Founded in 2001, ArcheDream for HUMANKIND is an internationally touring blacklight mask and dance theatre company that explores universal ideas and emotions through original performances for audiences of all ages. Merging ancient ritual, magical storytelling, puppetry, mask theater, and music in black light, ADHK’s uniquely tailored performances and educational workshops inspire and enchant audiences of all ages. 

This company is the vision and voice of South African artist Alan Bell. Growing up in the age of Apartheid, he resolved to find an art form that would unify the radically divided audience in an ecstasy of wonder. In 1976, Alan fled to Amsterdam where he discovered the power of the tradition of mask theater to convey stories and unifying truths in a dreamlike and mythological way, resonating with the audiences subconscious perceptions and outward expressions. By combining the bold subtleties of mask theater with the medium of black light, Alan has discovered a method to bridge his African roots and inherited European and American culture to create archetypal theatre that transforms by relieving audiences of suppressed feelings that is at the root of our alienation from one another.