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Archive for the 'Work' Category

Naked Stages

Published
by
Sharon Bridgforth
on August 19, 2008
in Community, Family, Inspiration, Joy and Work
. 0 Comments

I’m just back from a fabulous few days of Inspiration/hard work and fun working with the Naked Stages Series in Minneapolis, MN curated by the one and only Laurie Carlos assisted by Molly Van Avery.

May Lee Yang, Beverly Cottman, Juma B Essie and Byrd Shuler have been working with Naked Stages since January 2008. They are each creating a new work which will show in October 2008 at Intermedia Arts. I was invited in to do a workshop intensive/and I was able to be present for a non-public showing that they did for each other and their directors. THEY ARE OFF DA CHAIN!!

I ate WELL!! Felt Loved and beautifully cared for. And I got to ride in da car with my big sista Laurie. Kim Thompson drove us around town in her fly vehicle.

And I got to hang out with phenomenal actor Sonja Parks (former root wy’mn company member)
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dandi in NYC

Published
by
Sharon Bridgforth
on August 10, 2008
in Community, Family, Inspiration, Joy and Work
. 0 Comments

Check out these photos by Sabelo Narasimhan from the delta dandi staged reading
that Freedom Train Productions produced 8/6 & 8/7 2008…

I am extremely Grateful to the cast: *Maisha Azadi, Courtney D. Ellis, *Denise Lock, and Andre St Clair Thompson/to the Freedom Train family/to the community that supported - nurtured - and showed up for us!! I learned so much - about how to move the Work forward/about Joy and community….THANK YOU EVERYBODY!! Next up on da Train: Harrison David Rivers & Aurin Squire’s…For info go to: freedomtrainproductions.org
*Appears courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association

P.S. Did you see all those supastars in the audience?
P.S.S. Austin, TX was representn in da house ya’ll.

Podemos Con Obama

Published
by
Sharon Bridgforth
on July 30, 2008
in Community, Family, Inspiration, Joy and Work
. 1 Comment


Barack Obama

delta is delta ain’t

Published
by
Sharon Bridgforth
on July 29, 2008
in Work
. 0 Comments

Well ya’ll
I thought I was writing a Sacred Concert/a big ole sonic Celebration of African-American culture and whatnot…but that is not what wanted to be written…below is what I currently know about my new piece delta dandi….come to the staged reading if you are in NYC 8/6 & 8/7…My publisher, Lisa C. Moore ( RedBone Press is going to facilitate the 8/6 talk back. For more on that go to: freedomtrainproductions.org

delta dandi is a Conjure. A weave of monologues, chants, choral tellings, blood memory and song delta dandi asks “How does collective grief and trauma inform the African American experience?” delta dandi invokes the Transmigration of a Spirit’s journey as she walks towards Transformation and Love….

i don’t know how to die so i just go along. carry all these things. all these things. till once in the black/blue of day i jump. i jump where the waters meet. i jump. cold cold cut me. i jump. pray/carry me to the ocean. please. maybe i find my mama there. i jump. go under. come up. go under. come up. jump. jump. jump. can’t float down. the water won’t take me. again again again i jumping till look see. there right there a woman tall tall naked and shining in the water stand smile smiling down at me in the water. i run out. run stand under giant tree with weeping arms. look through bending branches. still still. no breathing. can’t move. can’t turn head. can’t close eyes. no look away. the woman tall tall naked and shining in the water stand. stop laughing. stare. stare. stare. stare telling me something
i don’t know what……. delta dandi Copyright (c) 2008 Sharon Bridgforth

Fire! New Play Festival

Published
by
Sharon Bridgforth
on July 15, 2008
in Community, Family, Inspiration, Joy and Work
. 1 Comment

The very first public reading of my new theatre piece delta dandi
is a part of Freedom Train Productions! Fire! New Play Festival
I am soooo proud/and excited…

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Wednesdays and Thursdays in August, 7pm
South Oxford Space
138 South Oxford Street in Ft Greene, BK
All performances are free, open to the public
+ Artists Q&As after each performance!

Fire! New Play Festival 2008 showcases new political theatre featuring Black Queer protagonists. The work collectively covers a spectrum of human struggle and culture.

Sharon Bridgforth’s delta dandi is about a Black blues/Conjure woman musician traveling with a jazz band in the 1940’s at the height of the birth of modern jazz. Harrison David Rivers’ intelligent + humorous new work explores color perception and privilege. And Aurin Squire bravely presents a personal drama of overcoming sex addiction inside a sex-phobic U.S. society and within a sex-positive queer community.

