San Francisco Playhouse to Host OUR VOICES, OUR STORIES Play Reading Festival, 2/11-3/18

San Francisco Playhouse will present "Our Voices, Our Stories" Play Reading Festival this spring.

FEBRUARY SERIES: Monday, February 11, 18 and 25 at 7:30pm

MARCH SERIES: Sunday, March 10 & 17 and Monday March 11 & 18 at 7:30

All readings are FREE and take place at 450 Post at Mason (2nd Floor of Kensington Park Hotel).

Our Voices, Our Stories, Play Reading Festival is an organic extension of San Francisco Playhouse's mission to give voice to compelling stories that inspire and encourage empathy. This festival will showcase the developing work of new artistic voices, creating a forum for emerging playwrights to deepen and refine current projects.

An additional focus for this festival is to celebrate artists from communities too often absent from mainstream stages. The goal is to introduce these artists to new audiences and encourage their creative experiments. These stories are everyone's stories.

In honor of Black History month, February will highlight African American stories and in March, the spotlight will be on female playwrights. Festival Curators include Playhouse creative staff: Brit Frazier, Lauren English, JorDan Puckett, Gwen Kingston and Karlie Braufman.

Calendar of February Events: To compliment the February play readings will be Silent Auction of paintings by local artist, JoNathan Williams who has painted imagery from The Black Odyssey.

Monday, Feb. 11, 7:30pm Play readings directed by Steven Anthony Jones
Poison Ground, a ten-minute play by Robert Henry Johnson
The Black Odyssey a full length play by Marcus Gardley

Featuring; Margo Hall*, Steven Anthony Jones*, Aldo Billingslea*, Halili Knox*, Donald Lacy*, Britney Frazier*, JoNathan Williams, Kehinde Koyejo*and Michael J Asberry*

Monday, Feb. 18, 7:30pm Play reading directed by Britney Frazier
Love Balm for my Spirit Child
by Arielle Julia Brown, Denika Chatman, Ayanna Davis, Yasmin Flores, Brenda Grisham, Bonnie Johnson, Ade Ngeno, Ayodele Nzinga, Ana. Bel and Anita Willis
Stories from Bay Area mothers who have lost their children to either community violence or police brutality and have dared to move through the fear and pain into activism and healing. Love Balm features testimonies from the families of Oscar Grant III, Kenneth Harding Jr., Khatari Gant, Daniel Booker, Christopher LaVellJones, and Kerry Baxter Jr.

Featuring; Anna Maria Luera*, Cat Brooks, Dawon Davis, Ayodele Nzinga, Allysa Evans

Monday, Feb. 25, 7:30pm Play reading directed by Steven Anthony Jones
10-minute teaser of Without Any Opportunity for Defense, a play that will take us on a journey by way of traditional story-telling, through the history and folklore of African American music.
Written by and Featuring; Kehinde Kojeyo* and Awele Makeba*

Play reading of Obeah written by Britney Frazier
An African American, magical, mimetic and mythic folktale
Featuring; Krystal Bates, JoNathan Williams, Kehinde Kojeyo*, and Awele Makeba*

(Details for Play readings in March, presented Sunday March 10 and 17 and Monday March 11 and 18, all at 7:30 pm, TBA; Events will include staged readings and a special playwriting workshop and panel discussion featuring prominent local female artists.)

*member of Actors Equity