The Negro Ensemble Co, Inc. proudly presents a photograph, lovers in motion by Ntozake Shange adapted and directed by Ifa Bayeza Thursdays thru Sundays, February 7-29, 2020 Theatre 80 St. Marks 80 St. Marks Place New York New York 10003
My dear friends,
Zake and I worked together three times: on the transformation of
for colored girls from her solo performance to the theatrical masterpiece, on our co-authored novel
Some Sing, Some Cry, and on the reimagining of a photograph, lovers in motion, a play where she experiements with integrating the heightened language of poetry with dialogue.
When NEC asked her for a work to produce in 2014,
she was at a low point, recovering from a series of illnesses. “Give
them a surprise,” I said, “Let’s work on something you’ve already got
going, but could use a little ‘tlc.'” At the time,
she couldn’t hold a pen. “Then, tell me the story.” This began our
redraft over that winter, culminating in a concert reading in the spring
of 2015. In 2019, NEC was one of 66 organizations that received a grant
from the City of New York Mayor’s Office of
Media and Entertainment’s “Made in NY” Women’s Film, TV and Theatre
Fund, allowing the company to produce the work in full.
In this new incarnation, the play centers around
the female character michael, who is now not simply a dancer, but a
poet/dancer. Like its precursor
for colored girls, the play explores the journey of young
womanhood and chronicles Shange’s years in San Francisco prior to her
departure for New York and theatre history.
I am so excited about our amazing ensemble! My only
regret is that Zake is not here to work on the project with me and see
this new adaptation unfold. Join me in celebrating her magnificent voice
and vision as I make my directing debut.
Openng Night is February 7th. Valentine’s Day is a two-for-one special!
Reading of ALABASTER, by Audrey Cefaly, at the Everyman Theatre on December 9, 2019, part of a Salon Series Reading of ALABASTER at the theatre in Baltimore, MD. Directed by Beth Hylton.
Written by Judy Gold and Kate Moira Ryan Directed by Karen Kohlhaas Performed by Judy Gold November 29 – December 15, 2019
Part memoir and part stand-up routine, this hilarious and affecting play breaks down just what makes Jewish mothers so lamentable, laughable, and lovable. In 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother, comedian Judy Gold and playwright Kate Moira Ryan seamlessly weave actual interviews with Jewish mothers across the United States together with memories from Gold’s childhood and her own experiences as a Jewish mother in order to create a performance piece that explores it all: from rugelach to rabbis, matzoh to marriage, Ann Landers to Anne Frank, and guilt to G-D. Judy is a Primary Stages ESPA Instructor and 2019 Einhorn Mentorship Award recipient.
Shadows-on-the-Teche held a community writing workshop Saturday that gave a sneak preview of the dramatic work “First Light.”
Led by Ifa Bayeza, who had previously worked on “Bunk Johnson Out of the Shadows!,” a production presented by Shadows-on-theTeche, the work took place at the Shadows Visitors Center with a full room of interested attendees.
Bayeza was chosen
by the National Trust for Historic Preservation to present a play about
New Iberia jazz trumpeter Bunk Johnson, and was chosen again for “First
Light.”
The piece is part of a
larger effort called “Telling the Full History,” which will be released
next year. The work was filled with people involved in the workshop who
took part in the dramatic piece.
The big news of the day, delivered to your inbox every weekday and Sunday afternoon. This comes with the Weekly Wrap, a curated digest of stories delivered Friday evenings.
“First
Light” presents African-American experiences in New Iberia, from its
African, Native American and European roots to the Civil Rights
Movement.
Participants in the
workshop included Charles Porter, Kelly Porter, Elton Broussard Jr.
Jackie Reedom, Mary Margaret Bell and Phebe Hayes. The hour-long event
Saturday was presented in five movements.
“Telling the Full History” showcases homegrown talent and the traditions, cultural impact and history of New Iberia’s black neighborhoods and families in an original performance to be presented in September 2020 at The Shadows.
The full article available by Corey Vaughn from the Daily Iberian here.
Not far from where playwright Patricia Cotter lives in the Castro District, a bronze plaque in the sidewalk reads: “1953: Lesbian couple Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon move into their first home together in San Francisco on Castro Street. They help establish the Daughters of Bilitis, the first national lesbian rights organization, in 1955.”
Just a few blocks away, on 19th Street, is where the Lexington Club,
affectionately known as the Lex, served cheap drinks from 1997 to 2015,
when its closure marked the end of the last lesbian bar in San
Francisco.
These two chapters of local lesbian history comprise the two acts of
“The Daughters,” Cotter’s comedy whose San Francisco Playhouse Sandbox
Series world premiere runs through Nov. 2 at the Creativity Theater. The
Chronicle met with Cotter at Spike’s Coffee and Teas, also on 19th
Street, to talk about the arc of history she traces in the show.
Q: What was the initial impulse behind “The Daughters”?
A: I think it was really at the closing of the Lex,
which, honestly, wasn’t my bar. I had come to San Francisco later, so by
the time I got here that wasn’t my coming up and coming out, going to
the Lex. But it seemed like an icon leaving, its closing.
