BIPOC Play Festival returns with five shows highlighting playwrights of color
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Named "Best Storefront Theater On a Mission" by Chicago Magazine, Perceptions Theatre is committed to strengthening the accessibility of theater to the African-American/Black communities while serving as an economic and artistic resource for BIPOC artists.
The South Side theater's 4th Annual BIPOC Play Festival is taking place in-person June 21-30 with a virtual run July 5-25.
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In association with Rhino Fest, this year's festival features groundbreaking new works from five talented BIPOC playwrights: Makeda M. Deelet ("Issa Was Here"), alfonzo kahill ("The New Testament"), India Nicole Burton ("Panther Women: An Army for the Liberation"), Marie Yuen ("First Comes Love") and Louis Johnson ("The Nag").
Theatergoers can enjoy a range of BIPOC storytelling performed by rising-star casts, all of whom have trained under Perception Theatre Artistic Director Myesha-Tiara.
Perceptions Theatre's BIPOC Play Festival was created in 2021 to offer local playwrights of color a platform to share their stories. In 2023, the company was able to showcase six playwrights of color and their work virtually. Now in its fourth year, the festival will be in-person for the second time at a new location on 79th Street.
This year's festival offers five diverse tales that explore the BIPOC experience then and now: the women of the Black Panther Party, experiencing tourism, family dynamics when pregnancy comes into play, and a new take on the New Testament that questions what do you do when you are kicked out of Heaven and have to be a "regular" person.
Tickets are "pay-what-you-can." You can purchase tickets HERE.
FESTIVAL DATES + TIMES:
- Friday, June 21, 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
- Saturday, June 22, noon to 3 p.m. (a special performance with brunch and a talkback)
- Sunday, June 23, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
- Friday, June 28, 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
- Saturday, June 29, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. (includes a talkback)
- Sunday, June 30, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
- Virtual Run (prerecorded): July 5-25
