ArtsEmerson Announces MR. JOY: THE 2018 NEIGHBORHOOD TOUR

ArtsEmerson and partners proudly present the return of Mr. Joy: The Neighborhood Tour, a series of free theatre performances throughout the Boston area of Daniel Beaty's Mr. Joy, a play that explores issues of race and class in America to help us find our common humanity. Directed by David Dower and performed by Adobuere Ebiama, public performances are May 5 and 6at Bunker Hill Community College (Charlestown), May 8 at Scituate High School(in collaboration with The Scituate METCO Program), May 15 at Roxbury Community College (Roxbury), and May 19 at BCYF Jackson/Mann Community Center (Allston). For this, its second iteration, Mr. Joy will again tour to four communities as a prompt for new audiences to engage with its themes and each other through facilitated post-performance conversations. Tickets to all performances on the tour are free; however, due to limited space, advance reservations are strongly encouraged. Tickets may be reserved at www.ArtsEmerson.org or by calling 617.824.8400.

Mr. Joy was originally produced by ArtsEmerson in the Emerson Paramount Center in October of 2015. The play's themes of 'transforming pain into power' - a signature concept of playwright Daniel Beaty - strongly resonated with Boston audiences both through sold-out performances and provocative post-show conversations. The experience of the play became a catalyst to begin important discussions on race, class and community, and ArtsEmerson responded by touring the production as part its ongoing commitment to help transform Boston's reputation, and reality, around race.

April 2017 marked the first iteration of the Mr. Joy: The Neighborhood Tour and ArtsEmerson joined forces with the Mayor's Office of Resilience and Racial Equity and community partners in the Boston neighborhoods of Hyde Park, Allston, East Boston, and Dorchester. Together with the city, audiences both saw the play in their own neighborhoods and participated in post-performance discussions on its themes.

"When we opened Mr. Joy in 2015," shares ArtsEmerson Artistic Director David Dower, "we did not anticipate the demand it would spark as a tool to open minds and hearts in fostering conversation about race, citizenship, and community. We received requests from all over the region asking for local performances of Mr. Joyto align with their own community efforts in facing the challenges around difference. We are indebted to both writer Daniel Beaty and performer Adobuere Ebiama for being willing answer the call each time."

May 2018 marks the second iteration of the tour with a return visit to the Boston neighborhood of Allston (in partnership with BCYF Jackson/Mann Community Center), and to three new locations including Bunker Hill Community College in Charlestown, Roxbury Community College's Media Arts Center, and the state-of-the-art Scituate Center for the Performing Arts at Scituate High School (opened 2017). Scituate not only represents the first expansion of the tour into the suburbs, but also was presented as a first-year partnership opportunity by METCO, Inc. (The Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity), the voluntary, inter-district school assignment program dedicated to increasing diversity and reducing racial isolation. Further, this year's tour is also in partnership with the City of Boston's Office of Arts and Culture.

"We're proud to partner with ArtsEmerson on the 2018 Mr. Joy tour," shares Julie Burros, Boston's Chief of Arts & Culture. "We support ArtsEmerson's work in Boston's neighborhoods and beyond -- using the universal messages of Mr. Joy to help foster progressive and productive discussions in communities."

"Roxbury Community College is thrilled to partner with ArtsEmerson to host this outstanding play," says Vice President of Advancement and Community Engagement Lorita Williams. "Mr. Joy shows that race and cultural background don't prevent real integration into a tight knit community. I've seen Mr. Joy; and, without giving away the ending, you leave the play realizing the Mr. Joy is an integral member of the community he lives in, even though he's quite different from his neighbors. In these troubling times, this message of unity is invaluable."

"The Boston-Scituate partnership has been in existence for 50 years now through the METCO program," shares Heidi Harris-Lemmel, Director-Scituate METCO Program, Scituate Public Schools. "As a collective, we are open to engaging in difficult conversations that challenges us to continually examine our belief systems."

What happened to Mr. Joy? A Harlem community is shaken when Mr. Joy, a Chinese immigrant whose shoe repair shop has been a neighborhood pillar for decades, is the victim of an attack. Through the lens of Mr. Joy's customers, from the bubbly eleven-year-old Clarissa (who captured everyone's heart in Daniel Beaty's Emergency) to the sincere and savvy "gangsta granny" Bessie, we learn the profound yet unassuming impact the shop owner has had on each of their lives. Playwright and ArtsEmerson artist-in-residence Daniel Beaty (Breath & Imagination, Emergency) returns with another moving reflection on transforming pain into power, this time through the virtuosic performance by actress Adobuere Ebiama. A poignant, funny and stirring solo piece, Mr. Joy invites us to consider how we respond to violence as individuals and as a community, and the power of the invisible ties that bind us all. The 2018 tour is funded in part by the Mabel Louise Riley Foundation and the Boston Cultural Council.

ArtsEmerson.org

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