400 Years of Inequity and Protest
Presented by La MaMa
A response to and reflection on the 400 years since the British founding of Jamestown through historical text, poetry, music and dance.
Photo Credit: Casting the Vote courtesy of artists
RE:ENTRY – ACTORS PLAYING JAZZ
Saturday, October 12 at 7PM
Directed by Estelle Parsons
ReEntry: Actors Playing Jazz is a recreation about eight formerly incarcerated men that have come together after their release from prison to start a theater group to keep them on the straight and narrow. Each has developed a love of theater during their prison time. This is free form theatre which explores the various challenges of reentering society. It is about each man’s experience outside the walls, how they feel about being free and how they use their creative and theatrical work to transform their responses to society’s biases against them. ReEnry was developed at the Actor’s Studio in New York, under the direction of Estelle. The actors, all members of the Actors Studio, have numerous stage, TV, and film credits.
HISTORY/OURSTORY
Sunday, October 13 at 3PM
Directed by James E. Reynolds
James Reynolds (guest curator), in collaboration with Kyle Dacuyan (Executive Director, Poetry Project) and La MaMa’s Nicky Paraiso, creates a town hall-style presentation that weaves historical texts and responses to them from artists. In HISTORY/OURSTORY the intersection of texts, poetry, dance and song will allow the expressions of those left out of the telling of America’s past to rightfully reframe the telling of the history of this country and to emphasize that all people have stories to tell because all of our lives are impacted by the events of the past 400 years. HISTORY/OURSTORY endeavors to breach the narrow parameters of what is traditionally considered “American history” and to privilege the voices and experiences of those who are seldom welcomed to the table of historic significance.
REFLECTIONS OF HISTORY
Monday, October 14 at 7:30PM
Curated by Levern Williams
Poetry Electric: Reflections of History features Levern Williams with SENIORS representing the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, through songs of struggle and poems, spoken words of Langston Hughes. The special evening will celebrate the African Americans’ struggle in America over the past 400 years, yet our existence exceeds 400 years. We invite all seniors, families, clergy, politicians and leaders to join us!
CASTING THE VOTE
Wednesday, October 16 at 7PM
Featuring Impact Repertory Theater
Created in collaboration by director Charlotte Brathwaite, journalist and filmmaker June Cross, dramaturg Sunder Ganglani, writer Janani Balasubramanian and composer Justin Hicks. A dinner, a party, a call to action, a gathering. A survival guide for troubling times Casting the Vote: A Call To A Count examines our future and how we can count on one another in the struggle for democracy, justice, and a more perfect union.