Word For Wordcast Launches 3 New Podcasts by Anita Cabrera, Greg Sarris & Helen Oyeyemi

San Francisco theater company Word for Word for over twenty five years has theatrically performed works of literature bringing them to the stage and now to podcast in their New Podcast Series Word For Wordcast. The new podcast series launched in September with The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster. Word For Wordcast now expands with three new podcasts. On December 28 The 14 Mission by Anita Cabrera posts to Word for Word's site, on January 14 & 21 2021 Citizen by Greg Sarris goes up with Books & Roses by Helen Oyeyemi posting in three parts February 14, 21 & 28 2021. All podcasts in the series include "deep dive interviews" with creators/artists and are and will be available at http://www.zspace.org/pod and on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

A program of Z Space, Word for Word brings works of literature to the stage and now to podcast, all performed verbatim by the multiple characters of the story. Word for Word's mission is to tell great stories with active theatricality, staging performances of classic and contemporary fiction. Instead of adapting a script, they use every word of a text in a dynamic, evocative style that preserves the original beauty of the prose. Over the last twenty five years Word for Word has performed short stories of over 100 writers, ranging from Alice Munro to Amy Tan, Tobias Wolff, and James Baldwin.

Word for Word believes in the power of the short story to provide solace, compassion, and insight into our daily lives.

The 14 Mission by Anita Cabrera Release Date: December 28, 2020

Directed by Stephanie Hunt

In Anita Cabrera's story The 14 Mission on Christmas Day, a man takes the 14 Mission Bus to visit his best friend. The man remembers his own former life as a drunken outcast, a man so troubled he is thrown off the bus he is now riding. As he rides from his room in the Tenderloin toward Mission and 16th, he considers what he owes his friend. It was the second story featured in Word for Word's Short Story Festival.The cast features Robert Ernst,* ** Rosie Hallett*, Dorian Lockett,* ** Alexander Pannullo*, Amy Prosser,* ** Jomar Tagatac*, Michael Torres,* ** with sound design by Drew Yerys *Member, AEA **Member, SAG/AFTR

Anita Cabrera (Writer) is a San Francisco-based teacher and editor whose fiction, essays and poetry examine themes of family, addiction, and redemption. Her work has appeared in the Berkeley Poetry Review, Berkeley Fiction Review, Colere, Brain,Child Magazine, MER, Acentos Review, Litro, and RavensPerch. Her short story "That Thing" received The New Guard's 2017 Machigonne Fiction Award and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. The characters and events in "The 14 Mission" are inspired by real people who inspired the writer.

The 14 Mission Team

Stephanie Hunt (Director) is an actor, director, and teacher. Stephanie has acted in over a dozen stories with Word for Word, playing Lizzie Borden in Angela Carter's The Fall River Axe Murders, the Speedometer in Upton Sinclair's Oil! and Lady Gregory in Colm Tóibín's Silence. With Word for Word, she directed Edward P. Jones' All Aunt Hagar's Children, Tobias Wolff's Bullet in the Brain and Lady's Dream, and Cornell Woolrich's noir thriller Angel Face. In 2011, she directed students in a production of the Alice Munro short story "The View from Castle Rock". She is a lecturer, teaching acting and voice, at both the University of San Francisco and Stanford University. Stephanie is inspired by theater rich with ensemble spirit and the use of heightened language. She is a Company Member of Word for Word.

Drew Yerys, (Sound Designer) has designed sound for Word for Word's All Aunt Hagar's Children, The Mousetrap (Ross Valley Players), Hookman (Encore), Hundred Days (Z Space/Encore/piece by piece), Five Flights (Rattlestick/Encore) He is Technical Director and Stagecraft Teacher at Marin Academy, and was Director of Production at Z Space.

Actors: *AEA **SAG/AFTRA

Robert Ernst (Ron/Gypsy) is a co-founder of The Iowa Theater Lab (1968-1972).His first solo performance was at 2019 Blake St. in Berkeley in 1973, and 1975, he co-founded The Blake St. Hawkeyes, a theater collective devoted to ensemble and the development of original works. During this time, he also created a half dozen more solo works. In 1984, he won a Dramalogue for best director and best over-all production for the musical, Tokens, a 65-person cast, which was performed at Z Space. In 1987, he performed a solo that lasted for 24 hours and 12 minutes, voted one of the "Best 10" performances of the year. His pocket opera, Catherine's Care at Alter-Theater was voted Best of the Year by The Guardian in 2007. Recently, he has had a solo show, towards/ away, produced at the San Francisco International Arts Festival, as well as his original piece, The Buck and Bill Show, a theatrical episodic, at the Above Ground Festival. More traditionally, he has appeared in Road (Eureka Theater Co.), Speed of Darkness (Berkeley Rep) King-fish, Playland, People's Temple, The Late Henry Moss (Magic Theatre),The Time of Your Life (A.C.T., Seattle Rep), and Glengarry Glenn Ross (Arizona Rep). He also appeared in Word for Word's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner in 2019. * **

Rosie Hallett (Sherri/Ensemble) is grateful to be giving voice to these characters! She has appeared in Word for Word's productions of Smut, Stories by Emma Donoghue and Colm Tóibín, In Friendship (on tour), and You Know When the Men Are Gone, as well as in Off the Page readings. Rosie is a Stanford graduate and a company member of Playground. *