Q: What gave you that feeling?
A: It was a lot of women I know really grieving that
it was closing. And then it’s like, “When was the last time you were
there?” “Seven years ago, eight years ago.” … So if we’re not going —
but then also the question, “Do we need it? Do we need a lesbian bar?”
Because any bar can be a lesbian bar; it doesn’t specifically have to be
one. But there’s something lost when you know this is the place where
you’re going to be welcome.
I would have people in this neighborhood say to me, travelers,
“Where’s the closest lesbian bar?” There isn’t one. Actually, there’s
tons of queer bars, but (not one) specifically where you know it’s your
place, where it’s created for you.
I think when (the Lex) closed, it got me thinking about lesbian
history. I hadn’t really seen my history anywhere. I knew about Phyllis
and Del. (They were the first legally married same-sex couple in
California in both 2004 and 2008.) The play isn’t at all a biography of
Phyllis and Del. It’s more of a tribute to the women who changed the
world — in a room, at a party.
I was just so impressed with the risks they took. The women who
started the Daughters were so different from each other. That’s all they
had in common: that they were gay, that they wanted to meet other gay
women, either to date or to just have friends, and they couldn’t do it
in bars. They could, but you’re in danger of getting arrested. You’re in
danger of a raid. There were tons of tourists at that time who would
just come and stare at people.
We had a party for the Daughters, trying to get the word out (about
the show). My friends threw it at their house, and there were tons of
lesbians and straight people and gay guys. It was just a party, and I
thought, “Oh, 60 years ago this was transgressive — to gather in
someone’s home.”
It is specifically my history, but I’m kind of embarrassed by how little I knew about it.
Q: How much did you know before you wrote?
A: I think my knowledge was like 25%. I interviewed a
ton of different lesbians … younger lesbians, older lesbians, women my
age, and, for the second act, trans men, to get a point of view that
felt accurate and honest.
Q: What surprised you from the research?
A: The women in this group were teachers, government
workers, so they really had everything to lose by coming out. If you
got arrested, they put your name in the paper, they put your address in
the paper, your place of work — that’s everything. That’s one of the
things we’ve been working on in the production — to create that sense of
danger in the room, like the danger of getting into the room and the
danger of leaving the room. Then you get this break when you’re in the
physical space.
You’re taking a big risk. I think that was partly one of the things I
learned as well: what a need it is to be yourself and have an honest,
authentic representation of who you are. How much courage it would take
to make that happen and then invite people into your home! It takes
courage to go, but they didn’t know who would show up. They had no idea.
Q: And what did you learn from your interviews?
A: For young women, the relationship to the word
“lesbian.” Some women were very much like, “I don’t need it. I don’t
like it. It doesn’t make sense for me.” Other young women still really
wanted to claim it, saw value to it.
Q:What’s your own feeling about the word, for yourself?
A: I like it. It’s never been unappealing to me. My
whole feeling about words in general — and that’s basically what the
second act is about — is the idea of “you tell me.” Whatever works for
you, I want to include. At a certain point, we needed a word to identify
each other and find each other. Now what if we don’t need that word any
more? But what if you want it?
I’m excited by the changing of language, and I’m excited to
incorporate that in my life. I don’t understand a resistance to it. To
me, if “lesbian” goes away, which it seems like maybe someday it will, I
will miss it. I will grieve it. But if that’s the natural way we’re
moving, if that’s where momentum is taking us … .
Q: What do you think of a San Francisco that doesn’t have a bar dedicated to lesbians?
A: I can’t believe it. If there were no gay male
bars — Look at my neighborhood! That’s all there is! — it would be front
page news. (The Lex) got a little coverage, but not that much.
Q: For the two groups of women from the two different eras in
your play, in what ways are their concerns the same, and in what ways
have they evolved?
A: Jessica (Holt, the show’s director) has been
helping me find the thread, where they connect. The idea in the first
act — they’re trying to claim their space. In the second act, they’re
losing that space. In just the space of 60 years — that’s not a lot of
time to have your space, experience your space and then, “Wait! It’s
gone already! It’s gone so fast!”
Also, in the first act, they’re trying to, “If we want to be
ourselves, we have to change. We have to be presentable, and we have to
not scare the outside world.” In the second act, it’s more, “We are part
of the outside world. We don’t need to worry about that anymore, which
is why we don’t need this space.”
And then there are the simple connections of wanting to be in love
and wanting to find your person and wanting to have fun — and then the
other thing is not wanting to talk about politics, but there’s someone
saying, “You know what, guys, it is political.” … Even though in the
first act and the second act there’s this thing of “Oh my god, can we
just have a good time?” it’s like, “Yes, we can, but somebody has to be
the person going, ‘Hold up. We have to take this seriously.’”
“The Daughters”: Written by Patricia Cotter. Directed by Jessica Holt. Through Nov. 2. $30-$40. Creativity Theater, 221 Fourth St., S.F. 415-677-9596. www.sfplayhouse.org
Article by Lily Janiak for the San Francisco Chronicle. Link here.