Eloise’s Blog:
The August Wilson Red Door Project has been presenting a truly powerful and unforgettable production here in Portland over the past 6 months. Everyone I have talked with who has experienced Hands Up has been moved in ways new and startling to them. The play is a collection of monologues written by 7 Black playwrights and acted by 7 Black actors all in response to police shootings of Mike Brown in Ferguson, MO, John Crawford III in Beavercreek OH and way too many other young Black men and women.
RACC is honored to join other underwriters in investing in this work and sharing this experience, not just the monologues themselves, but also the “talk backs” afterwards. The night that I attended, along with a group of RACC Board and staff, the talk back was extremely spirited, sometimes confrontational, and eye- and mind-opening.
The show moves around town and the region made possible by a very simple and portable set. Both public and private investments support this important work, and there will be more public performances scheduled in the weeks and months ahead, including November 17 at PCC Cascade, and December 2 and Wieden+Kennedy. Tickets are free but they often get snatched up within hours of being announced; subscribe to the August Wilson Red Door Project newsletter at http://reddoorproject.org/contact/newsletter to get the most timely notification when performances are added.
I hope you will be able to see this show and participate in the conversation. Please don’t be daunted if it takes you a while to get tickets. It will be worth it.