BLACKBESTFRIEND: All Black Femme Team Of Theatre Revolutionaries Bring Juneteenth Celebration

On Juneteenth (June 19th, 2021) at 6:19 pm, the revolution will be on time. What began as a series of private, exploratory and development workshops between four Black Femme Philadelphia-based theatre artists, has now exploded into a revolutionary virtual theatrical event geared to uplift Black Femme voices and provide a space that elevates Black friendship and ingenuity.

BlackBestFriend is an honest, soul-searching fight against white supremacy culture. Created by award winning playwright- director-performer Alexandra Espinoza, BlackBestFriend is part fantasia, part group therapy and part messy revenge play about a group of Black Femmes who recruit an army of like minded Black Femmes who must break up with their white best friends in order to realize their personal and collective liberation.

"I thought (BlackBestFriend) was going to be a two character, traditionally structured play about a Black Femme and her white best friend who had just finished reading White Supremacy and Me", Espinoza says, "but the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and the ongoing violence against Black lives inspired me to think bigger." That's when Espinoza gathered core collaborators Nikki Brake-Sillá, Anita Holland, and Brie Knight into a zoom room to explore each of their relationships with their own white friends and navigating white institutions through a series of free writes, journaling, improvisations, and guided meditations. With the goal of healing and redefining independence, the four collaborators felt empowered after each exploratory gathering and wanted to share the BlackBestFriend space with other Black Femmes and BIPOC folx.

By empowering and uplifting each other, a revolution was born and the BlackBestFriend production came to fruition. With the goal of performing a live stream of BlackBestFriend to a BIPOC only audience on Juneteenth, BlackBestFriend will be available for all audiences via stream June 20th through June 26th, each night at 6:19pm. Every performance is free and a pay what you can donation is suggested.

Produced by Alexandra Espinoza and Brie Knight, BlackBestFriend features the performing talents of Anita Holland, Donovan Lockett, Kishia Nixon, and Vanessa Ogbuehi. Virtual Design by Nikki Brake-Sillá. Scenic and Object Design by Sara Outing. Costume Design by Teal Knight. Stage Manager. Leslie Ann Boyden. Artistic Associates Sumiaya Nafeesah and Shatiana Rivera .

Learn more at www.bbfphilly.com/streaming.

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