Formerly incarcerated women get their say Medea Project
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE .
The Medea Project: Theater tor Incarcerated Women" fea
tures ex-inmates and actresses from the San Francisco area.
Rhodessa Jones will direct members of the Medea Project,
which is a not-to-be-missed performance.
In San Francisco the Medea Project collaborates with pro
. fessional artists to engage incarcerated women and ex-inmates
in the process of developing and staging theatrical productions
in order to empower them to gain control of their lives.
For more than 10 years The Medea Project's professional
artists have worked with female inmates of the County Jail, and
with ex-inmates now living in the community, to develop and
stage theatrical productions at major San Francisco venues. The
productions tell the real-life experiences of the incarcerated
, women performing on the stage. For the festival, the Medea
j Project performance will include professional actresses from
the San Francisco community as well as ex-inmates performing
exceqajs from their past and current critically acclaimed pro
ductions.
i
Cultural Odyssey presents lBig
o
Butt Girls, Hard-Headed Women'
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE '
In celebration of the 25th anniversary _of Cultural
Odyssey, Rhodessa Jones and Idris Ackamoor will remount
the celebrated, award-winning "Big Butt Girls, Hard-Headed
Women" featuring Jones with musical accompaniment by
Ackamoor. The performance was a "sold-out" hit at the 1991
National Black Theater Festival.
"Big Butt Girls, Hard-Headed Women" is a series of
monologues based on the lives and times of real women who
are behind bars. The performance ulili/es theater, movement
and song to anchor words born out of the silence that is so
particular to women who arc waiting women waiting for
hail, for mail, for the latest word concerning their children,
money from their men, the next visits from their sisters and
moiners, or mr
advice from thefr
lawyers
The theatrics are
based on the que*
lion: "Is there a way
lo retrieve the lives
of our sisters ami
their families'"
There are children
literally lost between
the cracks ol out
society.
PS.*o tinmen ?>l I'ufctiral (Vfc*sr>
The women of the "The Medea Protect: Theater for Incarcerated Women."
I 'Potpourri Noir offers smorgasbord of plays
CHRONIC I f SI CH RFrORT
"Potpourri Noir" is a sneak peek
of several Cultural Odyssey plays
that will, be performed throughout
this?\ear's National Black Theatre
Festival. Haviod by Rhokwj Jones
and ldns \ckamoor. Potpourri
Noir" xsill offer excerpts from "Big
Butt Cnilv" HaN Headed
Women." "The (XI and the B Box.
"Thieves in the Temple The
Reclaiming of Hip-Hop The
Medea Project Theatei tot 1 iva:
cerated Women." and "They Speak
Through Us."
The San Franciso based c?
al Odyssey strives to stretch the
aesthetic boundaries 01 \ xvt .
art by creating, producing and pre
settling original performance ?o kv
that reflect the experiences ot cor
temporary Americans and that are
firmly rooted in African \nv
music, dance and theatrical uad
lions. To implement this mission
Cultural Odyssey locally premieres
original jazz and theatrical prodm
Hons. presents the Cultural
Odyssey Performance Festival, and
conducts national and international
lours. It also operates a series of
community-based programs serving
inner-city youths, female inmates
ana c\-inmates.
Ackamoor will curate Cultural
Odyssey's New Performance in
Black Theater Scries at the 2003
National Black Theatre Festival
from- Aug. 5-0. All performances
will take-place at the Southeastern
Center for Contemporary Art
SI CCA). All show times are at 8
p m I ook for details about Culfur
?al Odyssey plays throughout this
guide
Ptn?i? ktwMlCM'ol Cultural IMv*v \
A wi?w from 'Jho OO and tho B-Boy