I used to consider myself a die-hard summer girlie – I’ve been lying to myself.
Summer’s “We outside” battlecry simply does not reach my ears (maybe it’s age, maybe its climate change) because I am so deeply INSIDE. For me, the theatre offers a sacred equilibrium between my beloved inside and the outside; a third space for fall girlies who yearn to be homebodies but acknowledge the need to interact with the outside world because season depression is real. There’s something about the red velvet curtains and seats and the warm, sconced lighting that feels grandiose yet intimate at the same time, like a really fancy but well lived-in living room–or salon if you will. Hearing the tide of hushed whispers of inside voices flood the room and then ebb away as the lights dim and the show begins, is my version of crunchy autumn leaves underfoot – magical.
We’re now ringing in six months of Live Cultures as well as our fourth(!) theatre field trip this week. I’m so grateful to be able to share and welcome you into what I consider the best season for theatre. So don’t cry that summer’s over, smile because autumn’s here and so is theatre season.
A NOTE TO THE READER:
I know my birthday was 1 month ago, but as a belated birthday present, I ask that you, dear reader, share this newsletter with just 1 friend and maybe even take them on a theatre date to one of the shows recommended below. I aim to curate my monthly picks to highlights emerging, experimental and underrepresented stories because I believe that just like a healthy gut, creative ecosystems need diversity. When you support these productions, institutions take note. Additionally, I want to encourage people to break away from the visual content firehose that is the internet and find new sources of inspiration as you engage all your senses with live experiences. Consider Live Cultures like probiotics, but for your cultural enrichment. You’re welcome.
In a happy coincidence, there’s A LOT of good BLACK theatre going on this month (and it’s not even Black History Month ✊🏽), so get your tickets and encourage these theatres to keep up the good work 😉.
Inspired by the young Egyptians who took to the streets amidst the throes of the Arab Spring, We Live in Cairo follows six student activists using their street art, photography and song to overthrow a regime older than they are. The musical journeys from the jubilation of the Tahrir Square protests through the aftermath of the years that followed. As escalating division and violence lead to a military crackdown, the young revolutionaries of Cairo must weigh the cost of how—or even whether—to keep their dreams of change alive. There is also a packed schedule of pre-and post show community programming throughout the course of the run.
Led by Thomas Wilkins, the NY Phil performs works by Black composers spanning nearly a century including Carlos Simon’s Four Black American Dances paying homage to the wide range of Black American dance traditions; Nathalie Joachim’s newly-penned cello concerto written for Seth Parker Woods honouring the transformation of African fashion; driving rhythms of David Baker’s Kosbro and William Grant Still's Autochthonous Symphony, which portrays, “the fusion of musical cultures in North America.”
Helmed by a writing collective of 21 artists ranging in age from 28 through 98, Reconstructing (Still Working but the Devil Might Be Inside) is a new work from Brooklyn-based theatre collective the TEAM. Exploring intimacy between Black-, POC-, and white-identifying Americans, this singular meta-theatre experiment wrestles with the question of how, in the aftermath of slavery, we might move through history together.
30 years after its premiere at Next Wave 1994, the groundbreaking and then-highly controversial multimedia dance theatre work by Bill T. Jones returns to the opera house stage. Created during the AIDS epidemic, Still/Here breaks boundaries between the personal and the political, exemplifying a form of dance theatre that is uniquely American. At the heart of the piece are “survival workshops” which Jones conducted across the country with people living with life-threatening illness. The participants are the essence of the piece: their gestures inform the choreography, their words the lyrics, their images the stage; they will always be Still/Here, and this work exists to honour their strength.
I cannot wait to see some of you this week at The Joyce for Botis Seva and Far from the Norm’s BLKDOG. For those who can’t make it, be sure to check out Seva’s work and process (including his dance films *chef’s kiss*) here , here and here.
Stay cultured <3
P.S. If you’re new here, be sure to subscribe to stay in the loop about upcoming theatre trips, performance listings and reflections. Subscribe button attached below for your convenience :)
