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The Welders present: the earth, that is sufficient

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November 2019

Part theatre, part ritual, and part epic journey, the earth, that is sufficient is a contemplative inquiry into the precarity of human relationships to extraction, consumption, and power. the earth, that is sufficient is an iterative performance project that conceptualizes theatre-making as an ecology, and asks audiences to consider the braided legacy of our past and the infinite possibilities we might stitch into a shared future.

The iterative performance project is told through the eyes of Lucy, the australopithecus, the 3.2 million year old hominid fossil. She speaks of the earth’s vast history and her relationship to lands, place, and time. With her, we wonder, “when a body has been turned into an object, where does it find rest?”

Learn more about the project’s history, the creative team,  and upcoming performances at www.sufficientearth.com. 
the earth, that is sufficient is a collaborative, emergent process.
Process design by Annalisa Dias and mia susan amir, with contributions by Eric Swartz
Original content created by Annalisa Dias, mia susan amir, Nina Budabin McQuown, Cecilia Cackley, Sanam Emami, DeLesslin George-Warren, Kara Turner, Melissa Strova Valencia.
Tickets on sale soon!

The Phyllis Hyman Experience presented by LA Young Entertainment, LLC & The All About the Drama Theatre Group August 23- 25

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Anacostia Playhouse – August 23 – 25, 2019

LA Young Entertainment, LLC & The All About the Drama Theatre Group Present: The Phyllis Hyman Experience, directed by Ella C. Davis

Join us for an unforgettable weekend, Friday, August 23 – Sunday, August 25 (3 performances only) at the Anacostia Playhouse as Ms. LA Young and the Unusual Suspects engage you from 1977 to 1995, the career path of the late Phyllis Hyman.  The Phyllis Hyman Experience is not just a tribute concert but a musical biography bridging the gap between concert and theater; a blend of music, visual and theatrical arts.  LA Young’s performance will dazzle you, leaving you with wonderful memories of the artistry and legacy of Phyllis Hyman.

Meet LA Young:

LA Young is an international recording artist.  LA’s song “No One Can Love You More” continues to top the UK FM soul/jazz charts for several months at number 2.

Known to Grammy winning recording stars around the world as “The Voice,” grew up in the midst of a musical revolution in 1980’ Ohio; the epicenter of Funk-a-fusion of Jazz, RU&B, Rock and Blues—Funk defines so much of LA’s core raised on bands including Cameo, the Ohio Players, Lakeside, Slave and Dazzband.  But it was not just Funk, she was heavily influenced by Motown and Pop.

LA has been described as Chaka Kahn meets Phyllis Hyman.  Phyllis, however, is LA’s alter ego; a contralto, who possesses a haunting similarity to Hyman whose vocal range, timbre and love of ballads with lyrics tug at your heart.  L.A has recorded in the studio with members of the great jazz band, Pieces of a Dream.  In addition to touring and performing at Jazz, R&B and Funk Festivals across the nation, LA chose to premiere this phenomenal production of The Phyllis Hyman Experience as a benefit performance in April at the Langston Hughes Community Center in Baltimore, MD, on behalf of the Youth Education Services Initiative, a core mission of the Center.  We’re excited about the next stop on the touring schedule being in the DMV at the Anacostia Playhouse.

For tickets, click here.

3 performances only!  – August 23-25, 2019

Friday & Sat at 8:00 p.m.

Sunday at 3:30 p.m.

Adult Gen – $35

VIP – $45 – Includes Hosted Reception and Signed Event Tee Shirt following Fri & Sat performances.

A Nite at the Dew Drop Inn Auditions May 29 & June 2

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ANACOSTIA PLAYHOUSE AUDITIONS

Anacostia Playhouse is casting for A Nite at the Dew Drop Inn

A Nite at the Dew Drop Inn is a musical celebration and tribute to the “Juke Joint”. These iconic nightspots were known for Good Food, Music, Drinking and Gambling for African Americans that were not permitted to attend white establishments due to Jim Crow laws. This cabaret-style presentation highlights themes of Love Found, Love Lost and to Love Again. It features songs made famous by Big Mama Thorton, Fats Waller, Etta James, and Dinah Washington just to name a few.

