriad ways cities enrich our lives—the celebration of joy, connection, and imagination?

Set in a sculptural environment of miniature cities and dynamic projection, Good Ancestors: Shining Cities is a new devised performance that draws on architecture, urban theory, and speculative fiction to rethink the urban experience—past, present, and future. The piece features one live performer, The Operator, who manipulates a shifting table-top cityscape while interacting with seven on-screen performers: the Ministers of the Past—representatives from different future generations. These projected visitors plead with us to imagine new ways of building and living in cities to prevent collapse and preserve life, by naming some of humanity’s greatest achievements and failures in city planning, across time and geography.

Shining Cities asks: What does it mean to be a good ancestor? How do cities shape our legacies? How can we reckon with the deep injustices of urban planning while keeping space for the myriad ways cities enrich our lives—the celebration of joy, connection, and imagination?

Good Ancestors: Life Lines

Image from Good Ancestors: Life Lines performance experiment at Cleveland Public Theatre’s SoftLaunch Festival January 2026. Photo by Emanuel Wallace

Good Ancestors: Life Lines is a show in development that aims to make visible the invisible lines that connect us all. Through various modes of conversation with the audience, this multimedia performance investigates the connections, lineage, and influence we have on the people we meet throughout our lives and how they shape us.