CLOSED -Citizen: An American Lyric
A searing, multi-media poetic riff on race in America
Dates: July 11-28 Seattle Center Theatre
by: Claudia Rankine
Director: Jay O’Leary
Many of our shows are now showing sold out online.
tickets MAY be available at the door.
The box office will open one hour before showtime to sell any remaining tickets and start a waiting list for additional tickets that may become available.”
Citizen
ByClaudiaRankine
Directed by JayO’Leary
Jul 11 – Jul 28, 2019 8:00 PM
A searing, multi-media poetic riff on race in America, fusing prose, poetry, movement, music, video, news and the visual image. Snapshots, vignettes, on the acts of everyday racism.
Some of these encounters are slights, seeming slips of the tongue, and some are intentional offensives; in the classroom, at the supermarket, at home, on the tennis court with Serena Williams, online, on TV-everywhere, all the time.
“Those did-that-really-just-happen-did-they-really-just-say-that slurs that happen every day and enrage in the moment and later steep poisonously in the mind. And, of course, those larger incidents that become national or international firestorms…
Location
Center Theatre: Seattle Center Armory
305 Harrison St, Seattle, WA 98109
See Below for Accessibility Information
Dates
Jul 11 – Jul 28, 2019 8:00 PM
Saturday 7/20 2PM and 8:00PM
Sundays 7/14, 7/21, 7/28 2:00PM Matinees only.
No Pay What you can nights, but Industry nights Mondays and Tuesday, as every seat is “Radically Inclusive Pricing.
Inclusive Accessible Seating
Seating for our patrons with disabilities is FRONT ROW Center for all performances.
Patrons who cannot traverse stairs are also welcome to take a seat in the front row. Please note when you purchase your tickets if you would like to use Front Row seating.
Accessible Performances of Citizen:Sensory Friendly: 7/20CART Performance: 7/21ASL Interpretation: 7/26
Multi-Media Riff on Race
A searing, multi-media poetic riff on race in America, fusing prose, poetry, movement, music, video, news and the visual image. Snapshots, vignettes, on the acts of everyday racism. Some of these encounters are slights, seeming slips of the tongue, and some are intentional offensives in the classroom, at the supermarket, at home, on the tennis court with Serena Williams, online, on TV-everywhere, all the time. Those did-that-really-just-happen-did-they-really-just-say-that slurs that happen every day and enrage in the moment and later steep poisonously in the mind. And, of course, those larger incidents that become national or international firestorms.
Buy Tickets HERE
Tickets
Radical Inclusion Pricing [art-event id="17439D"]As Rankine writes, “This is how you are a citizen.”
Sound Theatre is Proud to Partner with the Hansberry Project
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Playwright and Director
Claudia Rankine - Poet Playwright
Born in Jamaica in 1963, Claudia Rankine earned her BA in English from Williams College and her MFA in poetry from Columbia University. She is the author of five collections of poetry: Citizen: An American Lyric (Graywolf Press, 2014), which received the 2016 Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt Book Prize for Poetry, the 2015 Forward Prize for Poetry, and the 2014 National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry; Don’t Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric (Graywolf Press, 2004); PLOT (Grove Press, 2001); The End of the Alphabet (Grove Press, 1998); and Nothing in Nature is Private (Cleveland State University Poetry Center, 1995), which received the Cleveland State Poetry Prize. Her plays include Provenance of Beauty: A South Bronx Travelogue, commissioned by the Foundry Theatre and Existing Conditions, co-authored with Casey Llewellyn. She has also produced a number of videos in collaboration with John Lucas, including “Situation One.” In 2005, Rankine was awarded the Academy Fellowship for distinguished poetic achievement by the Academy of American Poets. In 2016, Rankine was awarded a MacArthur “Genius” Grant and named a United States Artists Zell fellow in literature. In 2017, she founded the Racial Imaginary Institute, a “a moving collaboration with other collectives, spaces, artists, and organizations towards art exhibitions, readings, dialogues, lectures, performances, and screenings that engage the subject of race.” She is currently a Frederick Iseman Professor of Poetry at Yale University.
Jay O'Leary Director
is an Afro-Latina director, theatre education leader, and arts activist transplanted here in Seattle from New York. Jay is a lead teaching artist for several companies including Seattle Repertory Theatre and Earthseed Seattle. Jay can be found leading classes which explore– acting, theatre as activism, decolonizing the way we look at education and leadership, youth empowerment, and movement. Directing credits include, Anansi & the Halfling (Annex Theater) Skeleton Crew (ArtsWest), Welcome to Arroyo’s (Theater Schmeater), Heathers the Musical…(ArtsWest), An Unorthodox Rhapsody, Girl Ganng, Pink Ribbons, Songs for a New World, and The Zoo Story. In addition to starring in a one woman show, Women on Fire, other notable roles include, Talisha in Milk Like Sugar (ArtsWest), the Devil in …Wonderland, Carly in Reasons to be Pretty, and Zlata in Necessary Targets. She holds her B.A. in Theatre from SUNY Brockport, and studied film and in Thailand at Mahidol University.
Production Team
Scenic Design – Lex Marcos
Costume Design – Ricky German
Sound Design – Maggie Rogers
Projection Design – Tristan Roberson
Stage Manager – Sarah Ross
Cast for Citizen- An American Lyric
Shermona Mitchell
Citizen One
is a local actor, director and teaching artist. Originally from Kentucky, Shermona moved to Seattle to attend Cornish College of the Arts where she earned her BFA in Theater. She has been seen locally working with Washington Ensemble Theatre, ACT Theatre, Book-It Repertory Theatre, Live Girls! Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Pony World Theatre, Anything Is Possible Theatre, Seattle Musical Theatre, 14/48: The World’s Quickest Theater Festival, The Collision Project, Copious Love, Seattle Public Theatre, STAGEright and Azeotrope. Shermona is the 2016 Gregory Award recipient for Best Supporting Actress.
Allyson Lee Brown
Citizen Two
Intelligent, charismatic, compassionate and outgoing are just a few words that aptly describe the persona of Allyson Lee Brown. A native of New Orleans, LA, Allyson recently received her MFA in Acting from the UW School of Drama. She is also a proud graduate of the illustrious Spelman College where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Drama. Allyson’s credits include Skeleton Crew (ArtsWest Playhouse,) Milk Like Sugar (ArtsWest Playhouse), The Bluest Eye (Le Petit Theatre,) Trojan Women: A Love Story (UW SoD) Angels in America: Perestroika (UW SoD) Fefu and Her Friends (UW SoD) and Rutherford and Son (UW SoD.) In addition to her passion for acting, Allyson enjoys mentoring, teaching and encouraging youth to tap into their greatness. She would like to thank her friends and family for their constant love and support, and she is so grateful to be a part of this amazing cast!
Naa Akua
Citizen Three
Nicholas Japaul Bernard
Citizen Four
Rebecca Cort
Citizen Five
Richard Sean Glen
Citizen Six
is a Seattle actor whose notable roles include Hunter in Theatre Battery’s Hooded, or Being Black for Dummies, Trip in Theater Schmeater’s Welcome to Arroyo’s, and Gwo Gwo in Fantastic Z’s Bad Panda. In addition to acting, Richard has performed Stand-Up and Sketch Comedy. He has a BFA in Theatre from the University of Idaho, and an understanding that his theatre education never complete. Richard intends to continue to explore theatre as an instrument of social justice, as well as its relationship to emotional literacy.
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