WWTNS? To Host Free Writing Workshop And Performance As Part Of THE CITY's MISSING THEM Virtual Memorial Event

What Will the Neighbors Say? has announced they are pairing with THE CITY, a nonprofit news organization covering New York City, for their annual winter community arts event. WWTNS? will curate a free public writing workshop, "Writing Your Grief and Celebrating Life," as part of THE CITY'S "MISSING THEM" virtual memorial event. The WWTNS? team will then turn the generated text from the workshop into a digital performance project, open to all, to remember and celebrate the lives cut short by the pandemic. The workshop will take place Saturday December 12th, from 10am-12.30pm, and the performance on Sunday December 13th, from 2.30pm-4.00pm. Both events are FREE but sign up is required.

"MISSING THEM" is a virtual memorial event, held online December 11th-13th, to tell and listen to stories about those felled by the coronavirus. The goal: to remember and celebrate lives at a time when the pandemic has changed the way we say goodbye. The free event marks an extension of THE CITY's ambitious "MISSING THEM" project, an effort to name every New Yorker lost to the coronavirus and tell a story about them. THE CITY is inviting families and friends to share something - a memory, a song lyric, a poem or whatever feels appropriate - to honor those no longer with them. Their hope is that telling these stories will, in some small way, create avenues of connection and bring some comfort for those speaking and those bearing witness. Alongside WWTNS?, other partners include the Brooklyn Public Library, the Local Voices Network, Re-Imagine and the Interfaith Center of New York.

The WWTNS? team will guide attendees through a cathartic process, delivered in both English and Spanish, which will help people generate poetry, monologues and diary entries. After the workshop, in the space of just 24 hours, the WWTNS? team will edit the material into a script, and present it digitally with actors, as well as a soon to be announced musical guest. Performers include Co-Artistic Directors James Clements and Ana Cristina DaSilva, as well as Yvette Lu, Kayla Yee, Marnie Ponce, Matt Greenberg, Alexis Ingram, Melannie Vásquez Lara, Derya Celikkol, Xavier Reyes, Pablo Calderón-Santiago and Brigitte Williamson.

"The Neighbors are proud to support and uplift the important and meaningful work of THE CITY," noted Clements. "We so admire the work they have done for the people of New York throughout this pandemic," added DaSilva. "We are honoured to contribute a space for everyone to express themselves through art, language and creative therapy," stated fellow Co-Artistic Director Sam Hood Adrain. "We believe that art has tremendous power to heal, and advocate for the creative potential of each and every individual," added Jorge Morales Picó.