The Queens-based Conch Shell Productions, in collaboration with Milton G. Bassin Performing Arts Center at York college, will present the second annual “Hear Her Call Caribbean-American Women’s Theater Festival 2020” from March 5-7.
According to Magaly Colimon-Christopher, the Haitian-American founder, producer and artistic director of Conch Shell Productions, the festival takes place at the Milton G. Bassin Performing Arts Center, 94-45 Guy R. Brewer Boulevard, Jamaica, Queens. Showtimes: March 5 and 6, 7:30 pm, and March 7, 11:00 am to 10 pm.
“The festival is a celebration of the diverse viewpoints of Caribbean American female playwrights and filmmakers,” said Colimon-Christopher, who was born in Brooklyn.
She said featured playwrights comprise women of various Caribbean heritages, including her: Ingrid Griffith (Guyana); Amina Henry and Monique A. Robinson (Jamaica); Nancy Méndez-Booth (Puerto Rico); and Myra M. McPhee (Bahamas).
Colimon-Christopher said “Lucky” by Méndez-Booth is “a comedic story of how one Puerto Rican adjunct wins the Pulitzer and prosperity for all Boricuas.”
“Lessons My Father Taught Me” by McPhee features a Bahamian woman, trapped in her own trauma, “wrestles with her abandonment issues and her attempt to recover from decades-long pain,” Colimon-Christopher said.
She said “WaDe n Da WaTeR” by Monique A. Robinson tells the story of the United States Government taking “Hurricane Katrina to court for the devastation it left in its wake.”
“The trial turns into a realm-altering and time-bending satirical conflict between nature, spirit beings and Orishas,” Colimon-Christopher said.
She said “Unbossed & Unbowed” by Ingrid Griffith is a solo performance that explores the life of the late Shirley Chisholm, “a black woman of Caribbean heritage who fought the political machine and ran for President of the US in 1972.”
“When a platter full of stress-reducing marijuana-infused brownies inspires the release of a flood of family secrets, the results pave a pathway to healing – altering a Haitian-American family’s relationships forever,” said Colimon-Christopher about her “Silent Truth”.
In “Ducklings” by Amina Henry four “plucky finalists travel to Pittsburgh to compete in a dancehall queen competition – at stake, the American Dream,” Colimon-Christopher said.
Established in 2018, she said the mission of Conch Shell Productions is “to develop and produce new works by playwrights and screenwriters of Caribbean heritage living in America that inspire social change.”
Colimon-Christopher said Milton G. Bassin Performing Arts Center hosts a multi-cultural arts series featuring nationally- and internationally- renowned artists.
For tickets and more information, go to: https://conchshellproductions.com/hear-her-call-2020
