Performance Opportunity (Open Books Open Minds)

 Performance Opportunity (Open Books Open Minds)

The Overall Situation:

Open Books Open Minds is an annual event on RIC's campus -- each year a book is chosen to read and discuss. They have panels, show movies, and have other presentations. 

This year the conference coordinators have asked the Theatre program to participate, perhaps presenting 3-4 scenes and monologues that work with the themes from the book. It is a great opportunity to share what we do with the campus at large.

Performance logistical details:

--The performance would be during the day, during free period on Wednesday, April 19th, at 12pm.

--We don't have a location yet, but "production values" will be very spare/informal.

--We have a lot of freedom in our choice of material and how we present it--so if we want to present original monologues or scenes, we can do that; if we need to use scripts in hand, or prompts, etc. -- we can do that.

--There is potential for a cash prize for the presentation (ask Liv Lancellotta about last year's scene from Master Harold and the Boys.)

Book and the Themes:

This year's book is The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennet.

The book is about a pair of fair-skinned Black twin girls who grow up in a small southern town, post-WWII, and leave when they are teenagers. They ultimately separate -- one lives her life as a Black woman, while her sister decides to live her life passing for white. The book follows their life (as well as that of their children, their mother, and their grandmother) from the 1950s through the 1980s. 

The themes the book explores include "passing" (explored in terms of race and ethnicity, as well as sexuality and gender), prioritizing fair and white skin, wealth and poverty, domestic violence, racial violence, trauma, as well as mother-daughter relationships. 

All performers are welcome, but because of some of the themes detailed above, our BIPOC and nonbinary performers may be particularly interested.

I will help find materials or curate the materials (or edit, if people want to write original monologues or scenes). 

I will also work with students to rehearse and help prepare for it. (I imagine you would only need a month -- beginning to rehearse, say, around 3/15 and meeting weekly to check in).

Please contact me either in person or through email if you are interested: casey.seymourkim@gmail.com.

Thank you!

Casey SK

(PS OBOM has offered to provide free books for anyone who's interested in reading it -- it's very good. Also, I have a copy and can also make a pdf of it if needed. Anyone who'd like to read the book can contact me at the above email address.)