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LOVE the poet, and Cave Canem fellow, t’ai freedom ford headline intimate salon-styled poetry tour this week.

October 3, 2011– Black lesbian poets tour the east coast in a salon styled poetry tour October 6-15, 2011. In private homes in Washington, DC, Chicago, Philadelphia and Brooklyn, THE REVIVAL hosts a night of music, libation and poetry- in – concert. Touring troupe and special guests break the envelope of safe space for today’s queer and trans artists and allies while sharing the written word.

After a successful tour last year, THE REVIVAL adds new members to its roster and a new city! Cave Canem fellow, t’ai freedom ford joins the ranks alongside Washington acoustic duo, Solrose and Punany poet, Revival veteran, LOVE the poet.

“Last year’s tour was awesome, a really tremendous experience. It was really interactive—the audience was just as much a part of the stage as we were. It was a give and take process that allowed for something different to happen. I think lives were definitely changed,” says new author of Black Marks on White Paper, LOVE the poet.

With presenting sponsors, The Rainbow Collective, Poets & Writers, and The Center for Gay and Lesbian Studies, each night of the tour features food, music, and a local poet:

Thursday, October 6, 2011: Washington DC with Bettina Judd
Friday, October 7, 2011: Brooklyn, NY with R. Erica Doyle
Saturday, October 8, 2011: Philadelphia, PA with E. Kairo Miles
Friday, October 14, 2011: Chicago, IL with Patience Soprano

Promotional videos can be found here and here.

For addresses and tickets visit www.cereusarts.com/revival2011

About Cereus Arts: Cereus Arts is an arts initiative that promotes the visibility of queer women of color through media, literature and community events. For  press passes and interviews please contact cereusarts@gmail.com

BLACK QUEER POETS EMBARK ON REGIONAL ‘SALON-INSPIRED TOUR’
LOVE the poet, Venus Thrash and J. Pope hit the road
to commune with artists in DC, Baltimore, Philly & Brooklyn

LOVE the poet, Venus Thrash, and J. Pope take four cities by storm in November with a set of poetry, music, and more. Known as “THE REVIVAL”, the tour begins in Washington, DC, then heads out to Baltimore, Philadelphia and Brooklyn. The spoken word concerts will be hosted in four private residences, resurrecting the salon concept and breaking the envelope of safe space for today’s queer artists and allies.

The Revival offers a unique experience with featured poets and musicians. Catered by local chefs in each city, the atmosphere is filled with good words and good music. Guests will walk into a home, be welcomed by ‘ushers’ and enjoy a service hosted by Jade Foster, whose “Black Church Maraca” open mic series served as a launch pad for this effort. “With Black Church, poets all over DC opened their homes up to complete strangers so we could all have that opportunity to share,” says Foster. “The Revival plays on that idea, offering a chance for people to sit down and listen, get up and move.”

Offering food, drinks, as well a vending opportunities for local artists, each city’s event will feature a local poet, including New York’s Yvonne Fly, Baltimore’s Queen Earth and Philly’s Ms. Wise.

The Revival Tour Schedule:
November 11, Washington, DC.
November 12, Philadelphia.
November 13, Brooklyn.
November 14, Baltimore.
Each show starts at 7pm.

Complete information is available at cereusrevival.tumblr.com; tickets are on sale at cereusrevival.eventbrite.com.

July 17 – 24, 2010:
FIRE! NEW PLAY FESTIVAL 2010
Four black queer plays offer darkness and hope.

South Oxford Space (138 South Oxford Street in Ft Greene, Brooklyn)
BAAD! (841 Barretto St, 2nd FL, in the Bronx)

$5 – $10: Advance tickets at Brown Paper Tickets | Limited door tickets

Produced by Freedom Train Productions, FIRE! NEW PLAY FESTIVAL 2010 presents staged reading and barebones productions of new black queer plays that offer darkness and danger and, yes, a little artfulness and hope for these bleak post-Bush times.

As is our custom, these black queer plays are our curated – canaries in the coal mine – offerings to inspire and provoke artists and community into thought and action:

@ BAAD!, a co-production
SAT JULY 17TH, 2010 @ 2:30PM & 7:30PM
ORIGINS OF US by Jerome A. Parker
Promising cosmology graduate student, Adam, rents out his Bronx apartment’s closet to a stranger. ORIGINS is a cautionary journey through the realms of time, space, the body and the mind.

@ South Oxford Space:
THURS JULY 22ND, 2010 @ 7:30PM
SHE WHO STRUGGLES by LaTonia Phipps
A modern day Assata Shakur re-imagined, living in gentrified Harlem and in love with a white woman.

@ South Oxford Space:
FRI JULY 23RD, 2010 @ 7:30PM
MIRRORS by Azure D. Osborne-Lee
Two women mourn the loss of a loved one while sifting through the secrets of their shared past.

@ South Oxford Space:
SAT JULY 24TH, 2010 @ 2:30PM
BLACK/OUT STORIES by Steve Harper
When a writer conducts documentary theatre interviews with black LGBT people across the country about their most unusual coming out stories, he revisits his own personal challenges around being out, gay and black in America.

// Freedom Train in TIME OUT NEW YORK and NY DAILY NEWS.
// Watch a mini-documentary on the festival!

These new plays are written by citizen theatre artists. Since January, the producer artists of Freedom Train have provided safe and encouraging spaces in workshops and actor labs for these artists to create their work and test out their new ideas — independently and with collective purpose.

Every year our performances are attended by audience community members, like yourself, who care to wrestle with, laugh with, and be inspired by the ideas the playwrights and their creative team explore in the staged readings.

This year we are thrilled to announce a special barebones co-production of ORIGINS OF US by Jerome A. Parker at BAAD!, the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, to kick off our fourth festival and of course a powerful lineup of new play readings by Azure D. Osborne-Lee, Steve Harper, and LaTonia Phipps, a talented associate artist here at Freedom Train with whom we are thrilled to once again support.

Offstage Forums 2010, critical discussions inspired by their current work in development, precede the festival.

Major funders include The Union Square Arts Awards, a project of the Tides Foundation, Stonewall Community Foundation, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and the Brooklyn Arts Council, and S/HEROES FOR THE FUTURE.

Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South
Previews April 30-May 6, 2010
Show runs May 7-29, 2010
Viaduct Theatre, 3111 N. Western Ave

There will be several post performance discussion based on specific themes. Click here for complete information, tickets, etc:
Columbia College Chicago – Sweet Tea

About The Performance

Based on E. Patrick Johnson’s critically acclaimed book, Sweet Tea is an oral history of Southern black gay men ranging in age from 19 to 93 that explores the relationship between blackness, sexuality and southern culture.

I saw a snippet of the show at Fire & Ink: Cotillion–and it was nothing short of fantastic. Having interviewed the men he portrays, Johnson seemed to disappear into each character.

If the performance comes to your town, you don’t want to miss it.