The three-week festival of theatre, film, comedy and music begins at 8 PM with Expatriate, the new musical by Lenelle Moïse, exploring "black womanhood, friendship, sexuality and freedom." Tamilla Woodard directs the production starring Karla Mosley and Lenelle Moïse.
Seven — a new play penned by playwrights Paula Cizmar, Catherine Filloux, Gail Kriegel, Carol K. Mack, Ruth Margraff, Anna Deavere Smith and Susan Yankowitz — is also part of the Festival. Seven, which plays April 13 at 8 PM, chronicles the struggles of seven women on four continents. Evan Yionoulis directs.
Chiori Miyagawa's I Have Been to Hiroshima Mon Amour will receive a workshop presentation April 15 and 16 at 8 PM. Jean Wagner directs the production concerning a woman who dies during the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Hiroshima Mon Amour features original music by Du Yun and projection design by Hap Tivey.
Sonia "Sunny" Jacobs, whose story was told in the Culture Project's The Exonerated, will lead a conversation and reading with actresses Lynn Redgrave and Ally Sheedy in After the Exonerated on April 21 at 7:30 PM. Also scheduled are Heather Woodbury's The Last Days of Desmond Nani Reese (April 22 at 8 PM) and the comedy of Julie Goldman in her latest show, Preemptive Strike, April 16-18 at 9 PM and April 26 at 10 PM.
Abigail Nessen's one-woman work, The Magic Show: The Story of the Barefoot Angels, concerns two American communities devastated by Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast and a volcano eruption in Santa Ana, El Salvador. Nessen, along with musician Shaun Bengson, performs April 24 at 7:30 PM. At 9:30 PM on April 24, Women Center Stage hosts comedians Jackie Monahan, Leah Dubie, Amy Beckerman and Gloria Bigelow in Dykes on Mics.
Pulitzer Prize finalist Eisa Davis performs her solo play Warriors Don't Cry, based on the memoir by Melba Beals, on April 25 at 12 PM. Warriors Don't Cry follows the story of one of the "Little Rock Nine" who marched through segregationist picket lines in 1957.
Suk Aur Duk Ki Kahani, or A Journey of Love, Risk and Loss will be presented by the Andolan Theater Project April 26 at 7 PM. The work features actual NYC immigrant domestic workers (full-time nannies, elderly caretakers and other low-wage workers) "as actors and storytellers, sharing personal stories of migration, globalization, protest and creative resistance, urging a three-dimensional portrait of an invisible population," according to the Culture Project site.
Women Center Stage will also feature a live performance of Emancipate: Stories and Songs from New Orleans, including new songs by Pamela Means, Alix Olson, Vicki Randle, Cris Williamson, Asia Rainey, Gabrilla Ballard and Sunni Patterson, on April 27 at 8 PM.
The women featured in Emancipate are part of the Culture Project's outreach program, which sent the songwriters to New Orleans to meet with members of the community. Each musician has created songs based on her experiences that will be recorded on disc in June. Proceeds from the recording will be donated to a New Orleans service-oriented community organization.
Film screenings for Women Center Stage include the documentary "Maid in Lebanon" and an excerpt of "Another Camp Is Possible," featuring filmmaker Katie Halper and Malia Lazu.
Women Center Stage fills out its programming with various lectures, discussions and mini-festivals. For detailed scheduling information visit www.cultureproject.org.
Tickets for Women Center Stage are available by calling (212) 352-3101 or by visiting www.cultureproject.org.
The Culture Project is located in Manhattan at 55 Mercer Street.
