Uplifting UNHEARD voices for 15 years, LFL presented a festival of original works, collaborations and workshops to mark our anniversary. Area artists and organizations were invited to share the stage with LFL in celebration of our fifteen-year mission. It was held July 13-23, 2017 at the Clifton Center.
Festival productions included a remount of the LFL original CROSSING MOUNTAINS; I'M WEARING MY OWN CLOTHES! by Nancy Gall-Clayton*; and the LFL premiere of DEFINING INFINITY, our new devised work-in-progress exploring the infinite spectrums of gender identity and sexual orientation; all presented by Looking for Lilith. Joining LFL as Festival Guests were Adanma Onyedike Barton with LOST AND FOUND - One woman's experience of navigating the social taboo of miscarriages, Pandora Productions with STILL I RISE! A CABARET OF SONGS BY THE WOMEN OF BROADWAY, and newly-formed Resonant Light Theater Project with LOOK ME IN THE EYE, a satirical exploration of issues of consent.
Staged readings for the Festival were be MOLLY DRIVEN, a play about human trafficking by Haydee Canovas; and #WHATHAPPENEDTODAVID, by Terkeisha Tyler, about the mysterious death of a Black college student on campus.
Seven community-based workshops were also offered during UNHEARD [outloud]. These included a play reading and discussion of HISTORIAS DE INMIGRANTES LATINAS, created by Latina immigrants participating in the EACM Women's Group, a participatory drama workshop for 4-8 year olds and their parents, called KIDZPLAY, a RACIAL JUSTICE workshop led by LFL and LSURJ, a Theatre of the Oppressed 101 workshop, a GENDER & SEXUALITY WORKSHOP led in conjunction with TSTAR, an INTRO TO DEVISING workshop focused on the current U.S. climate, and a public sharing of the play created by GIRLSPEAK summer drama camp.
*Of special note was the premiere of I'M WEARING MY OWN CLOTHES! - an LFL-commissioned script by Nancy Gall-Clayton, inspired by Mary Edwards Walker (1832-1919), a surgeon for the Union during the Civil War. Walker remains the only woman awarded the Medal of Honor. She earned her medical degree at 22, wore trousers at her wedding, in surgery, and everywhere else, finding corsets and hoop skirts impractical and unhygienic. She was arrested numerous times for “wearing men’s clothes.” She also advocated for voting rights for women and equality in marriage and the workplace. She lectured on both sides of the Atlantic and frequently lobbied in Washington, D.C., and Albany, New York.