Category Archives: Drama

God Don’ Like Ugly at Venus Theatre, Mar 19-Apr 12

God Don’ Like Ugly at Venus Theatre, Mar 19-Apr 12

God Don’ Like Ugly at the Venus Theatre Play Shack, March 19 to April 12, 2015
by Doc Andersen Bloomfield
Venus Theatre World Premiere

Location: Venus Theatre Play Shack.

Opens March 19, 2015
Closes April 12, 2015
Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm; Saturdays and Sundays at 3:00pm.

Issues/themes: love; living with a mentally disabled child (the carer and the cared for); domestic violence; magic.

Parental Advisory: Adult themes.

Description: Esme loves to sing and dance, dressing up in costumes, performing her ‘Golden Oldies’ to an imaginary audience. Today is Esme’s 36th birthday and because she has the mental age of a seven year old, she still lives with her tired and overwhelmed mother, Bessie, (a Tarot reader) in a dilapidated old crumbling home, set in the rural South. Esme has a twin, not seen for quite awhile. Heartsick Bessie yearns for the twin, who’s ‘the okay one’ to come home to celebrate. This will never happen and only Esme seems to understand this. A stranger, on the run, named SJ, enters their small lives, seeking to hide from a violent partner. She encounters the extraordinary, both in the human beings who live there as well as their magic of simply ‘being’.

A realistic (but magical) tragicomedy set in America’s rural south, with intermittent Physical Theatre Scenes.

About the playwright: Doc currently writes with Oxford Playwrights and for Oxford Actors’ Network. Other past works in progress/rehearsed readings include: Women’s ‘Theatre Workshop (Oval; Finborough; Drill Hall; Soho in London). Doc is an American who has lived and written in Oxford, England, the last 28 years. She was one of the founding mothers of Women In Theatre, in Los Angeles.

Tickets $20. Buy here.

Opulence of Integrity at Joe’s Movement Emporium, Mar 8-9

Opulence of Integrity at Joe’s Movement Emporium, Mar 8-9

Opulence of Integrity at Joe’s Movement Emporium, March 8-9, 2015

Sunday, March 8, 2015 at 7pm
Monday, March 9, 2015 at 7pm

Location: Joe’s Movement Emporium

The Opulence of Integrity, a multimedia ensemble work inspired by the public life and inner searching of boxing’s outspoken superstar, Muhammad Ali. Inspired by Ali’s career as a boxer and life as a social activist, public martyr, and human being, choreographer Christal Brown deploys her eclectic movement vernacular to illustrate the turmoil of a life infused by divinity yet misinterpreted by humanity. By using Ali as an archetype, The Opulence of Integrity explores the homogeneous inner struggle for identity as it pertains to men of color in the United States. The Opulence of Integrity is an evening length work divided into four movements. Each movement is introduced by a chorus of narrators who use quotes from Ali to set the scene for each movement experience that follows. There is also an element of projection that lays the backdrop for the cultural and social energy of each time period. The musical score for the work was created by Zimbabwean composer Farai Malianga, whose contemporary take on the subject matter supports the choreography every step of the way. Lighting design by Nick Hung provides the audience with the feeling of watching history through the frames of old tattered photos while Aya Shibahara’s costuming infuses vibrancy and individualism into each character.

The performance is 1 hour in length with no intermission and a brief Q and A with the cast and choreographer will occur immediately following each performance.

Tickets: $25 adults, $18 students and seniors. Buy here.

Inquire about group rates for schools and educational institutions at Opulenceofintegrity@gmail.com

Rotis, Tortillas & Wonder Bread at Clarice Smith, Mar 3

Rotis, Tortillas & Wonder Bread at Clarice Smith, Mar 3

Rotis, Tortillas & Wonder Bread
March 3, 2015 at 7:30pm
A night of true stories about culture and identity

Venue: Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

Free, no tickets required. Cafritz Foundation Theatre, General Admission.

Description:

Six professional storytellers from SpeakeasyDC tell true stories about their lives, revealing the challenges, rebellions, and celebrations of being part of particular groups that have been pegged in American society as “other” and misunderstood — sometimes comically and sometimes tragically. Stories are expertly crafted and combine humor, honesty, and insight to create an unforgettable night of riveting entertainment.

Black Theatre Symposium: Artistic Housing at Clarice Smith, Feb 28 at 9am

Black Theatre Symposium: Artistic Housing at Clarice Smith, Feb 28 at 9am

Black Theatre Symposium
Saturday, February 28, 2015, all day

A day-long symposium on black theatre, including a performance of Artistic Housing by Seret Scott at 10:30am. Registration fee includes a ticket to the evening performance of Good Kids.

Venue: Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

Who are the exemplars of excellence in black theatre? Which institutions are successfully cultivating black theatre practitioners? How do we facilitate inclusion and diversity in the technical and administrative aspects of the field? How can black performers expand their artistry and marketability?

Theatre professionals, scholars, and students will convene to discuss and take action around these questions as we explore the expansion of of an inclusive presence and influence in the field of theatre.

Sessions will include panel discussions, workshops, a special performance of Seret Scott’s one-woman play, Artistic Housing.

One ticket to The School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies’ production of Good Kids is included with payment of the full registration fee. Students and volunteers participating in the symposium may purchase a ticket for $5.00.

Registration: $35
Free student tickets available February 9, 2015
Lunch and one ticket to the February 28 performance of Good Kids is included in registration fee.

Good Kids at Clarice Smith, Feb 27-Mar 7

Good Kids at Clarice Smith, Feb 27-Mar 7

Big Ten New Play Initiative: Good Kids
By Naomi Iizuka
February 28 – March 7, 2015
Director Seret Scott

Venue: Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

Fri, Feb 27, 2015 . 7:30PM
Sat, Feb 28, 2015 . 7:30PM
Sun, Mar 1, 2015 . 2:00PM
Wed, Mar 4, 2015 . 7:30PM
Thu, Mar 5, 2015 . 7:30PM
Fri, Mar 6, 2015 . 7:30PM
Sat, Mar 7, 2015 . 2:00PM
Sat, Mar 7, 2015 . 7:30PM

Tickets: Regular: $25, Student: $10. Kay Theatre, Reserved Seating.

Description: UMD has partnered with the Big Ten Conference schools to create a new playwriting and performance initiative. Known as the Big Ten Theatre Chairs, the group will commission, produce and publicize new plays in an effort to influence the national dialogue about women playwrights and aim to produce higher-caliber plays that are effective tools for teaching theatre students.

The program’s first commissioned work, Good Kids, is written by Naomi Iizuka, one of the nation’s most acclaimed young authors and head of playwriting at University of California, San Diego.

Good Kids explores a casual sexual encounter gone wrong, and its very public aftermath. Who is telling the truth? Whose version of the story do you believe? What does that say about you? This play responds to actual events that went on to generate a national dialogue.