Roulette is proud to present the world premiere of Joseph C. Phillips’s mono-opera The Grey Land, which explores themes of humanity and identity in relation to race, class, and power through the lens of a black mother’s experiences navigating American society with her son. The Grey Land ruminates on longstanding systemic societal, economic, and cultural issues exemplified by the recent spate of police shootings and subsequent protests, and how they have become part of a wider public consciousness. Phillips integrates a variety of writings, film, dance, as well as dramatic elements in order to advance a non-traditional narrative that embraces the social multitudes and “dichotomies of high and low, inside and outside, tradition and innovation” within black culture. The piece features 28-piece orchestral ensemble Numinous, as well as soprano Rebecca L. Hargrove, choreography by Edisa Weeks, and film and video work by Malik Isasis & Xuan Zhang.