festival schedule

thursday, june 10

“Delilah Brown: Revolutionary” is about a woman who joined the women’s army corps as a WAC during World War II to escape the oppression, discrimination and racism of the colored race in the 1940’s. Startling revelations emerge regarding Delilah’s sexuality, and how she handled it. “Martha Redding” is about a mentally dysfunctional woman tormented by her own demons, the spirit of her dead husband Warren and her account of the loss of her daughter Cenie. During her daily visits to the park Martha Redding has a very unfortunate incident with her friends...ants. "The Bag Lady and Ole Becky" is a monologue about a bag lady and her closest friend, Ole Becky. The bag lady, seeking companionship in her old age, encounters a woman who is neurotic and turns on her. Ole Becky comes to the bag lady's aid and the two are forced to commit a criminal act that ultimately leads to the bag lady's imprisonment. The revelation as to who or what Ole Becky is comes as quite a surprise at the end.

friday, june 11

West Africa, Kingston, Port au Prince, Havana and Brooklyn, NY, create the legacy of Living in the Light; a new multi-media theater piece written and performed by Imani Henry. In this solo work, Henry calls forth cane field memories of slavery while walking through the cultural mecca of Brooklyn’s Flatbush area; an area he calls home.

Henry documents living and breathing inside the largest Caribbean community in the U.S. juxtaposed with images of slavery and the Caribbean’s history of colonization. He explores the specific multi-national, African, immigrant communities that shape Flatbush and depicts how people co-exist in this neighborhood. Multi-media footage includes documentary interviews with people from the neighborhood. Henry portrays several characters, both women and men, as he tells present day stories and stories of the past. This interactive, cabaret-style theater performance invites the audience to become part of the show as they bear witness to this story unfolding.

saturday, june 12

WOW Café Theater and Cave Canem are proud to co-present an afternoon of Cave Canem women poets. Award-winning poet, writer, journalist and national slam champion Patricia Smith headlines the reading. Ms. Smith will be joined by Cave Canem fellows Tonya Hegamin, Linda Susan Jackson, Jacqueline Joan Johnson, Karma Johnson, and Kenyatta Lovings.

Cave Canem was founded in 1996 by Toi Dericotte and poet Cornelius Eady to offer a home for the diverse voices of African American Poetry. Cave Canem’s programs offer black poets a chance to work together in a welcoming atmosphere and to study with accomplished poets and teachers. Programs include a summer Workshop/Retreat, a first Book Prize, regional workshops and readings in major cities.

sunday, june 13

thursday, june 17

When she is not volunteering for Love for Kitties, Carla spends her days trying to figure out her life. She likes Carlos and thinks she might even be in love with him. Does she dare give herself another chance at life? While getting to know Emma, another volunteer, Carla learns what she never wanted to know about herself.

friday, june 18

"Black Folks' Guide to Black Folks," a “one-woman comedic tour de force” (SF Chronicle) starring the playwright and poet Hanifah Walidah, was heralded to critical acclaim in both the SF Chronicle and East Bay Express in its preview run. In the play Walidah plays an entire neighborhood of characters linked together in a polyrhythmic mesh of loves and life lessons. "Black Folks' Guide to Black Folks" approaches the topic of homophobia in the black community by remaining true to the familiar as it blurs the lines and giggles in the faces of sexuality, health, love, faith, and fear. For press quotes go to http://www.blackfolksguide.com/

Word Buffet is an explosion of poetry, spoken word and stand-up featuring some of the city’s hottest performers. The hilarious Keturah Kendrick performs “Questions for Mama:” a woman on the precipitous edge of 30 puts her life choices and those of her mother under a magnifying glass. t’ai freedom ford’s “Psychic Graffiti” is a collage of hip-hop poetics scrawled on the walls of the imagination. GinnaKarla S. Nicholas fuses page poetry and stage poetry into “The Sleep Chronicles (things we know, even with our eyes shut).” She is joined by dancer and poet Sabrina Hayeem-Ladani.

saturday, june 19

Young poets and playwrights adding their stories to our book.

sunday, june 20

Music and performance from trans and genderqueer artists of color.

tuesday, june 22

A roundtable discussion on the experiences of women and trans artists of color over the last 24 years of the WOW Café Theater.