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Voices of Hope, ‘She Kills Monsters,’ Equinox Festival, and more this weekend
Kyle V. Hiller
There’s plenty to discover this weekend with a handful of livestreams, performances, and exhibits. Jouska PlayWorks and Simpatico team up for a showcase that features seven new plays, the Mann is back with its annual Voices of Hope celebration, and the promising student play She Kills Monsters debuts this weekend. The Free Library and the African American Museum of Philadelphia host a series of BHM events, and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society has some unique performances in store for you.
Jouska PlayWorks Virtual New Play Showcase
Simpatico Theatre and Jouska PlayWorks, an assembly of Black playwrights, are joining together to launch the first ever Jouska PlayWorks Virtual New Play Showcase. The event will feature excerpts from seven new plays created by Jouska’s artists. The presentations begin on Thursday, February 11, and run through March 25, with a celebratory marathon weekend of all the plays to follow on March 27-28. Meet the playwrights, see the full roster of performances, and reserve your pay-what-you-wish tickets online.
The Mann Center for Performing Arts’ annual Voices of Hope: A Black History Month Celebration is virtual this year. Running each Friday throughout February, every performance is filmed and is available for streaming, with student activity guides accompanying each show. The four artists performing are Benu Ausar Philly (this premiered on February 5 but is still available on-demand), Dr. J Donald Dumpson on February 12, Eric Wortham II on February 19, and Chill Moody on February 26.
Black History Month at the Free Library
The Free Library of Philadelphia is celebrating Black History Month with a robust curation of virtual programs. Events include Radical Self-care in an Era of Activism on Thursday, February 11, at 7pm, virtual tributes to Black Philadelphia icons, film discussions, readings, and much more throughout the rest of the month. There’s definitely pickings for everyone here.
The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society has a handful of livestream performances coming over the next week. On Wednesday, February 10, at 6pm, Anthony McGill (clarinet), Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt (viola), and Gloria Chien (piano) will perform. Carol Jantsch (tuba) and Michael Djupstrom (piano) play on Sunday, February 14, and the Sphinx Virtuosi will round out PCMS’ February schedule on Thursday, February 18 at 6pm.
Rutgers University-Camden will present She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms by Qui Nguyen this weekend, opening on Thursday, February 11, at 7:30pm through Saturday, February 13. The comic adventure sees Agnes thrown into a world of cosplay and Dungeons and Dragons as she searches for her lost sister. The online performance is $10 for general admission.
The University of the Arts will present Equinox Festival 2021 this weekend, February 12-13 at 7pm and February 13-14 at 2pm. The annual one-act play festival produced by UArts students is a web-based, multimedia play. The interactive theater show looks at the theater process in a new light, starting with “design as its initial inspiration.”
The African American Museum in Philadelphia has launched Through His Eyes: Youth Activism in the Civil Rights Era in Philadelphia, an online exhibition curating photographs by Jack T. Franklin that captured the Black youth that participated in the Civil Rights movement. The exhibition is free.
Image Description: A collage of Black playwrights portraits, including Megan Schumacher, Josh A. Campbell, Teresa Miller, Quinn D. Eli, Nikki Brake-Sillá, Ang Bey, and Keenya Jackson. Part of the Jouska PlayWorks logo is centered in the collage.
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