Previews: BIPOC PLAY READING SERIES TO FEATURE YUKI JACKSON at Straz' Teco Theatre

BIPOC Play Reading Series To Feature Yuki Jackson. At Straz TECO Theatre

Coming to TECO Theatre on Sunday, April 23 at 2:30 pm is The Straz Center's fourth annual BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) Play-Reading Series.

Featured is the work of literary poet Yuki Jackson, who will also perform.

Her show is a live performance interpretation of a portion of her unpublished memoir in-verse titled "Record: Testimony of the Divine Feminine." The narrative chronicles her experiences awakening to her identity as the partner/wife figure of dominant patriarchal religious figures of Jesus and Buddha.

Yuki described the performance as powerful, impactful, and raw. The show's theme is female empowerment and highlighting marginalized communities, especially within the BIPOC community. She hopes to elevate the voices that haven't been heard.

"Within this story, I'm saying they are the same guy in different lifetimes, and I'm speaking as the counterpart or wife figure. This time around, I'm telling my own story and sharing my perspective. I share my experiences founding a youth program in a historically marginalized community in Tampa and my experience as an educator."

Her story delves into mental health, sexuality, and racial and social justice.

The live interpretation will showcase dancing, spoken word, film work, singing, and a hip-hop beatmaker.

"This is an amazing opportunity, so I'm just not taking it for granted at all."

Yuki said that she had the story within her, and it was a therapeutic process to get the words out and share them with an audience.

"It feels significant. While it's very individual and specific in how I'm telling it, ultimately, I'm very aware of the communal elements of it. I feel like, especially for women worldwide, and specifically in Florida, we're not respected for our own autonomy or our body. And this story is coming from the body. It's very of the body," said Yuki. "While I don't consider myself a spoken word artist, my path is designating me to get more comfortable with performing. After seeing this show, I want the audience to want more. I want them to want to see this story develop. I want people to want to see more of my work, specifically of this story."

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