LA EVENTS: Radar LA

Radar LA is an international festival of contemporary theater produced by REDCAT in collaboration with Center Theatre Group and The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival (New York).

Three of the shows are geared toward Black interests, all of them unique and showcasing a different side of the Black experience:

RADAR L.A. FESTIVAL

LOS ANGELES POVERTY DEPARTMENT: STATE OF INCARCERATION

Los Angeles

Scared Straight! has nothing on this often compelling piece of political theater.” —LA Weekly

In a performance space filled wall-to-wall with prison bunk beds, performers and audience share overcrowded conditions akin to a California state prison for the latest work from Los Angeles Poverty Department (LAPD). One-third of the state’s parolees settle in the 55 square blocks of Los Angeles known as Skid Row, and State of Incarceration—developed collaboratively by LAPD’s Skid Row artists and in dialogue with organizers and recent parolees—powerfully examines the consequences of California’s penal system on individuals, families and communities. Outlining a ritual of incarceration from entry to release and re-integration, State of Incarceration constructs a complex challenge to the societal perceptions and fear-based policies of a nation with the highest rate of incarceration in the world.

Directed by Henriëtte Brouwers and John Malpede

RUN TIME: 90 minutes

State of Incarceration is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation Fund Project co-commissioned by Highways Performance Space in partnership with Tucson-Pima Arts Council, VSA Arts of New Mexico, The Queens Museum and NPN. The Creation Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information: www.npnweb.org

The History of in Carceration Project is a project of Creative Capital, which currently receives funding from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The TOBY Fund, The James Irvine Foundation, The Nathan Cummings Foundation, and more than 150 other individuals and institutional donors.

STEVE CONNELL AND SEKOU ANDREWS: THE WORD BEGINS

Los Angeles

“This cheerful two-man, spoken-word romp through territories expected (race relations) and unusual (dirty ideas for Hallmark cards) stars an adorable odd couple.” —Time Out New York

Mashing up spoken word, comedy and Hip-Hop, Steve Connell and Sekou Andrews deliver hyper-kinetic performances in this fresh new satire that examines the current American cultural landscape as it appears to a young white man and a young black man. Nominated for three Helen Hayes Awards, The Word Begins follows the journey of two men as they explore race, faith and morality in America—from the inner cities to the heartland. Throughout their compelling journey, Steve and Sekou move through a chaotic landscape as they attempt to come to terms with the realities of this American moment.

Written and Performed by Steve Connell and Sekou Andrews

Developed and Directed by Robert Egan

RUN TIME: 75 minutes

The Word Begins is co-produced by Hip-Hop Theater Festival through special arrangement with Prana Theatre Group and was originally produced at The Signature Theatre, Eric Schaeffer, Artistic Director, and was developed at the Ojai Playwrights Conference, Robert Egan, Artistic Director.

POMO AFRO HOMOS: FIERCE LOVE (REMIX)

San Francisco

“Uncompromisingly African American, uncompromisingly queer, and still remarkably universal.” —Chicago Reader

In 1991 the groundbreaking group Pomo Afro Homos premiered Fierce Love: Stories from Black Gay Life and secured their place in the history of queer performance. Through a series of savvy vignettes, the company brought a humor as fierce as the love they explored, creating a theatrical touchstone at the intersection of race and sexuality. Now, two decades after its premiere, writer-director-performer Brian Freeman remixes the Pomo’s original production with a talented new crew of performers, and the occasional riff on the current moment. But the Pomos’ indelible tales driven by clear and potent voices—from sad young men to signifying sissies to back-room roamers—remain as raucous and fresh as when they first took to the stage, enriched by new resonance and poignancy.

Directed by Brian Freeman
Text by Brian Freeman, Eric Gupton and DJola Branner
Performed by Thandiwe Thomas DeShazor, Brian Freeman, Dazié Rustin Grego and Rashad Pridgen

RUN TIME: 70 minutes

Fierce Love (Remix) is a National Performance Network (NPN) Re-Creation Fund Project sponsored by Theater Offensive in partnership with Dance Place, Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, REDCAT and NPN. The Re-Creation Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information: www.npnweb.org.

INFORMATION FOR ALL THREE SHOWS:

LOCATION: LATC: Theater 4

Los Angeles Theatre Center

514 South Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013 | Map

PARKING: $5–6 event parking at several locations off Main and 6th Streets.