"Word Becomes Flesh" Performance April 18-20 at Intermedia Arts

What I'm excited to see next week:

"At a time when we are innundated as a culture with the mere transit of day-to-day life, saddled by the rapidity of our movement, and force fed not to value one anothers stories...performance theater like "Word Becomes Flesh" and "N.I.G.G.E.R." - with such raw and unabashedly honest moments and cultural truths - can remind us of the importance of the connective tissue that keeps us afloat. Make space to see it." - Sha Cage, local multidisciplinary artist and creator/performer of the solo performance "N.I.G.G.E.R."

Intermedia Arts and MAPP International Productions present
Marc Bamuthi Joseph/The Living Word Project's
WORD BECOMES FLESH
Performances: Thursday-Saturday, April 18-20, 8PM
Location: Intermedia Arts, 2822 Lyndale Ave South, Minneapolis Tickets: $15 advance, student, senior | $18 door
Opening Night Post-Show Reception: Thursday, April 18 with performers and writer/director Marc Bamuthi Joseph

GET TICKETS!

Word Becomes Flesh is a deeply honest and raw physical performance, blending spoken word, dance and live music. This series of performed letters from a young, single father to his unborn son, fuses tender stories, playful wit—and at times, purposeful rage—to give voice to complexities and contradictions surrounding race and gender in America.
 
Led by an exceptionally talented cast of emerging poet-performers, with deep honesty and raw physicality, this play integrates hip-hop theater and contemporary dance performance to deconstruct black male identity in the 21st century. This show critically, lyrically and choreographically shares one man's personal experience of fatherhood—and in doing so examines the legacy of patriarchy and male privilege, the continuum between fathers and sons, and the relationships of women and men. Together these narratives confront the intersection between the reality and the mythology of the black male body—from the cotton field to the athletic field and all spaces in between.
  
Written and directed by Marc Bamuthi Joseph. Written and performed by Dahlak Brathwaite, Daveed Diggs, Dion Decibels, Kahlil Anthony, Michael Turner and B.Yung.

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE

Nigger Mentality
Wednesday, April 17 | 10AM-12PM
Free performance & discussion; reservations required. 
Please bring a lunch or reserve a $10 boxed lunch
Recommended for ages 12+
In Word Becomes Flesh, the scene entitled Nigger Mentality takes audience members on a journey into the birth of the word nigger, and its accompanying mentality. The subject matter of this workshop is sensitive and demands an ability to think about the word and subject matter in a critical and mature way. This piece mythologizes the origination of the nigger mentality, and invites participants to discuss the genealogy as it is detailed through the text and performance. Led by Word Becomes Flesh artists and local, multidisciplinary artist Shá Cage. REGISTER TODAY!
 
Literary Devices Meets Performance Master Class
Saturday, April 20 | 11AM-2PM
$25 Master class. Limited space; reservations required.
This master class is a fusion of writing and performance, teaching artists how to take the page to the stage. Participants will gain the tools to begin the writing process and how to maintain the theme, influence content, and possible ways to finish a particular writing. Then learn to develop performance skills and their own performance style. Tools will be shared around performance prep, understanding the evolving process of performing in front of an audience, and how to continue to create meaningful work. REGISTER TODAY!

Master class participants should have extensive experience with Spoken Word and its aesthetic. They will be asked to share work they have created previously and critical feedback will be distributed in workshop setting. Dedicated artists and performers will benefit from the exchange of information and focused attention to the creative process. 

If you have any questions, please email Info@IntermediaArts.org or call 612.871.4444.