| Unique theater project honors BLACK MARY, April 12 - June 19 | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 10:34 am EST 03/11/21 | |
|
|
|
| DEMASKUS Theater Collective in association with Post Theatrical present BLACK MARY A U.S. Postal and Virtual Performance Event Honoring Mary Fields Mail Engagement: April 12 - May 7 Final Online Event: June 17 - 19 (Juneteenth Weekend) Pittsburgh's DEMASKUS Theater Collective in association with Post Theatrical, an international festival of plays that use the post as a theatrical medium conceived and coordinated by RealTime Interventions, is excited to announce that tickets are currently on sale for BLACK MARY. This interactive theater experience honors the life and times of Mary Fields (1832- 1914), the first African American female United States Star Route mail carrier. Deemed "one of the freest souls ever to draw a breath, or a .38," Black Mary, at the age of sixty years old bravely endured the unforgiving weather and rocky terrain of Montana to deliver mail throughout her eight year career. Her determination, reliability, and groundbreaking acts have cemented in her history as an unsung hero whose story deserves to be told. "Black women are the most resilient and resourceful people on the planet," shared Shaunda Miles McDill who founded DEMASKUS in 2006. "Time and time again, we have delivered ourselves, our loved ones, communities, and nations. Today's most prominent Black women blaze trails because women like Mary Fields traveled those trails first. You don't have to be Black or a woman to buy a ticket, but this experience centers and celebrates the lives of Black women who raised this nation's babies (even while they themselves were enslaved) and continue to undergird every facet of our society. We are grateful for RealTime Interventions and the opportunity to tell this story." Tickets for BLACK MARY ($18.65 - $100) can be purchased through Post Theatrical. Participants have the option to choose from three different levels of the Black Mary experience ranging from receiving a satchel of curated items that may have been similar to those carried by Fields during her treacherous mail deliveries through the Cascade Mountains to simply purchasing a ticket for the final online culminating event. The deadline for purchasing tickets for the mail engagement is April 1. Satchels will include period-specific survival items that mimic what Black Mary would have used on her journeys (maps, jerky, a flask, cigar, small Bible) as well as some contemporary pieces and a journal for responses to writing prompts received from Black Mary herself, played by Pittsburgh artist and co-producer, Karla C. Payne. The creative team for BLACK MARY also includes actor, singer, and co-producer Charles E. Timbers Jr.; Pittsburgh actress and playwright Kim El--who ironically once played August Wilson's Black Mary (Wilks) in a production of Gem of the Ocean--will utilize portions of materials mailed back to Black Mary as source material for the final written mini-series. Partners for the production include Wellness Woman Therapy, founded by millennial therapist, Autumn Goodson. Goodson will develop the 30-day journaling guide and motivational text exchanges utilized throughout the mail exchange as well as monitor reponses to make sure participants progress on a healthy path toward healing and liberation. Phoinix Premier Events will design and develop the satchels. An unlimited number of tickets for BLACK MARY are available and on sale for the final event, which can be purchased separately now until June 19th for $18.65 in honor of the announcement of freedom for enslaved Africans. This production is part of RealTime Interventions' POST THEATRICAL, a festival of works that use mail as a theatrical medium. The festival features works by a collective of 13 theater groups and over 50 artists originating in 8 cities across the globe. Running through June 30, 2021, POST THEATRICAL offers a diverse range of works that use the medium of mail in a broad range of ways. For tickets and more information please visit www.posttheatrical.org. ### DEMASKUS Theater Collective, having emerged from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh in 2012, is a national service-oriented collective of fifteen artists and administrators seeking to make known the messages of the marginalized through the production and presentation of quality, compassionate, and inclusive artistic events. For more information, please visit https://www.demaskus.com/. Kim El is a Pittsburgh-born poet, playwright, actor, and director with extensive stage and technical experience in various venues including theater, educational facilities and social organizations. She is a self-taught performance artist with a passion for storytelling. Theatrical experience includes work at New Horizon Theater, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater Company, Kuntu Repertory Theatre, Bricolage Production Company, No Name Theatre, and The Shadow Lounge. Also in her artistic repertoire are eleven one-act plays: Of Nine Tales, What Do You Ink, King of Spades, Mental Case, No