Tag Archives: Under the Radar Festival

Queens of Sheba at Clarice Smith, Feb 2-4

Queens of Sheba at Clarice Smith, Feb 2-4

Queens of Sheba
by Jessica L. Hagan
In partnership with the Under the Radar Festival

Fri, Feb 2, 2024 . 8:00PM
Sat, Feb 3, 2024 . 8:00PM
Sun, Feb 4, 2024 . 3:00PM

Venue: Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

Presented by Nouveau Riche and Soho Theatre
Written by Jessica L. Hagan
Adapted by Ryan Calais Cameron
Directed by Jessica Kaliisa
Cast: Paisley Billings, Déja J Bowens, Jadesola Odunjo, Muki Zubis
Producer for Nouveau Riche: Sarah Verghese
Producers for Soho Theatre: David Luff and Maddie Wilson
Communications & Marketing: Yasmin Mehboob-Khan
Stage Manager: Marie Angelique St Hill
Vocal Coach: Theo Llewellyn

The four powerful Black women that form the beating heart of Jessica L. Hagan’s knowingly sharp and riotously funny choreopoem Queens of Sheba demand respect and, with every story told, they earn it. A spiritual successor to Ntozake Shange’s for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, Queens incisively calls out and lances the constellation of racist, sexist and colorist micro- and macro-aggressions that its characters encounter: the music and the misogyny, the dancing and the drinking, the women and, of course, the (white) men. Turned away from a nightclub for being “too Black”, the Queens navigate the minefields of misogynoir, seeking power among the songs of Tina Turner and Diana Ross and Aretha Franklin, finding elevation in sisterhood, sweet relief in the riot of laughter and the shedding of tears. Playful, intellectually rigorous, packed with righteous fury and genuine soul, Queens of Sheba is a unique meditation on Black Women’s identity, suffering and joy.

Tickets: $30, or $10 Students. Click here.

Inua Ellams: Search Party at Clarice Smith, Jan 26 & 27

Inua Ellams: Search Party at Clarice Smith, Jan 26 & 27

Inua Ellams: Search Party
In partnership with the Under the Radar Festival

Fri, Jan 26, 2024 . 7:00PM
Sat, Jan 27, 2024 . 7:00PM

Venue: Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

A man walks into a room with his life in his hands. He is the internationally acclaimed artist and playwright Inua Ellams (Barber Shop Chronicles, The Half God of Rainfall) and he has filled thousands of pages in an ongoing attempt to be heard, to give his genius wings that can travel. Every word he’s ever written is captured, all the poems and the theater and the essays, the drafts of projects abandoned and works as yet unknown, indexed, rendered as binary and waiting patiently within the confines of the electronic tablet he’s holding even now. Pick a word, any word. Prompted by audience suggestion and open conversation, Ellams searches through his archive, unearths refined or raw gold and presents his treasure in a spontaneous performance. Search Party is an act of call and response that hearkens back to the birth of storytelling. At this uniquely futuristic and puckishly chaotic interactive event, the artist couldn’t be more present. He’s inviting you to join the work. What do you say?

Tickets: $30 or $10 Students. Click here.