square product theatre Presents the Regional Premiere of THE BOX MARKED BLACK
By: BWW News Desk Jan. 24, 2017
Boulder-based square product theatre presents the Regional Premiere of Damaris Webb's solo show "The Box Marked Black: Tales from a Halfrican American Growing up Mulatto (with Sock Puppets)!" in Boulder and Denver. The play, which has been produced at venues across the U.S., will enjoy a limited run Feb. 23-25 at the Boulder Creative Collective Warehouse in Boulder, and March 2-4 at Buntport Theater in Denver. The play will be presented in rep with Hoarded Stuff Performance's World Premiere of "Practicing," created and performed by Laura Ann Samuelson.
Portland, Ore.-based artist Damaris Webb's "The Box Marked Black: Tales from a Halfrican American Growing Up Mulatto (with Sock Puppets!)" traces the experience of growing up biracial in the pre-Huxtable era. The autobiographical solo theater piece incorporates dance and song to weave a narrative from the perspective of both sides of Webb's interracial family. Webb embodies multiple characters to bring her childhood memories and fantasies to life, including a not-to-be-missed "Roots" re-enactment, performed exclusively by sock puppets.
"We're thrilled to be able to bring Damaris Webb to Colorado to perform 'The Box Marked Black,'" said square product Producing Artistic Director Emily K. Harrison. "I saw a works in progress showing of the piece several years ago, and found it both hilarious and poignant. Damaris is an incredible performer and I believe that Boulder in particular, as a very white community, needs to engage in the sorts of conversations that works like 'The Box Marked Black' can make possible."
"The Box Marked Black: Tales from a Halfrican American Growing up Mulatto (with Sock Puppets!)" is the second production of square product theatre's 11th Season, a thematic season focused on issues of Power and Privilege. "Our first production of the season was a remount of the Neo-Futurists' '44 Plays for 44 Presidents,' which we first produced in 2012, and this season, produced in collaboration with the University of Colorado's Department of Theatre & Dance with an amazing all student cast," notEd Harrison. "For that production, we partnered with the Boulder branch of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) to host a conversation on race and politics. For 'The Box Marked Black,' we're hosting a community conversation around issues of 'the other,' with a focus on the damage caused by a lack of inclusion and equal representation. We're excited to engage in these conversations with our community and the incredible panelists we have lined up," Harrison said.
"I am honored to share this work with the Boulder and Denver community, and excited to return to the Front Range, where this piece was first conceived," said creator and performer Damaris Webb, who lived in Boulder from 2006-2008. "The chance to engage the people of Boulder socially as well as artistically, and learn about the experiences of those living and working in Boulder is something I'm really looking forward to."
About Damaris Webb:
Damaris Webb is a performer, theater maker and teaching artist, based in Portland, Oregon. Webb's work lives in the intersection of contemplative dance, improvisational performance art, and contemporary theater, and is often seen in non-traditional performance venues such as late night parties, warehouses and church basements. Her work is sometimes epic and may involve zombies or superheroes or sock puppets. As a director and producer, Webb is concerned with inspiring and supporting others to engage in conversation to articulate a vision of the world they want to live in, and to take community action in making it manifest.
Damaris recently returned home to her native Portland after 26 years of making and producing work in New York City. In Portland, Webb serves as the co-founder and director of Portland's The Vanport Mosaic, a collective of artists, storytellers, educators and media makers seeking to engage the public in remembering the silenced histories of the Pacific Northwest.
Formerly the Artist Director of NY's The Tennessee Project, Webb was responsible for more than 10 seasons of original and pre-scripted works exploring everything from Shakespeare to comic book superheroes. Webb was also responsible for the longest running Zombie Walk in NYC, co-founded Portland's Solstice Starlight Parade (a grassroots parade happening), and often performed around NYC with The Modern Dance Awareness Society. Damaris served as a coach for PlayWrite Inc. and The August Wilson Monologue Competition, as well as a master teaching artist with NY based Enact.
She regularly offers workshops for the performer in the art of Deep Play, Composition and Viewpoints Practice through Portland's Be Space.
Webb holds an MFA in Theatre: Contemporary Performance from Naropa University and a BFA in Acting from New York University's Experimental Theatre Wing.
square product theatre's Mission: The mission of award winning, Boulder-based square product theatre is to engage in radical acts of inquiry that leave an audience with just as many questions as answers. For more information on square product theatre, visit squareproducttheatre.org
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