'TASHA and New Works Festival Debut at the End of February in San Francisco

San Francisco's 3Girls Theatre Company returns to a full schedule of live performances for the first time since March of 2020, when their New Works Festival-literally only days away from taking the stage-was shut down by the pandemic.

First out the gate will be the organization's long brewing production of 'Tasha, written by Black playwright, activist and former Oakland Mayoral candidate Cat Brooks. Brooks, who looks to the late Ntozake Shange and her play For Colored Girls ... as an inspiration both in general and especially for 'Tasha, began writing the play in 2015. 'Tasha finally debuts it its entirety when it opens on February 24 only weeks after the death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis.

'Tasha

The story of Natasha Mckenna who at the age of 37 died while in custody at a jail in Fairfax Virginia is the basis for 'Tasha. The play is based on years of research and rewrites by playwright Cat Brooks who says, "Natasha started talking so loudly I had to get up and write what she was saying."

This one-woman play explores Natasha's life and murder at the hands of law enforcement using a taser from the point of view of several characters both real (Natasha's mother, Sheriff Stacey Kincaid, Fairfax' Sherriff now and then, and Natasha herself), as well as imagined (the nurse who declared Natasha dead, and an activist fighting against police brutality in Fairfax County.) Mckenna who was in a mental health crisis at the time is quoted in the play saying "You promised you wouldn't kill me" only 30 minutes before her death by stun gun.

Begun in 2015 (the same year Natasha died), Brooks brought the work into several of 3GT's development programs who ended up sending both Brooks and her creative partner, 'Tasha dramaturg and director Dr. Ayodele Nzinga to speak with of those close to Natasha and inquire further about the circumstances surrounding her death. The results of those interviews were incorporated into the final script.

"I deeply believe in spirit and ancestors, says Brooks. I feel like Natasha chose me. And this was a story that for whatever reason, I was the vessel to tell it."

Counting Lorraine Hansberry, James Baldwin, Malcolm X, Amiri Baraka, but especially Ntozake Shange who also called Oakland home and wrote the seminal and groundbreaking, For Colored Girls among her influences she notes, "The influence of poets who help us see the world and what is worth fighting for is in all my work."

Brooks not only ran for Mayor of Oakland in 2018, but also co-founded the Anti Police-Terror Project (APTP) to rapidly respond to state violence in communities of color. She is also the Executive Director of The Justice Teams Network (JTN), a project in partnership with Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors.

Brooks's partner in the creation of the 'Tasha as director and dramaturg is Oakland's first Poet Laureate, Dr. Ayodele Nzinga - also known as WordSlanger. Among her many other accomplishments, Nzinga is recognized by the August Wilson House as the only director in the world to complete the August Wilson Century Cycle in chronological order.

More information on Cat Brooks can be found HERE
More information on Ayodele Nzinga can be found HERE

'Tasha Schedule
Friday, 2/24 @ 7:30pm (Opening Night)
Saturday, 2/25 @ 7:30pm
Sunday, 2/26 @ 2pm
Thursday, 3/2 @ 7:30pm
Friday, 3/3 @ 7:30pm
Saturday, 3/4 @ 7:30pm
Sunday, 3/5 @ 2pm
Thursday, 3/9 @ 7:30pm
Friday, 3/10 @ 7:30pm
Saturday, 3/11 @ 7:30pm
Sunday, 3/12 @ 2pm
Thursday, 3/16 @ 7:30pm
Friday, 3/17 @ 7:30pm
Saturday, 3/18 @ 7:30pm (Closing Night)

The New Works Festival

Showcasing 9 new works by women playwrights, all of whom have come up through the 3Girls Theatre development process, the New Works Festival begins after the opening of 'Tasha, and will run in tandem with it on alternate nights.

Founded by AJ Baker in 2011 to foster development and performance opportunities to Bay Area Women playwrights, Baker officially turned over the reins to the organization to 3GT's Program Directors Pamela Hollings, Cat Brooks and Tina D'Elia in early 2022. It is they who will bring both 'Tasha and the New Works Festival into port in 2023. The festival will honor Baker on its last day with a special "in community" reception for all that she has done to make the organization a continuing reality.

Opening on March 1 (less than a week after 'Tasha's opening night) the New Works Festival will feature 9 new works that find the strands of humor, drama and tragedy (sometimes all at once) in a variety of situations and contexts. All are presented as staged readings where a director has worked with the actors rehearsing and blocking in order to enhance the theatrical experience.

Admission to the New Works Festival, unlike 'Tasha, is FREE!

