April 3, 2024
For immediate release

Kyndra Gedney: (760) 397-5984 [email protected]

Behind the Mask with Kassandra Productions

Calendar Editors Please Note
Who: Kassandra Productions (Denmark)
What: The Soul Catcher: Unmasking the Modern Predator
Where: Mission Cultural Center, 2868 Mission St. SF, CA 94110
Date & Time: Wed May 1 & Fri May 3 at 8:00 PM, Sat May 4 at 2:00 PM
Tickets: $25 - $28 general admission.
Advance Tickets Available Through May 1, 2024
Box Office and Information: https://www.sfiaf.org or 415-399-9554.

Photos Available on Request

April 3, 2024, San Francisco: In a world filled with captivating beauty and undeniable wonder, there is something dark and sinister lurking in the shadows of this brightness. In an effort to explore what resides in the shadows, the San Francisco International Arts Festival presents Kassandra Production (Denmark), and the U.S. premiere of their latest work, The Soul Catcher: Unmasking the Modern Predator. 

Annika Lewis, artistic director and choreographer of The Soul Catcher, has seen the face of evil — and lives to tell the tale. 

The Soul Catcher, a daring and evocative performance which parallels Lewis’s lived experience, asks us to look behind the mask and delve into the depths of psychological abuse, manipulation, and power dynamics in relationships. Through a mesmerizing blend of performance art, dance, spoken word, and original electronic music, this production unveils the hidden mechanisms at play within abusive relationships.

With a piercing focus on Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), The Soul Catcher exposes the toxic traits of individuals lacking empathy, consumed by self-absorption, and adept at distorting reality. It navigates the treacherous terrain of love bombing, gaslighting, and pity play, where victims are reduced to emotional fodder for insatiable egos.

Through its seductive yet deeply disturbing narrative, The Soul Catcher confronts audiences with the stark realities of psychological manipulation, urging introspection and sparking conversations about the complexities of power and control in relationships.

As a performance, The Soul Catcher isn’t your typical theater production. Three performers, swapping roles throughout, engage the audience; the performance itself becomes an abusive relationship personified, built as a living, breathing thing that goes through various phases of emotional and psychological violence.

“We are seducing the audience in the beginning,” Lewis explains. “Then we become abusive — not very much,” she adds quickly, “and then we discard them. We are moving through what they call the abuse cycle, using that as dramaturgy for the performance.”

As an audience, you don’t know what’s up or down, what’s right or wrong, who is good or evil. Because that’s what you experience in a relationship like this. All of the lines become blurred.

The Soul Catcher promises to take audiences on a psychological journey by asking them to reflect on the oftentimes hidden realm of power dynamics in relationships and shed light on the emotional damage they can have on individuals. 

The Soul Catcher will be kicking off the festival on Wednesday, May 1st at 8:00 PM at the Mission Cultural Center, with two additional performances on Friday, May 3rd at 8:00 PM and Saturday, May 4th at 2:00 PM. 

Photos Available on Request