November 15 – December 15, 2007
Thursdays – Saturdays, 8:00 PM
Location: Intersection for the Arts
Admission: $10-$25 sliding scale

Intersection for the Arts presents new literary-inspired and genre-bending performances, literary readings and first time viewings of the latest work generated through the Hybrid Project. This series will feature a new program of performances each week from our new Hybrid Resident Artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph and artists from the Living Word Project: Chinaka Hodge, Michelle Mush Lee, Jason Mateo, iLL-Literacy and The Suicide Kings; our Resident Theatre Company Campo Santo with Denis Johnson, Vendela Vida and Valentino Achek Deng; hip hop crew Felonious and MC Radio Active; and even more!
 

Week 1: November 15–17
Featuring Marc Bamuthi Joseph. Special preview of the break/s.
Be among the few to experience an excerpt from one of the most anticipated new works coming out of the Bay Area. Joseph's multimedia journey through verse, contemporary dance and video interweaves his personal story with the history of hip-hop. He explores trans-nationalism and globalization in relation to hip-hop culture, digging into the politics surrounding the creation myth of this provocative music form.

Suicide Kings In Spite of Everything. The spoken word trio explores through poetry, vaudeville and confession how a rebel heir of Scientology, a Jew who used to run with Nazi’s and an immigrant punk rocker end up teaching poetry in our Public Schools. What does their journey say about education in the U.S., the intersection of hip-hop and punk and most importantly, survival?

Week 2: November 23–25
Featuring iLL-Literacy, Chinaka Hodge, Michelle "Mush" Lee & Jason Mateo's Dub Plate: New Works in the Mix
A spoken word show that promises to rock a crowd? Yes! This week of new works highlights the deep roster of Living Word artists, many of them Youth Speaks staff members. These shows — some being heard for the first time — will bring you spoken word art in production. This unique fusion of spoken word with elements of hip-hop, experimental theatre and visual arts is performed by some of this generation's most exhilarating young poets.

Week 3: November 29–December 1
Featuring Carlos Aguirre, Tommy Shepherd, Dan Wolf and Radio Active
Three actors and MC's from the Hip Hop group Felonious along with Radio Active each create solo theatre pieces.

Carlos Aguirre The Tell Tale Heart. A freestyle story, rap and sonic journey into the terror of the tell tale heart as created and performed by MC Infinite with text, loop station and beats.

Tommy Shepherd The MF in ME. The longtime Hybrid Project pillar and Campo Santo actor creates his first solo show, telling the story of how he follows the beats inside him and reacts to the rhythms around him.

Dan Wolf Angry Black White Boy (from the book by Adam Mansbach). Inspired by the book The New York Times Book Review says "captures vividly the inhuman sadism inherent to racial violence," this solo work grabs white guilt and racism in a chokehold.

Radio Active She's Alive. New first time theatrical work from the groundbreaking Hip Hop MC and beatboxer whose work has rocked crowds across the globe. His genre-smashing live sets as part the band Spearhead and as a solo act have time and time again met with enthusiastic praise from critics and audiences alike.

Week 4: December 6–8
Featuring Denis Johnson's Everything Has Been Arranged
A new theatre piece created by Resident Theatre Company Campo Santo from the story The Small Boys' Unit from Johnson's book Seek featuring Michael Cheng, Robert Hampton, Ryan Peters and Paul Santiago. How do we make sense of civil war in Africa? Denis Johnson, on assignment for Harper's to track down and meet the dictator Charles Taylor during the height of the civil wars in Liberia, tried to do just that. The assignment, relived here, culminated in Johnson being led to one of infamous and horrifying "Small Boys' Units" — armies of young boys trained and armed for war. To be performed with unpublished interviews on the Sudan civil wars culled by Valentino Achek Deng, subject and co-creator of Dave Egger's book What is the What, from the newest publishing imprint from McSweeney's, Voice of Witness.

Week 5: December 13–15
Featuring Vendela Vida's let the northern lights erase your name
A new theatre piece created by Resident Theatre Company Campo Santo from Vida's novel. Directed by Danny Scheie. Featuring Maria Candelaria, Kalli Jonsson, Marc Pinate, Nora El Samahy, Brian Yates Sharber and Jonsen Vitug. This brand new piece from the Co-Editor/Founder of The Believer is based on the novel of which the New York Times says, "maybe there aren't any other books that walk this very fine line between high-camp comedy and the lyrical seriousness… "