Both And (A Play About Laughing While Black) at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

Don’t miss this rare and extraordinary piece of theater, conceived, written, and performed by Carolyn Ratteray. Through clowning, poetic text, and a tour-de-force performance, Both And (A Play About Laughing While Black) deeply investigates the nucleus of Black joy. As her mother is dying, Teayanna finds herself in a netherworld between life and death as she struggles to help her mother cross over.  The journey reveals the wisdom of the ancestors, invokes the legacy of the Middle Passage, and unfolds the surprising secrets within her mother’s purse. This unique and powerful story, rich with humor, raw honesty, and passion, becomes a brilliant meditation on how to reconnect with joy.