AUGUST 6-7, 2008 @ 7PM:
delta dandi*
by Sharon Bridgforth
Music heals.

Featuring: *Maisha Azadi, Courtney D. Ellis, *Denise Lock, Andre St Clair Thompson
*Appears courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association

AUGUST 13-14, 2008 @ 7PM:
when last we flew
by Harrison David Rivers
How Black can you be when surrounded by White people?

Director: Colette Robert
Featuring: Michael Booth, Shydel James*, Hunter Gillmore*, Karen Paulemon, E. Dale Smith, and Lucinda Johnson*
*Appears courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association

AUGUST 20-21, 2008 @ 7PM:
Submerged from All Sides…
by Aurin Squire
Laughter + sex = fun (theatre).

Featuring: Michael Booth, Sarena Kennedy, Fatima Quander*, and Sara Towber*
*Appears courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association

This festival is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by the Brooklyn Arts Council, In (BAC).

*delta dandi is a National Performance Network Creation Fund Project co-commissioned by Women & Their Work in partnership with the Center on Halsted and the National Performance Network. Major contributors of the National Performance Network are Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information: npnweb.org.

——
Bridgforth will be facilitating workshops for Freedom Train Productions 1:30PM - 5PM on August 9 & 6PM - 10PM on August 19, 2008. Workshops are free. There is limited space. Beginning, emerging, and established playwrights welcome. To sign up or to receive more information contact: openworkshop AT freedomtrainproductions DOT org

Freedom Train Productions stages new political theatre that challenges audiences to see character struggle from new perspectives — Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender (LGBT) protagonists. For more information, please visit freedomtrainproductions.org.

We’re Having Auditions

Published
by
Sharon Bridgforth
on June 18, 2008
in Community, Joy and Work
. 0 Comments

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE EMAIL:
casting AT freedomtrainproductions dot org

AUDITION: Freedom Train Productions

Date, Time, & Location:
Wednesday, June 25th, 610pm to 9pm @ Audre Lorde Project,
85 South Oxford Street in Brooklyn
Thursday, June 26th, 610pm to 9pm @ Ripley Grier Studios,
520 8th Avenue (16th Floor) in Manhattan

More Information & How To Request Audition:
Freedom Train Productions, a political theatre company
and member of the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York,
seeks actors and actresses for an upcoming stage reading series.
All plays will be featured at Fire! New Play Festival in August 2008.
Last year over 500 audience members, including
50 theatre producers caught Fire!
More infomation at Freedom Train Productions.

For more audition information
email address listed above.

- All performances are Actors’ Equity Association
sanctioned and AEA Actors are encouraged to audition.

Play Synopsis & Character Breakdowns:
delta dandi
by Sharon Bridgforth
Born and reborn in Congo Square, New Orleans,
delta dandi is a conjure woman whose music heals.
delta dandi, the performance, is a reimagined
sacred concert in the tradition that Duke Ellington
and Mary Lou Williams innovated.

delta dandi Casting:
(1) Black Male Singer/Actor
(1) Black Female Singer/Actor
Multiple Chorus roles
*Everyone will need to be able to sing gospel,
blues, have a sense of jazz, and interest
in working in non-linear theatre forms.
**Indicate on your resume if you speak multiple languages.
***Indicate on your resume if you are a tap dancer.

when last we flew
by Harrison Rivers
Set in small town Kansas, when last we flew asks the question
– how black can you be if you are surrounded by white people?
In his writing, Harrison seeks to tell stories which in
other contexts are often misunderstood, tuned out,
or dismissed as mere noise.

when last we flew casting: 7 total actors, 4 men, 3 women
(1) PAUL, 17, black boy — motivated and bookish,
the kind of kid who graduates early from high school.
On the verge of major self-discovery
(1) NATALIE, 16, black girl — brilliant,
quick-witted and bold, NATALIE breaks it down, then pays the price
(1) IAN, 17, white boy — eager
and slightly awkward, unsure how to express affection
(1) FRESH, 18, black boy — urban,
not much of a talker, sexy in a way that most high school boys are not
(1) ELLEN MCLAUGHLIN/ANGEL,
40s, white woman (or man in drag)
Fierce, not your average guardian angel/fairy godmother
(1) MARIAN, 40s, black woman, PAUL’S mother — broken
and unsure how to put herself back together
(1) PRISCILLA, 40s, black woman, NATALIE’S mother — Just
like her daughter, which causes continual strife
(1) FORD, 40s, PAUL’S father, any race — The kind of man
who’s always asking for another chance to do the right thing
(1) MAN, any race
(1) PRINCI-PAL, any race
*Ideally, MARIAN and PRISCILLA
will be played by the same actress
The actor playing FORD should also play MAN and PRINCI-PAL
**ALL ACTORS WILL ALSO PLAY OTHER SMALL
UNNAMED CHARACTERS/OFFSTAGE VOICES