Seeking singer/actor, singer/musician and singer/dancer types (piano, drums, bass or guitar). This group of performers forms the Juke Joint house band. This is a PAID opportunity.

Please prepare a short monologue and two contrasting songs from R&B, Gospel, Jazz, and or the “Juke Joint’ era. Bring sheet music in your key. Bring a current headshot and resume.

First rehearsal August 5, 2019
First Preview August 29
The show runs August 31 – September 21, 2019. Shows will be Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday matinee and evening, and Sunday matinees.

Auditions: May 29 5 PM – 9 PM

June 2 5 PM – 9 PM

Callbacks: June 16 5 PM – 9 PM

While this audition will be an open call and we will see walk ins, scheduling an audition appointment is preferable. Please email your headshot, resume, and preferred audition slot to natasha.anacostiaplayhouse@gmail.com

All auditions and callbacks will take place at Anacostia Playhouse (2020 Shannon Place SE, Washington, D.C., 20020)

American Moor

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We are so excited to announce the return in January 2019 of American Moor

Written and Performed by Keith Hamilton Cobb

Directed by Kim Weild

What is the role of a lifetime? What is the role of a life?

Playwright/performer, Keith Hamilton Cobb directed by Drama Desk nominee, Kim Weild , uses his love of language and 30 years of experience in the American theatre to explore Shakespeare, race, and America, not necessarily in that order.  His 85-minute award-winning play, American Moor, that considers the dilemma of a seasoned African-American thespian auditioning for a role fraught with racial animus, Othello, is an unapologetic peer into a hindering industry irony that stands as metaphor for our most pressing societal condition: a white culture dictating rules of conduct to a non-white one from an often inadvertent place of privilege.  Cobb, with a facility for poetry entertains, and with the pathos of a veteran tragedian engages while asking questions that demand answers, and answering questions that too seldom get asked.

 American Moor  had its first staged reading in March of 2013 under the direction of Brent Buell. It had its first public performance under the direction of Paul Kwame Johnson at Westchester Community College in November of 2013 as a presentation of the WCC Humanities Institute with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Between 2014 and the present it has had multiple presentations contributing to its development. Among the most notable of these were an 11-performance showcase produced by Phoenix Theatre Ensemble at The Wild Project, Manhattan in April of 2015, directed by Paul Kwame Johnson; a production here at The Anacostia Playhouse in July of 2015, directed by Craig Wallace; and a joint production of O.W.I. (Bureau of Theatre) and Phoenix Theatre Ensemble at Boston Center for the Arts in July of 2017, directed by Kim Weild. The 2015 Phoenix Theatre Ensemble showcase garnered an AUDELCO Award for Outstanding Solo Performance. The Anacostia Playhouse production brought the play to the attention of The Folger Shakespeare Library, the script now a part of the library’s permanent collection. The O.W.I./Phoenix production in Boston earned two IRNE (Independent Reviewers of New England) Awards for Best Visiting Production Small Theatre, and Best Visiting Performer Small Theatre, and an Elliot Norton Award (Boston Theater Critics Association) for Outstanding Solo Performance.  Most recently  American Moor was presented on the stage of The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London, England.

If you missed it in 2015, do not miss it this time.  

For tickets, click here.  

To learn more about American Moor, please click here.

PWYC previews are January 9 and 10.

Post-show discussion will be Thursday January 17, January 24, and January 31. 

Giving Tuesday December 3, 2019

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At Anacostia Playhouse, we are dedicated to being an artistic center in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington DC. Our organization is unique in that it is both a rental facility and a producing theater company, and we pride ourselves in bringing artists and companies to Anacostia and working with artists living here as well. Our programming is also unique in that we produce work that spans from working with youth to producing older favorites such as Driving Miss Daisy and Black Nativity, and producing new works series to develop writers’ new works.

