Rattlestick Playwrights Theater Announces Online Programming for August

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater has announced several online events taking place in August that speak to the organization's mission to provoke conversations that lead to positive social change. Rattlestick is aware it is the responsibility of cultural institutions to create structures that defy, subvert, and dismantle biased traditions and practices. It is working to overturn these trends and build anti-racist and anti-oppressive practices into the foundation of its work.

On Monday, August 10 at 5pm, Rattlestick will host "Witnessing Whiteness," a community conversation that will lead participants to a collective understanding of Whiteness, acknowledge the history of white supremacy, and work to identify how this construct operates systemically, institutionally, and individually. The conversation is part of an ongoing series of community engagement events that will help participants develop strategies for confronting racism and bigotry. Participants will be asked how we - BIPOC, white people, queer people, rich people, poor people, human people - can make a practice to better understand and name how whiteness operates within ourselves and hold ourselves accountable to noticing it in others. The conversation will be hosted by Racial Equity Consultant Samuel Morreale.

On Tuesday, August 11, at 3pm, Rattlestick will host a virtual salon, "Spotlight on Critics of Color," with panelists Jose Solís (theater critic, co-creator and co-host of Token Theatre Friends) David John Chávez (Bay Area critic for the Mercury News), Juan Michael Porter II (dance and theater critic for Broadway World and The Observer), and Diep Tran (NYC culture critic and editor). Please join us for an in-depth conversation on approaches to criticism and the panel's response to the state of the theater now and in the future.

On Thursday, August 13, at 5pm, Rattlestick will host a free online reading of In the Southern Breeze, a new play by Jiréh Breon Holder (Too Heavy For Your Pocket) and directed by Christopher D. Betts. When a runaway slave gets lost in a mysterious forest, an absurdist drama ensues. In the Southern Breeze offers a challenging look at how our society has treated and continues to treat African American men. The cast includes Curt Morlaye (Lockdown), Terrence Riggins, Justin Sams (When We Rise), Tanisha Thompson, and Travis Turner (Some Assembly Required). A post-show discussion on the themes of the play will be facilitated by Robert Pollock.

Online reservations are encouraged. Please visit rattlestick.org for more information.