Submerged From All Sides…
by Aurin Squire
In Aurin Squire’s new play, he uses laughter to call out
just how uptight our society is about sex. Can change happen?
After Submerged from All Sides…,
your hurtin’ stomach just might have the answer.

Submerged From All Sides casting:
(1) Black male 20s to 30s
(1) Black male 30-40s
(1) Black female 20-30s
(1) Mixed race female or White female 30s

Please help us spread the word/and come see our SHOWS

I’m Reading In NYC

Published
by
Sharon Bridgforth
on June 18, 2008
in Community, Joy, Uncategorized and Work
. 0 Comments

I’m participating in the fundraiser for Freedom Train Productions
JUNE 19, 2008 @ 8PM
AFTER THE BALLOT: A Night of Theatre
Nightingale Lounge
213 Second Avenue
East Village, Manhattan
Plays that examines and reimagines the world after ballots have been cast — past, present, and future!
READ MORE

I Received The Alpert/Hedgebrook Residency Prize

Published
by
Sharon Bridgforth
on May 28, 2008
in Inspiration, Joy and Work
. 2 Comments

I am extremely honored and Blessed to say that I received The 2008 Alpert/Hedgebrook Residency Prize!

Hedgebrook is on Whidbey Island, about thirty-five miles northwest of Seattle. Situated on 48-acres of forest and meadow facing Puget Sound, the retreat hosts women writers from all over the world for residencies of two weeks to two months, at no cost to the writer.
More about Hedgebrook

Initiated and funded by The Herb Alpert Foundation and administered by California Institute of the Arts, the Award rewards experimenters who are challenging and transforming art and society.

CONGRATULATIONS TO Lisa D’Amour on winning The 2008 Alpert Award In Theatre! READ ABOUT THIS YEAR’S ALPERT WINNERS…

Life is Great/sho nuff-indeed…

I’m In NYC

Published
by
Sharon Bridgforth
on May 28, 2008
in Community, Family, Inspiration, Joy and Work
. 0 Comments

Helga D..jpg
I’m in NYC/hanging out in Harlem wid baddass Helga Davis
Check out Helga’s Show on WNYC

I’ll be here till 9/1/08 developing delta dandi, hangn wid my Loved Ones and participating in the events below…holla…

Fire & Ink Presents!
8 p.m. Thursday, June 12, 2008
Hilton Newark Gateway Hotel
1 Gateway Center, Newark, NJ
Artist Line up and MORE

delta dandi STAGED READING & Talk Back
Freedom Train Productions, NYC
August 6 & 7 2008, 7PM
At The Audre Lorde Project
MORE

After The Ballot: A Night of Theatre
Nightingale Lounge
213 Second Avenue @ 13th Street
Benefiting Freedom Train Productions
Thursday, Juneteenth*, 6/19 @ 8pm
MORE

Holla at yo gurl on the road/and please tell your friends!

CHECK OUT MY COMPLETE CALENDAR

I Had A Blast With Cherrie

Published
by
Sharon Bridgforth
on May 9, 2008
in Community and Work
. 0 Comments

I am honored and Blessed to say that I was a reader/speaker in Cherrie Moraga’s
Indigenous Identity in Diaspora 2008 Spring Quarter speaker and performance series.

The series is sponsored by Cherríe Moraga and The Insitute for Diversity in the Arts. The series accompanies Cherríe’s course on Indigenous Identity in Diaspora - People of Color Art Practice in North América, which will be offered through IDA, DRAMA, CSRE, and is a Feminist Studies cognate course.

I had such a GREAT time! I got to do many wonderful things/like….Talking/hanging/Working with my She’ro Cherrie…Meeting/spending time with visionary artists, students and professors…Like eating at my favorite Ethiopian restaurants/Being housed at the beautiful BeeHive (Dawn and Vini’s home)…I got to see an excerpt of E. Patrick Johnson’s newest work: Sweet Tea

Life is good/yeah sho nuff indeed!

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