Kiddin', Speakeasy, Retrospect, Just Fishin', Detention Wish, Habari Gani! Children Celebrating Kwanzaa and When Souls Whisper. El is the author of six full-length plays: Get Off The Bus, The Sunday God Gave Me, Ubuntu Holiday, The Poet's Corner (co-written with KL Brewer), Turnaboutand Straightening Combs, her first solo stage performance. El is the recipient of the Best Play (2011), Best Director (2008) & Best Supporting Actress (2006) for her work done at the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Festival in Black and White. Autumn Goodson is a National Certified Counselor (NCC) through the National Board of Certified Counselors and the founder of Wellness Woman Therapy. A Black Millennial Christian Therapist, Goodson obtained her Masters of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Duquesne University (2019). She also received her Bachelors of Art in Psychology from Duquesne University (2017). Autumn worked as a Drug and Alcohol Counselor, treating adult males and females. As a Service Coordinator, she served the 65+ population in Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties. Additionally, Autumn has experience working with clients with severe mental health concerns. In session, Autumn utilizes Person-centered Therapy, Narrative Therapy, CBT, and MI. Autumn has counseled clients with anxiety, depression, PTSD, Bi-polar I and II, substance use, and personality disorders. She is also passionate about helping clients to address unresolved grief and loss and trauma, especially issues related to childhood and familial upbringing. For more information, please visit https://www.thegracewellnesscenter.com/counselors and https://wellnesswomantherapy.com. Shaunda Miles McDill is a producer, director, and playwright with experience in the arts and culture field as an artist, publicist, and program officer. Shaunda has more than fifteen years of nonprofit executive and arts management experience, working for theater companies across the country, including the Goodman Theatre of Chicago (Dramaturgy under Tom Creamer); the Duncan YMCA (sound operator for the world premiere of the stage production of Amistad under Ifa Bayeza in partnership with Congo Square Theatre Company); Second Stage Theater (Van Lier Directing Fellow and Assistant Director to Garry Hynes on Beth Henley's Crimes of the Heart); Yale Repertory Theatre (Associate Managing Director and Producer of Dan Hurlin's Hiroshima Maiden as well as Matt & Ben by Mindy Kaling and Brenda Withers); Pasadena Playhouse (Assistant to Sheldon Epps and Brian Colburn); and Cornerstone Theater Company (Community and Audience Engagement under Shay Wafer and Bill Rauch during the Faith-Based Theater Cycle). In 2006, Shaunda founded DEMASKUS Theater Collective. Shaunda has a Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College and a master's from Yale University's School of Drama with a concentration in theater management. Karla C. Payne is an accomplished writer, actor, poet, and voice-over talent. She wrote and produced her first production in 2014, entitled Poetic Rehab, a collage of performance poets set in a theatrical format. Karla has appeared in countless productions for companies such as New Horizon Theater, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater Company and Shona Sharif Drum and Dance Ensemble. Under the pen name "Spirit-Lead (lehd)", Karla released two spoken word CDs, Words Unspoken and Relatively Speaking, and a poetry chapbook entitled From My Indigo Pen. She is currently working on her newly written one-act play, Collateral Damage and multiple voice over projects. Charles E. Timbers Jr. is an award winning actor, singer, motivational speaker and has been in performing arts for more than 30 years. He has performed with Kuntu Repertory Theater, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater Company, New Horizons Theater Company and The Alumni Theater Company. Timbers received the Theatre Roundtable Excellence in Acting award 2016 for his role as Cutler in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom with the Short North Stage Theater in Columbus, Ohio. He holds an Associates Degree in Theater and has performed in more than 50 plays locally and across the country. Additionally, Timbers is the producer and director of a local cable show focusing on health care. He has done multiple student and professional films, TV appearances and commercials. He studied film at the Sherwood Oaks Experimental College in Los Angeles, California and studied voice over with Jack Baily and Amy Hartman. In addition to several voice over projects, his movie credits include The Jacksons an American Dream; Concussion, Rehabilitation of the Hill and House Of Stone. |
|
| Link | http://www.posttheatrical.org |
| reply | |
|
|
|
| Previous: | IMMERSIVE LIVE-AUDIO ENTERTAINMENT CO. RESOUNDING ANNOUNCES MONTH-LONG RESIDENCY AT RADIAL PARK AT HALLETTS POINT PLAY - Official_Press_Release 10:35 am EST 03/11/21 |
| Next: | ROAR! The Musical, A National High School Event - Official_Press_Release 10:33 am EST 03/11/21 |
| Thread: | |
Time to render: 0.008603 seconds.