MEDIA ALERT
Contact:
Susan Celia Swan/Kate Fisher
(917) 865-6603, press@vday.org
ON THE FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF KATRINA,
TWO SPECIAL PERFORMANCES OF “SWIMMING UPSTREAM”
AT THE MAHALIA JACKSON THEATER IN NEW ORLEANS
AND THE APOLLO THEATER IN NYC
FEATURING
SHIRLEY KNIGHT, TWO SURPRISE PERFORMERS,
AND A NEW ORLEANS CAST INCLUDING TROI BECHET, ASALI NJERI DEVAN, ANNE-LIESE JUDGE FOX, KAREN-KAIA LIVERS, AND SINGERS MICHAELA A. HARRISON, AND LESLIE BLACKSHEAR SMITH
DIRECTED BY EVE ENSLER
New York, NY – August 2010 - Five years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf South, V-Day, the global activist movement to end violence against women and girls, in partnership with Ashé Cultural Arts Center and The Women Donors Network, will host two special performances of Swimming Upstream, a stunning performance telling stories of the storm and those who survived.
Written by 16 New Orleans women and facilitated by playwright/V-Day Founder Eve Ensler and Ashe Cultural Arts Center’s Executive Director and Founder Carol Bebelle and hailed by Variety as “a work of power and poetry,” Swimming Upstream premiered a crowd of thousands at V-Day's "V To The Tenth" celebration at the Superdome in 2008 and enjoyed a subsequent sold-out run in Atlanta.
Swimming Upstream is a powerful theatrical production that tells the raw and soulful stories of women who lived through the flood with grace, rage and great resiliency, punctuated by a flair for story telling, humor and music that comes from being New Orleanian.
The play will be directed by playwright/performer/activist Eve Ensler and feature the legendary Shirley Knight, two surprise performers. and the original New Orleans cast including Troi Bechet, Asali Njeri Devan, Anne-Liese Judge Fox, Karen-Kaia Livers, And Singers Michaela A. Harrison, and Leslie Blackshear Smith at the historic Apollo Theater in New York City and the Mahalia Jackson Theater in New Orleans, as they commemorate the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and pay tribute to the women of New Orleans and the Gulf South.
Made possible with generous support from the Rockefeller Foundation and The Culture Project.
Tickets starting at $25 available NOW. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit http://www.ticketmaster.com or http://www.vday.org/sus.
"Swimming Upstream ... is the poetic equivalent of a breached levee. What begins as a flood of raw human emotion becomes a source of healing, transcendence and new beginnings."
-- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
NEW ORLEANS
ONLINE visit http://www.ticketmaster.com or http://www.vday.org/sus
BY PHONE call Ticketmaster 1-800-745-3000
IN PERSON in New Orleans at the Mahalia Jackson Theater Box Office, 801 N. Rampart Street
NEW YORK CITY
ONLINE visit http://www.ticketmaster.com or http://www.vday.org/sus
BY PHONE call Ticketmaster: 1-800-745-3000
IN PERSON at the Apollo Box Office: 253 West 125th Street, New York City
About V-Day - V-Day is a global activist movement shattering taboos, raising millions and transforming communities to end violence against women and girls. Annually, activists stage thousands of benefit productions of Founder/playwright Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues and other works. Working at the intersection of art, social action and politics, V-Day empowers grassroots activists to become leaders, turning pain to power. To date, the V-Day movement has raised over $75 million, crafted international educational, media and PSA campaigns, launched the Karama program in the Middle East, reopened shelters, and funded over 11,000 community-based anti-violence programs and safe houses in Democratic Republic Of Congo, Egypt, Haiti, Iraq, Kenya, Pakistan and South Dakota. V-Day was named one of Worth magazine's "100 Best Charities" in 2001 and Marie Claire’s “Top Ten Charities” in 2006. The 'V' in V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina. http://www.vday.org
About Swimming Upstream - For a year and a half following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, 16 women from New Orleans—including a gospel singer, a teenage filmmaker, a former Vegas showgirl, and a Mardi Gras Indian matriarch—met monthly to share stories and develop original writings about their experiences before, during, and after the storms.
In a process facilitated by playwright and activist Eve Ensler (The Vagina Monologues, Founder of VDay) and Carol Bebelle, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Ashé Cultural Arts Center, the writers crafted a powerful theatrical production that tells the raw and soulful stories of women who lived through Hurricanes Katrina and Rita with grace, rage, humor and great resiliency.
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Past "Until the Violence Stops" Columns:
Related links:
Turning Pain to Power by Marianne Schnall
( Extended Interview with Eve Ensler)
Open Letter to President Elect Barack Obama by Women's Rights Leaders, Including V-Day
From Superdome to SUPERLOVE—V-Day at 10 by Marianne Schnall Other V-Day Features at Feminist.com:Action Alert: This Just In from Kenya Action Alert: End Sexual Violence in Democratic Republic of Congo V-Day/Feminist.com Anti-Violence Resource Guide
Other Eve Ensler writings at Feminist.com:
Interview with Eve EnslerExcerpt from Insecure at LastExcerpt from The Good Body The Real Meaning of Security
About V-Day: V-Day is a global movement to end violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions of Playwright/Founder Eve Ensler’s award winning play The Vagina Monologues and other artistic works. In 2008, over 4000 V-Day benefit events took place produced by volunteer activists in the U.S. and around the world, educating millions of people about the reality of violence against women and girls. To date, the V-Day movement has raised over $60 million and educated millions about the issue of violence against women and the efforts to end it, crafted international educational, media and PSA campaigns, launched the Karama program in the Middle East, reopened shelters, and funded over 10,000 community-based anti-violence programs and safe houses in Democratic Republic Of Congo, Haiti, Kenya, South Dakota, Egypt and Iraq. V-Day was named one of Worth magazine's "100 Best Charities" in 2001 and Marie Claire’s “Top Ten Charities” in 2006. The 'V' in V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina.
http://www.vday.org
