Performances

Fall Quarter

103 Performance Hour
Performances by students in the department’s introductory course GEN_CMN 103 The Analysis and Performance of Literature.
8 p.m. Wednesday, September 23
Struble Theater
Free

Emergency
Created and performed by Daniel Beaty
A one-man performance by visiting artist Daniel Beaty, Emergency explores such questions as What is the impact of centuries of slavery on the psyche of humanity? and How free are we really at the dawn of the 21st century? Obie Award-winning actor Beaty portrays a cast of 40 characters, including a homeless man, a scientist, a Republican business executive, a street vendor, and an 11-year-old boy from the projects, who all respond to a stunning phenomenon: a slave ship rising out of the Hudson River in front of the Statue of Liberty. Beaty melds slam poetry, multi-character transformation and song to present a stirring, critically acclaimed commentary on modern black life.
7 p.m. Tuesday, November 17
Wallis Theatre

delta dandi
Created and directed by Sharon Bridgforth
As part of the department's solo/black/woman performance series, visiting artist Sharon Bridgforth presents delta dandi, a living cacophony of monologues, chants, choral tellings, blood memories dance and song. Through glimpses of the transmigration of one Spirit's many lives, delta dandi asks how collective grief and trauma informs the Black-American experience.  What must a Soul do to heal? What is the traditional role of Queers in ritual?  A re-imagining of sacred concerts and tone poems that jazz icons Duke Ellington and Mary Lou Williams innovated, delta dandi is ritual jazz theatre conjuring transformation and Love.
8 p.m. Friday, November 20
8 p.m. Saturday, November 21
Annie May Swift Studio
Free