Two New Plays About Hurricane Katrina Set for 2017 Vanport Mosaic Festival

Two new plays about Hurricane Katrina will play the 2017 Vanport Mosaic Festival.

Mike Jones' HERCULES DIDN'T WADE IN THE WATER (directed by Damaris Webb) begins on a rooftop in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, where two men are stranded after traveling to the city to find work. As the story unfolds we see the personal and systemic forces that have led them to be so far from home as they cling to life, surrounded by murky water, festered with disease and the unknown literally and metaphorically.

Don Glenn's AMERICAN SUMMER SQUASH (directed by Jocelyn Seid) tells the story of a family that have followed their Patriarch, Rev. Ratliff Blount, to his original hometown in rural East Texas to wait out the storm. Homeless like millions of others, Ratcliff now realizes he has been displaced twice: the people of his old hometown are all gone, and with them the Native American culture and language of his youth.

The Vanport Mosaic is committed to offering these new works to Portland audiences as together we grapple with gentrification, homelessness, and the question of what responsibilities are tied to our individual privileges. We look forward to creating dialogue that reflects the diversity of the city, building engaged community, and healing discussion.

IF YOU GO:

Six Public Performances. Offered as part of the 2017 Vanport Mosaic Festival:

The Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center 5340 N Interstate Ave, Portland, OR 97217

Friday 5/26 @ 7pm, Saturday 5/27 @ 7pm, Sunday 5/28 @ 2pm**

Friday 6/2 @ 7pm, Saturday 6/3 @ 7pm, Sunday 6/4 @ 2pm

**(with curated post show conversation)

Tickets: www.vanportmosaic.org

With: La'Tevin Alexander, Anthony Armstrong, Arlena Barnes, Kenneth Dembo, Jasper Howard, Eric Island, Rickey Junior, Anya Pearson*, Seth Rue, Andrea Vernae and Damaris Webb

Stage Management: Jory Bowers* & Judith Yeckel, Costume Design: Wanda Walden, Technical Direction: Lara A. Klingeman

The Vanport Mosaic is a collective of artists, historians, educators and media makers seeking to engage the public in remembering the silenced histories of the Pacific Northwest to better understand our present.

For more information, email info@vanportmosaic.org, visit www.vanportmosaic.org or call 971-319-0156.

* Courtesy of Actor's Equity Association

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