Presented January 14 & 21, 2021.
San Francisco theater company Word for Word continues their New Podcast Series Word For Wordcast with the new radio drama podcast of author and tribal leader Greg Sarris' short story Citizen going up on January 14 & 21 2021, available at http://www.zspace.org/pod and on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
All podcasts in the series include "deep dive interviews'' with creators/artists. Citizen tells the tale of Salvador, born in the U.S., raised in Mexico; son of an American Indian mother and a Mexican father. He has returned to California to find his mother, or rather, her grave. Working in the fields and ranches around Santa Rosa, he meets his mother's family, encountering both kindness and opportunism, as well as glimmers of hope. An American citizen, who speaks no English, Salvador procures his proof of citizenship and begins to discover his true identity, and what it means to belong.
Directed by Gendell Hing-Hernández the cast of Citizen features Carlos Aguirre, Carolyn Dunn, Marie-Claire Erdynast, Rodrigo García, Edie Flores, Regina Morones, and Ryan Tasker*. *AEA Citizen Sound Design and Original Music by David R. Molina, with Beatbox by Carlos Aguirre and Hip-hop by Ras K'Dee.
Author Greg Sarris is currently serving his thirteenth term as Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. He holds the Graton Rancheria Endowed Chair in Writing and Native American Studies at Sonoma State University, and his publications include Keeping Slug Woman Alive: A Holistic Approach to American Indian Texts(1993), Grand Avenue (1994), and Watermelon Nights (1999). Greg lives and works in Sonoma County. Visit his website at www.greg-sarris.com.
"When theaters closed their doors, Word for Word was invited to create a radio drama of a short story - live.This led to the creation of Word for Wordcast, a podcast audio drama series of recorded short stories in Word for Word's unique multi-voiced style. In this time the podcast seems the perfect way to deliver Word for Word's brand of storytelling - as an audio drama with the emphasis on language and great writing.. " remarks Susan Harloe co artistic director of Word for Word. "For "Citizen" by Greg Sarris we joined the combined talents of directors and actors from far and wide, Z Space staff production support, and great sound designers, we are able to make these performances available to our home audience as well as audiences all over the world."
Up in February on the new podcast Series Word For Wordcast is Books & Roses by Helen Oyeyemi posting in three parts February 14, 21 & 28 2021. Both a fairy tale and a remarkable love story, Books and Roses tells of Montserrat, a foundling left in a Catalonian chapel at the feet of Virgin de Montserrat. Her only possession is a key hanging on a golden chain around her neck, and a note. Podcasts in the series include "deep dive interviews'' with creators/artists and are and will be available at http://www.zspace.org/pod and on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
A program of Z Space, Word for Word brings works of literature to the stage and now to an audio drama podcast, all performed verbatim by the multiple characters of the story. Word for Word's mission is to tell great stories with active theatricality, staging performances of classic and contemporary fiction. Instead of adapting a script, they use every word of a text in a dynamic, evocative style that preserves the original beauty of the prose. Over the last twenty five years Word for Word has performed short stories of over 100 writers, ranging from Alice Munro to Amy Tan, Tobias Wolff, and James Baldwin. Word for Word believes in the power of the short story to provide solace, compassion, and insight into our daily lives.
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