This was an email. I'm just plagiarizing myself!
/Hola Amores y Amigos!
I hope you will once again forgive this group email, but I am writing to tell you a joke and some updates. Warning: the joke is only funny if your preferred form of humor is in the form of terrible jokes best told to five year olds, which *is* actually my favorite kind of joke.
In this email:
1: In which I rhapsodize about 100 Hauntings, and throw in this already over-discussed "joke."
2: In which I discuss discussing things on the radio.
3: In which I warn you that The Americans Are Coming.
4: In which I oh-so-helpfully tell you about what (your) money can do (for me).
5: In which I announce some upcoming solo things featuring the L.A.T.C.P.
1: In which I rhapsodize about 100 Hauntings, and throw in this already over-discussed "joke."
Q: What did one ghost say to the other ghost? A: Do you believe in humans?
Jajajajajajajajajajajaajaja. This isn't as good a joke as "Why were the ghosts standing by the door? They were waiting for their Booooooooooooooober." But I like it because I am ALL IN on ghosts. Years ago, I read a book called Ghostly Matters: Haunting and the Sociological Imagination by Avery Gordon (amores, "spectrality studies" is a WHOLE ACADEMIC FIELD) and I just loved it. Gordon argues that whether or not a ghost is real, the fact that people say there is a ghost *is* real and it matters. In my own (totally depressing) research on lynching, I found that ghost stories were one way communities archived and passed on information about events that actually happened, but which weren't noted in the public record. Anyway, fast-forward to now, and I have just spent ONE WHOLE YEAR working with co-director Bobby Biedrzycki and the most awesome intergenerational team to collect over 300 ghost stories at 15 different community sites and make a play about it. If this is sounding awfully familiar, yes, we toured a version of this play this summer but the fall version is (actually and really) TOTALLY DIFFERENT. Because we obsessively rewrote it. And you can do different things in a theater like [redacted for spoiler] and [redacted for spoiler]! I am so excited about it! And I hope you will come see it! We only have shows on Thursdays and Fridays at 7pm, starting tomorrow. (Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!) Tickets and more info can be found here: 100haunting.brownpapertickets.com
Also- parents and guardians of small children who don't want to see plays about ghosts: we are offering a craft and story hour for ages 3-12 during the October 28, November 18, and December 2 shows.
2: In which I discuss discussing things on the radio.
Tomorrow I am doing too much and I will be on Vocalo.org (91.1) at 8:40 in the morning, talking about, you know, ghosts and racism, as I do. And then, THIRTEEN HOURS LATER, I will be on WGN-Radio (720AM) at 9:30pm, talking about ghosts but possibly not racism. I also have a show in the middle. Send coffee.
3: In which I warn you that The Americans Are Coming.
THE AMERICANS ARE COMING. In 2011, I made a play called The Americans, which is about Ukranians, jk jk. At the time, I was interested in the immigration debates, in the fierce tension over how we define "American" in this country. This year, the election is so painfully and outrageously divisive that we decided to bring the play back, updated to engage hot topics like grabbing you-know-whats. Since clones have not yet been invented, I asked the fabulous Katrina Dion to take it on - she is directing an ensemble who has had full reign to make any updates and changes they want, under my not-at-all-micromanagey supervision (I am doing my best). I'm excited to see it when it opens on MONDAY (the 17th)! This is a touring show, so there are only four shows in Chicago, including one right before election night, in case you want to laugh away the looming dread as Nov. 8th approaches. Tickets here: http://theamericans.brownpapertickets.com/
4: In which I oh-so-helpfully tell you about what (your) money can do (for me).
Oh money, what is it good for? Lots of things! I would love to live in some utopic agrarian society where there is equal lip gloss for all but, alas, capitalism. Meanwhile, I am the Artistic Director of Free Street Theater, a theatre company that was EXPRESSLY founded for the purpose of defying Chicago's racial and economic segregation. ALMOST 50 YEARS LATER AND THAT MISSION IS STILL FRESH AS HELL! At Free Street, we work very hard to make work that reflects the city we live in - who's on stage, who's in the audience, what we talk about, how we talk about it, and WHERE we talk about it. I mean, if you don't care one bit about theater, that's cool. But if you DO, surely you can agree that things like free and pay-what-you-can performances in spaces across the city, free childcare for artists and audiences, incubating new work from Chicago artists of color, and an education program for people of all ages SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD IDEA! And if you agree, please consider donating to our annual campaign, because I believe in all of the above, and if we don't raise $10,000 dollars I am going to have to sell plasma or something to keep it going! Plus, there are super cute t-shirts if you donate $25 or more. BLACK AND GOLD! http://freestreet.org/campaigns/be-free-street
5: In which I announce some upcoming solo things featuring the L.A.T.C.P.
Guys, I promise I have said no to almost every request to read or feature this fall, but these two things got through: On November 1st, I'll be reading at Tuesday Funk, which is in a bar and on November 19th I'll be reading with 2nd Story for the Chicago Podcast Festival. Details here.
Okay, that's it! I hope you are all well - email me and let me know what's up with you! And as always, I'm no stalker, so if you don't wish to receive these emails just let me know!
Mil besos,
The Lovely and Talented Coya Paz (that's me!)