Boston Court to Present Aleshea Harris' WHAT TO SEND UP WHEN IT GOES DOWN

The Theatre @ Boston Court to present Aleshea Harris' What to Send Up When It Goes Down as a community event on two nights, August 21 at 6pm and August 22 at 7:30pm in the Marjorie Branson Performance Space at Boston Court Performing Arts Center.

Each evening will culminate in a moderated audience discussion.

What to Send Up When It Goes Down is a play-pageant-ritual-homegoing celebration in response to the physical and spiritual deaths of black people due to racialized violence. Through parody, song, language and movement, the piece centers on black responses to racism while making room for audience participation. What to Send Up... offers neither answers nor directives, serving instead as a space for catharsis, reflection and cleansing.

There is no cost for tickets, but reservations are recommended as space is limited: reservations can be made at this link.

The Theatre @ Boston Court Co-Artistic Director, Michael Michetti, said "We are grateful to host this vital event, which powerfully combines ritual, performance, catharsis, and discussion around one of the most important issues of our time." Co-Artistic Director, Jessica Kubzansky, continued "Aleshea is not only a passionate social activist but a poet for the theatre. She is a fresh-voiced, vibrant, dynamic force of nature, and we are honored to be partnering with such an exciting artist to engage with with this much-needed work."

Aleshea Harris is a playwright, spoken word poet and educator who received an MFA in Writing for Performance from California Institute of the Arts. Her work has been presented at the Costume Shop at American Conservatory Theater, Playfest at Orlando Shakespeare Theater, freeFall Theatre Company, VOXfest at Dartmouth, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice, L'École de la Comédie de Saint-Étienne-National Drama Center in France, the Skirball Center, RedCat Theater (for CalArts' Tedx Conference) and in the 2015 anthology, The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop. She is currently working on a piece commissioned by Calarts' Center for New Performance and La Comèdie de Saint-Étienne.

Located in Pasadena, California, and founded in 2003, The Theatre @ Boston Court produces passionate, artist-driven theatre, which challenges both artists and audiences. The Theatre @ Boston Court urges its artists to fearlessly and passionately pursue their unique voice and vision. Play selection encompasses a wide variety of genres with a special emphasis on new work, which are inherently theatrical, textually rich, and visually arresting. Led by Artistic Directors Jessica Kubzansky and Michael Michetti, The Theatre @ Boston Court is currently working on its 53rd production, a rolling world premiere of Bars and Measures by Idris Goodwin, opening September 24th. The Theatre @ Boston Court has also co-produced productions in New York City, Boston, Houston, and at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, CA. Concentrating on new work and re-envisioned classics, The Theatre @ Boston Court is the proud recipient of numerous nominations and awards from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, the Ovations, the NAACP and Stage Raw.

Key funding for The Theatre @ Boston Court is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, New Dramatists, The Shubert Foundation, Harold & Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Edgerton Foundation, The Sheri & Les Biller Family Foundation, The Ahmanson Foundation, The Annenberg Foundation, Lazy L. Foundation, The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, and the Z. Clark Branson Foundation.