Houston Theater Actress Creates 'Radical Awakenings: Recognizing Racism And White Privilege'

Radical Awakenings: Recognizing Racism and White Privilege is a new experimental theater workshop by local actor Candice D'Meza designed as a brave space to practice anti-racism. The workshop uses arts-based strategies to create an invasive, experiential environment to assist participants in the uncovering and unpacking of personal experiences related to race, allyship, and empathy. The dates for the workshops are ongoing, with dates continuously being added. Tickets are scaled for accessibility. To learn more or reserve tickets, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/radical-awakenings-recognizing-racism-and-white-privilege-tickets-107764047166

Candice D'Meza has been a mainstay of the Houston theater scene. We've seen D'Meza as the pregnant factory worker in The Alley Theatre's "Skeleton Crew", a rat-killing, singing Liliputian in "Small Ball" with Catastrophic Theater, and as a man on a boat in "Men on Boats" at Main Street Theater. Yet, there is another theater role that she has taken on as of late: Theater Activist.

Last year, Candice was a recipient of the 2019 Let Creativity Happen grant from the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance for the theater workshop called "Radical Awakenings: Recognizing Racism and White Privilege". Inspired by Augusto Boal's Theater of the Oppressed framework, D'Meza wanted to develop a way to engage with topics of race, not just by reading or listening, but by doing:"Racism is a social problem, and we can only solve it in community with each other. Theater gives us the tools to use our imagination to imagine new solutions to our problems."

Although conceived in 2019, the success of the workshop's launch in April 2020 was impacted by two serious events: COVID-19 and the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. What was initially intended to be a 4 hour in-person experience, had to be adapted for online delivery. Enrollment grew as people around the globe were forced to stay home due to the pandemic. Although this was initially designed for Houstonians, registrants have been from all around the nation-and the world.

D'Meza, who has a Bachelors in Black Studies and a Masters in Public Administration from Cal State Long Beach, has been pleasantly surprised by the responses to the workshop. "Prior to this workshop, I would be contacted by a lot of folks asking what they could do about racism. Most of the responses I receive to this work are gratitude for having a place to actively practice being anti-racist, in real time. Right now, we need that more than ever." Eventbrite has officially supported her work by featuring it in their Racial Equity and Allyship Workshops section and making the workshop more accessible by waiting Eventbrite ticketing and credit card fees.

To learn more about D'Meza's work, visit www.candicedmeza.com.

Next Dates

August 6th from 7-10pm CST. Via Zoom

August 7th from 7-10pm CST. Via Zoom

Tickets

Sliding Scale tickets for Accessibility.

To learn more about these workshops or to register for one of the workshops, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/radical-awakenings-recognizing-racism-and-white-privilege-tickets-107764047166

Private workshops for organizations or groups are also available. To schedule, email Candice D'Meza at iamcandicelaine@gmail.com.