In late summer 2013 Playhouse reopened as The Anacostia Playhouse. The theater at 2020 Shannon Place, SE, is located in a place of both rich history and great promise. We have set a goal of providing performance space to new and emerging artists and theater companies at below-market rates, with a special focus on those who are based east of the Anacostia River.

Throughout all our programming we seek to connect with the community, facilitate conversations, and bring artists together. We have been many artists’ first professional jobs, and we are very proud of those who worked with us who then decided they wanted to do theater full time. In our youth programming, we both produced a musical The Rainbow Fish, and did a youth acting camp that taught students from nearby neighborhoods about acting, writing, hip hop, and poetry among other topics. Since our opening in Anacostia in 2013, we are proud of the work we have done and the friends we have made along the way.

With this progress, we hope to do even more work within this community. We hope to produce another youth acting camp this summer. We hope to do an interview project to address gun violence in DC. We hope to bolster new development and improvements in our staff to support even more hours of operation. We hope to produce more plays. Our goal is $5,000. $5,000 funds tuition for 20 students, allows us to bring a playwright to take mothers’ stories and bring them to the stage, and funds one designer’s work for our next production.

The holiday season is just around the corner, and we invite you to kick it off with us on Giving Tuesday! Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving back. On the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, people around the world will come together to celebrate generosity and make an impact. We are honored to be part of this larger community day. This year, we want to hit our goal to ensure we can continue to be a resource and change maker in this community.

That’s why this Giving Tuesday, we’re inviting you to join us in supporting our local community. You can donate right now, or create a personal fundraising page and ask your network to donate as well.

Your support makes a big impact.

To give, click HERE.

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bach Project

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Yo-Yo Ma’s Bach Project

Exploring How Culture connects us.

 

A day of conversation and action

How can culture and the arts build local equity in Southeast Washington, DC?

 

November 30, 2018

 

The Events

 

Mural Creation

Anacostia High School, 1601 16th St SE

9:30 AM

A mural celebrating Anacostia will be designed and painted in partnership with students from Anacostia High School and Turner Elementary, with support from Kennedy Center and Project Create. Free and open to the public.

 

Prelude to Activities

We Act Radio, 1918 Martin Luther King Ave SE

12:00 PM

Yo-Yo Ma plays the Prélude from Bach’s first cello suite to open the day. A moment of reflection on the past, celebration of the present, and hope for the future.

Imagining Equitable Futures

 

Town Hall Think-In

Anacostia Playhouse, 2020 Shannon Pl SE

3:00 PM

District leaders, small business owners, artists, and community members come together to discuss building local equity in a conversation using Playback Theater models, which encourage personal storytelling and reflection. Representatives from across sectors, including business, government, and arts and culture, will participate in an engaging public forum followed by panel conversation. Free and open to the public; space is limited.

 

Small Business Happy Hour & Gallery Opening: “In Between & Black Gold”

Anacostia Arts Center, 1231 Good Hope Road SE

5:30 PM

The Anacostia Arts Center opens a double exhibit in partnership with two Southeast DC galleries, representing six local artists on themes of Afrofuturism and black equity. The small businesses in the arts center and in downtown Anacostia, all with a cultural focus (fashion store Nubian Hueman, micro-business collective and theater space The Den Reading Room & Artist Exchange, Mahogany Books, We Act Radio, Check It, an LGBTQ fashion label, and more) will participate in an open house, with local beer and food, a DJ, and special offers for attendees. A boutique concert featuring celebrated bassist Esperanza Spalding and local performers will pop up in Nubian Hueman, and Yo-Yo Ma will lead the gallery artists in a short public conversation about their work. Free and open to the public.

 

The Bach Project

Yo-Yo Ma set out to perform Johann Sebastian Bach’s six suites for solo setting, in one setting in 36 locations around the world. Alongside each concert is a day of action, a series of conversations and collaborations that explore how culture can help us imagine and build a better future.

 

A Project of

The Bach Project

The Kennedy Center

The Anacostia Arts Center

Nubian Hueman

WE ACT Radio

Anacostia Playhouse

The Den

HBC Theater Company

TribeFest DC

The Heart & Soul of Magic

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Kick off your holidays with some magic!

