Native Tongues in Exile, the theatrical piece by New Orleans writers, will have its Chicago debut Oct. 9 at the Upstairs Theater at Steppenwolf. It's a benefit for New Orleans City Park, which was denuded and poisoned by Hurricane Katrina's winds and water. One of my monologues, Boo and the Shreveport Baby, will be performed by Lashawn Banks.
One of the reasons I really wish I could see this is that Boo is finally going to be performed by a black actor. The character was written as one of the many people in New Orleans whose race isn't entirely clear, and the first performance was done by Ashley Bradley, who was white. So I'd love to see how Lashawn's interpretation differs, and doesn't differ, from Ashley's.
The lineup:
Serious Neon by David Cuthbert
A retired stripper remembers the old Bourbon Street days. (Performed by Laura Wells)O2 by Louis Edwards
A white coed has a brief, intense gas-station encounter with a large African-American man wearing the uniform of the Orleans Parish Prison. (Performed by Kelly O’Sullivan)Responsible Parental Design by Jim Fitzmorris
Days before her valedictorian daughter's high school graduation, a single Central City mother learns firsthand the harsh realities of the New Orleans public school system. (Performed by Celeste Williams)Garden of Memories by Frank Gagnard
A very proper Uptown lady on social and familial connections that reach down low. (Performed by Linda Gates)Him by Vernel Bagneris
As an elderly African-American waiter prepares to retire from one of New Orleans’ finest restaurants, he encounters one final customer. (Performed by John Stephen Crowley)Levee Man by Mindy Mayer
An engineer relives his past in the face of the Big One. (Performed by Craig Spidle)
One or Two Things I Know About New Orleans by Eric Overmyer
A police detective at a murder scene muses on the past, present and future of the Crescent City. (Performed by John Stephen Crowley)
It's my hope that this is only the first of some major stagings...besides earning some cash for the Gigantic Worthy Cause at the Foot of the Mississippi, it might remind people why New Orleans is worth saving in the first place.
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