Dorian Lockett (Bus Driver/Ensemble) is extremely happy to once again play with Z Space! He is an Oakland native, having performed all over the Bay Area and abroad. You can see him next in the Pixar film Soul, let's see if you can figure which one he is. Have fun enjoy the show!!! * **

Alexander Pannullo (Skinhead Ed/Ensemble) is excited to be returning back to the Bay Area. His regional theatre credits include Mud Blue Sky (Jonathan) and Junie B Jones Is Not a Crook (Handsome Warren) at the B Street Theatre. Some of his favorite roles include George (Our Town) , Peter (Diary of Anne Frank) and Seymour (Little Shop of Horrors). He was last seen touring in France for the 25th Anniversary of Word for Word. *

Amy Prosser (Mother/ Ensemble)has an MFA from The National Theatre Conservatory and is a proud member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA. She has performed with regional theatres across the country and starred in the independent film, Superpowerless. Her play, Things Reveal Themselves Passing Away, had its world premiere in San Francisco in 2016. Amy has been a teaching artist for BAM, Symphony Space, Hamptons Shakespeare Festival, Jewish Community High School of the Bay, and TheatreWorks. She is the Education Coordinator for Word for Word. * **

Jomar Tagatac (Melvin) was most recently seen in SF Playhouse's most recent streaming production of ART where he played Marc. Other credits include George in The Language Archive (Theatreworks), Quang in Vietgone (Capital Stage), Mr. Botard in Rhinoceros (A.C.T), Actor 1 in King of the Yees (San Francisco Playhouse), Jacques in As You Like It (CalShakes), Perlita/General Ledesma in Dogeaters (The Magic Theater), multiple roles in You For Me For You (Crowded Fire Theater), and is a company member with Playground. Jomar is a graduate from San Diego State University and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from American Conservatory Theater. *

Michael Torres (Pelican Pete), was last seen in The Importance of Being Earnest at the Aurora Theater. In '96, he co-founded Campo Santo where he originated roles for Dave Eggers, Denis Johnson, Jose Rivera, Jessica Hagedorn, Octavio Solis and more. An award winning actor, Michael has played at The Shotgun Players, Crowded Fire, Word for Word, Berkeley Repertory, Teatro Campesino, California Shakespeare, The Magic, TheatreFirst, among others, and has toured the U.S.A. and Europe in shows. Recently, he co-directed with Elaina Wright (nomination for Best Directors from TBA) The Farm by Jon Tracy for TheatreFirst. Filmwise, you can see him in About Cherry as Po and as Crow in The Other Barrio. Michael is the Chair of the Laney College Theatre Arts Department where he founded The Fusion Theatre Project. Michael holds a BA from San Francisco State and an MFA from the University of California at San Diego. * **

*Member, Actors Equity Association **Member, SAG-AFTRA

Citizen by Greg Sarris Release Dates (two parts) January 14 & 21 2021

Directed by Gendell Hing-Hernández

Citizen tells the tale of Salvador, born in the U.S., but raised in Mexico, son of an American mother and Mexican father. He has returned to the U.S. to find his mother, or rather her grave. In the process, he discovers his true identity, and what it means to belong.The cast features Carlos Aguirre, Carolyn Dunn, Marie-Claire Erdynast, Rodrigo García, Edie Flores, Regina Morones, and Ryan Tasker. Citizen Sound Design and Original Music by David R. Molina, with Beatbox by Carlos Aguirre and Hip-hop by Ras K'Dee

Author Greg Sarris is currently serving his thirteenth term as Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. He holds the Graton Rancheria Endowed Chair in Writing and Native American Studies at Sonoma State University, and his publications include Keeping Slug Woman Alive: A Holistic Approach to American Indian Texts(1993), Grand Avenue (1994), and Watermelon Nights (1999). Greg lives and works in Sonoma County. Visit his website at www.greg-sarris.com.

Books & Roses by Helen Oyeyemi Release dates 2/14, 21 & 28 2021

Directed by Michael French

The cast features Rotimi Agbabiaka, Sofia Ahbad, Leontyne Mbele-Mbong, Brian Rivera, Megan Trout, and Jeunée Simon. Dramaturgy: Lindsay Jenkins.

Previous Wordcast stories posted

The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster Posted in three parts on 9/17/20, 9/24/20, and 10/1/20 2020

Directed by Gendell Hing-Hernández with

Written in 1909, E.M. Forster's "The Machine Stops" is a dystopian look at the future, where everyone lives underground, is controlled by "The Machine," and communicates with each other over vast distances through glowing blue plates.Forster's views as a secular humanist are at the heart of his work, which often depicts the pursuit of personal connections in spite of the restrictions of contemporary society.

The cast for"The Machine Stops" features Carla Gallardo, Susan Harloe*, David Moore*, Brian Rivera* **, Ryan Tasker,*with sound design by David R. Molina the *AEA **SAG/AFTRA

To Listen to New Podcast Series Word For Wordcast

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WORD for WORDcast on the radio

The Word For Wordcast podcast is being broadcast by select radio partners. To date we have worked with the following stations. We will update this section with broadcast schedules when available.

KSFP - 102.5 FM (San Francisco) - sfpublicpress.org/ksfp/

KACR-LP - 96.1 FM (Alameda) - alamedacommunityradio.org

KALW - 91.7 FM (Berkeley) - kalw.org - KALW's Open Air program will feature the story sections of the WORD for WORDcast's "The Machine Stops" by E.M. Forster. Broadcasting on 1/7/21, 1/14/21 and 1/21/21 (all Thursdays) at 1 PM.