Oakland's First Poet Laureate Joins Cast Of Roe V. Wade Theater Project

Remote Theater, an award-winning online theater company born at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, today announced that local theater artist Ayodole Nzinga - Oakland's first Poet Laureate - has joined the cast of THE CHOICE, an online anthology of seven short plays about the rise and fall of Roe v. Wade. The event will premiere on November 5 at 4 p.m. PT, the Saturday before Election Day.

The anthology features the work of three African-American women playwrights whose work represents a range of storytelling styles and subject matter relating to the African American experience.

"Nzinga's voice and experience in the theater community is one-of-a-kind," said Gio Rene Rodriguez, co-founder of Remote. "Her contribution to this production adds both experience and depth to an amazing roster of artists we are so fortunate to have gathered."

Nzinga is a multi-hyphenated creative with five decades of art service in Oakland, Ca. She is the founder of Lower Bottom Playaz, Inc., the oldest North American African company in Oakland, recognized in 2012 as the only theater company in the world to produce the August Wilson American Century Cycle in chronological order; Nzinga also founded the Lower Bottom Playaz Summer Theater Day Camp, a free summer youth program in 2007. Inducted into the Alameda County Women's Hall of Fame in 2017, Nzinga is a Helen Crocker Russell Arts Leadership fellow alumnae, a Mapfund fellow, VOICES Journalism fellow alumnae, and a Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 10, 2021-2022 fellow. Nzinga is co-founder of Janga's House, a Black Women Interdisciplinary Arts collective, and a founding member of BlacSpace, a collective of women leaders invested in securing privately owned and publicly held space for cultural making. Ayodele produced Oakland's first Black Theater Festival, and she currently produces BAMBDFEST International Biennial, a month-long arts and culture festival anchored in the Black Arts Movement District in Oakland. Nzinga is the founder of BAMBD CDC, a grassroots community development corporation responsible for creating over $30 million in community opportunities through precedent-setting community benefits agreements. Her efforts helped regrant over $200,000 directly to the community.

"I'm delighted to work with this incredible group of artists on THE CHOICE," said Nzinga. "I feel at home on stage and it is my passion and duty to share this important message during such a critical juncture in American history."

Remote's commitment to civic conversation

In 2021, Remote was honored by the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle (BATCC) for "its distinguished work online while live theater was closed during the pandemic." Styled after Remote's January production, INSURRECTION - which examined the events of January 6, 2021 - THE CHOICE seeks to bring greater understanding to an ongoing conflict in American civic life by dramatizing stories from diverse perspectives, featuring thirty artists with regional, national, and global reputations.

"Our last production, 'Insurrection', drew a large audience and showed the power of a multi-author approach when looking at a controversial issue," said Rodriguez. "It's a way to inspire brilliant writing at a time when an empathetic look at people across ideological divides is sorely needed."

To register at no cost for THE CHOICE, visit https://bit.ly/3cN7xBM.

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