 

The Heart & Soul of Magic returns to the Anacostia Playhouse to kick off the Holiday season!  International Magicians Ran’D Shine and Jamahl Keyes are known for “A Different Kind of Deception.” Their show combines music, sleight of hand and psychological illusions that will have you questioning reality in an intimate space. The Heart & Soul of magic is an unforgettable show that audiences of all ages will enjoy. Adults’ minds will be blown and children will be amazed. One audience member described the show as “Mesmerizing and entertaining… A must see act.”  Bring the entire family and kick off the most Magical time of the year.

 

Saturday, December 1, 2018

Youth show at 5pm

Adults (and big kids) at 8

Adults $30, Kids $15.

Purchase Tickets Here!

 

Black Nativity Special GALA Event December 13

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You are cordially invited to join us for our fabulous year-end Gala fundraiser!
On December 13, 2019, come enjoy festive food and drinks along with a special preview of our production, Black Nativity and a reception with the cast. Hear about our vision for the coming years and opportunities for you to join us in continuing to make the Anacostia Playhouse a vital part of the performing arts community. This intimate evening promises to be a wonderful way to kick off the holidays while you show your support for the arts, especially East of the River.
Here’s the order of the Evening
6:30 – 8:15pm Cocktail hour with food, drinks and celebration of our past work
8:30 – 10:00pm Performance of Black Nativity
Post Performance Mix and mingle with the cast of Black Nativity
Gala tickets are $100.00 and include heavy hors d’oeuvres, beverages and a special preview performance of Black Nativity. Purchase online at https://tinyurl.com/AnacostiaPlayhouseGala or give us a call at 202-290-2328.

Pinky Swear Productions presents BLIGHT

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Pinky Swear Productions presents BLIGHT

written by John Bavoso

directed by Ryan Maxwell

Can a home be haunted by the actions of its owners? That’s the question at the heart of John Bavoso’s BLIGHT, which will have its rolling world premiere DC production by Pinky Swear Productions at the Anacostia Playhouse beginning in October.

In BLIGHT, Silvia and Cat Henson have just moved from a tiny apartment in Washington, DC, into their sprawling dream home in the small, affluent town of Greenville, Delaware. But the house only happens to be in their price range because it was most recently the home of a teenaged mass shooter and his single mother. Within days of moving in, they’re confronted by a mayor who wants to erase their house from the map, a neighbor who’s on a mission to turn it into a memorial, and an alarmingly chipper consultant who specializes in the macabre. Silvia and Cat are forced to grapple with whether now is the right time to bring a new baby into the world, or let the house create an irreparable rift between them and their new community.

Blight runs from October 19- November 11.

For tickets, click here. 

Monday Night Music: July 22 The Fuss

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Mark Your Calendars!

Because there’s never enough music, Anacostia Playhouse is excited to announce a new series, Monday Night Music. While the actors have their night off, we’re going to bring some wonderful local talent to the Playhouse Stage. Please mark your calendars now for:

The Fuss is a dynamic ska, rocksteady, and early reggae band from Washington, D.C. Their sound pays tribute to the music of 1960’s Jamaica and the British Mod scene, while putting modern slant on these timeless styles. The group is comprised of 3-part harmonies, a 3-piece horn section, and 4-piece rhythm section.

Since the band formed in 2014 and they’ve had the pleasure of sharing the stage with bands such as The Skatalites, The Toasters, The Pietasters, Eastern Standard Time, The Interrupters, Save Ferris, Steady 45’s, and many more.
The Fuss’s first full-length album “Ourselves” is now available on LP, CD, and Cassette at www.thefussdc.com.
Co hosted with @thefussdc
Members
Andi Leo – Lead Vocals;
Adam Grise – Trumpet;
Julia Robey Christian – Keyboards, Vocals;
Megan Nortrup – Sax, Vocals;
Michael Corvasce – Guitar;
John Buck – Bass, Vocals;
Keith Duncan – Trombone;
Cati Sesana – Drums.
For Pay What You Can tickets, click here.
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