3GT's LezWritesBTQ Monologue Night with Tina D'Elia!: 3Girls Theatre celebrates the triumphant return of the New Works Festival with an evening of dramatic and comedic monologues curated and hosted by noted writer and performer Tina D'Elia. Always one of the most popular evenings of the festival, this year's crop of seasoned queer women, LGBTQ and non-binary writers and performers on Wednesday, 3/1 @ 7:30pm include:

• Grief counselor Celenia Delsol who is known for bringing in her real life experiences dealing with loss to her writing and performing in order to arrive at what she calls "radical acceptance," aka being with what is. https://celeniadelsol.com
  
• Writer and performer Julia Jackson's brand of recovery comedy looks for humor in blunt truths and the sometimes terrible things people do to themselves and/or others, without fear of reprisal. "It's hard to offend a room full of alcoholics or drug addicts because we have done it all!" https://www.recoverycomedy.com/promo-julia-jackson.html
  
• Margery Kreitman is the founder of LezWrites as well as a playwright and performer, whose most recent work found her navigating the perils of a month-long silent retreat and a blooming obsession with a young, self-righteous yogi she nicknamed Lululemon. http://margery-kreitman.squarespace.com
  
• College professor and writer Mickey Eliason refers to herself as a San Francisco-based beach bum. Her books include My Life as A Tree that explores the lessons to be learned through the use of nature analogies gleaned from trees, as well as two lesbian humor books. These include the Dyke Diagnostic Manual, a satire on the oddities of lesbian behavior in and out of relationships, such as lesbian fusion disorders, pet fetishes, and U-Haul syndrome. https://chss.sfsu.edu/eliason-honored-lifetime-achievement-award-excellence-scholarship-and-teaching
  
• If you are a writer performer as Edna Mira Raia is, having a respected colleague refer to you as "the reincarnation of Andy Kaufmann" as actor Michael Sommers did, you know you are onto something. Edna is all about bringing bold and provocative characters, styles, and storytelling to her life. https://www.potatoesmashed.com

3GT Investigates: Stolen Bodies on Stolen Land: Morning Star Gali and J. yAyA Porras, as part of the 3GT Investigates program, look to tell the untold stories of missing and murdered Native and Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit relatives throughout California, with an emphasis on those living in urban environments. Saturday, 3/4 @ 2pm

Dramaturgy and Representation: a Conversation: During its 2022 season, 3GT launched a new pilot project, a professional development workshop for BIPOC theater artists looking to become dramaturgs. In addition to a crash course on the subject participants then enjoyed a paid role as a dramaturg on a 3GT script-in-development. This panel will feature the BIPOC dramaturgs who participated in this along with the playwrights who worked with these fresh faces. Hosted by BIPOC Dramaturgy Workshop leaders (and acclaimed Black Bay Area dramaturgs) Amissa Miller and Leigh Rondon-Davis. Sunday, 3/5 @ 7:30pm

Meth: The testing of friendships over money and drugs in rural California is the main thrust in this piece described by its playwright Elizabeth Flanagan as a "tragedy with lots of humor." Tuesday, 3/7 @ 7:30pm

Next to the Last Box: Playwright Karen Caronna tells the story of Hollis, newly arrived at the Sunset Vista Villas who after finding herself attracted to Harold also finds herself competing for his affections with his wheelchair-bound wife (who also is a Villas resident!), dreaming of escape and among other things, scoring tickets to a Rolling Stones concert. Wednesday, 3/8 @ 7:30pm

3GT Investigates: Surviving Oakland: This project by Cat Brooks and Dr. Ayodele Nzinga who worked together on 'Tasha, intends to raise up the voices and untold stories of missing and murdered Black Women in connection with Oakland's place as major stop on the global human trafficking circuit. Saturday, 3/11 @ 2pm

Clara: This biographical comedy by Linda Ayres-Frederick is a one person play based on her grandmother who fled from the Ukraine to South America before making it to the States where she lived to be 106; there will be a recipe for cherry strudel and a few secrets to survival revealed along the way. Sunday, 3/12 @ 7:30pm

Ev'ryday Family: A non-traditional Black Family facing the everyday challenges of being Black and living in today's America with humor, bravery and an eye toward history in this play by Meja Pannell-Tyehimba. Tuesday, March 14 @ 7:30pm

The Pennsylvanian: This "drama with Bluegrass music" by Jennifer Roberts features siblings and musicians Pixie and Macon returning to the house they grew up in as members of a family band with a manipulative father at the helm. Wednesday, 3/15 @ 7:30pm

3GT Innovators: Burning Wild: created by Debórah Eliezer-who herself is a survivor of California's recent wildfires-and the Aviva Arts Ensemble in a devised performance that incorporates physical theater, dance, song, documentary video and puppetry to tell a story about land, displacement and renewal, created in response to the ecological crisis facing Northern California, and by extension, the world. Saturday, March 18 @ 2pm

Note: In honor of founder AJ Baker, 3Girls Theatre have put together an all-day special ticket that will include entry to Burning Wild in the afternoon, followed by a reception to publicly toast her in community for all she has done to make the organization a reality that continues to thrive. Ticket includes 'Tasha in the evening (its closing night performance).

What: 3 Girls Theatre Presents its New Works Festival
When: New Works Festival runs 3/1-3/18
Where: Z Below, 470 Florida Street, SF
Time: All evening performances @ 7:30pm; matinees at 2pm
Admission to the New Works Festival is FREE

To post a comment, you must register and login.