We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia,
Formerly Known as Southwest Africa,
From the German Sudwestafrika,
Between the Years 1884 - 1915
By Jackie Sibblies Drury
Directed by Kezia Waters
April 21 - May 21, 2023
Fri @ 7pm, Sat @ 3pm & 7pm, Sun @ 3pm
@ Theatre Y (3611 W. Cermak Rd, Chicago, IL 60623)
Free Parking on Cermak and Central Park. One long block south of the Central Park Pink Line Stop.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
After a long hunt for a permanent space to call home, Theatre Y inaugurates its new building in North Lawndale with a provocative play about race, representation and the politics of empathy.
Theatre Y is excited to announce a production of Jackie Sibblies Drury’s 2012 drama We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as South West Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884 - 1915, to run from April 21st to May 21st, 2023. Having recently relocated from Chicago’s North Side to the West Side neighborhood of North Lawndale, this presentation of Drury’s play is the first Theatre Y project to be staged in its new space on W. Cermak Rd.
We Are Proud to Present… sees a group of six nameless actors–three white and three black–in a rehearsal room workshopping a re-telling of the German occupation of Namibia’s Herero tribe. As the good intentions of theatrical reenactment and the concrete details of a horrific past start to misalign, the actors battle over the problem of how to authentically tell a story, and ultimately find themselves implicated in a history that feels all too close to home. “We Are Proud to Present…” questions the politics of empathy while offering audiences deep insight into the factors of race and representation in the telling and re-telling of historical narratives.
The issue of representation in the writing of history raised by Drury’s play merges with what Theatre Y has been thinking about. Having moved from their storefront location in Lincoln Square to relocate in North Lawndale, Theatre Y has launched a revitalization concept that centers cooperative artistic residencies as part of their new campus, co-conceived in partnership with community leaders, designers, urban planners, city officials, and local artists. With a $250,000 grant awarded in 2021 from the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund, Theatre Y’s plan for urban renewal will reimagine connectivity, integrating high-end architectural, landscape, and spatial design with the same thoughtfulness previously reserved for wealthier areas of Chicago. Theatre Y believes that this project of their integration into the North Lawndale community will spark questions about how to move an organization into a deliberately neglected neighborhood in a way that promotes revitalization without gentrification, and will provide a template of the successes and challenges of restorative justice through a global conservatory.
Returning to Theatre Y after featuring in the company’s summer production of Laughing Song, written by Marvin Tate, director Kezia Waters has reinterpreted Drury’s text as a poignant commentary on the interplay between the past, present and future. We Are Proud to Present… is Waters’ directorial debut onto Chicago’s theater scene. Theatre Y ensemble members Nadia Pillay, Eric Roberts, Kris Tori and Andrew Schoen will take the stage alongside newcomers Kaleb Jackson and Terreon Collins. The production team includes costume designer Jordan Brown, sound designer Carissa Pinckney, lighting designer Piper Kirchhofer, and Henry Wilkinson once again collaborates with Theatre Y as set designer.
Theatre Y productions are offered to the public free of charge thanks to their NPR-like membership model. “We Are Proud to Present…” runs April 21st to May 21st, with performances Fridays at 7pm, Saturdays at 3pm and 7pm, and Sundays at 3pm at Theatre Y’s new space at 3611 W. Cermak Rd. For more information and to reserve your seat, visit www.theatre-y.com, email [email protected], or call 773-908-2248.
ABOUT THEATRE Y:
Theatre Y is a Chicago-based international incubator that creates connections between diverse artists seeking mutual growth through collaboration. Since 2006, Theatre Y has been a point of convergence for diverse activisms, and all of the uncomfortable conversations that happen as a result. Artistic director Melissa Lorraine and the Theatre Y ensemble are committed to continuously re-thinking the practice of theater as a tool of liberation and a revolutionary practice, bringing Theatre Y to venues ranging from LaMaMa’s historical theater to Illinois prisons. Theatre Y, which is now in its 17th year of experimental productions, challenging international content, and a member-based FREE theater model, occupies a unique place in Chicago's theater community.
We have a long way to go in the fight towards geographically equitable allocation of the arts economy in Chicago. To that end, Theatre Y has launched a revitalization concept that centers theater live/work space as part of our new campus in North Lawndale, in partnership with community leaders, designers, urban planners, city officials, and local artists. We strive to provide a new creative space for healing, community, and artistic expression. A holistic training ground across disciplines, Theatre Y’s global conservatory intertwines lives, builds diverse communities, restores global citizenship, and empowers the marginalized.
Theatre Y is partnering with Worldview Solutions to create and document a comprehensive vision, listening and responding to the desires from inside the community itself, making new solutions and new intersections with and for BIPOC communities, and under their leadership and instruction. With a $250,000 grant awarded in 2021 from the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund, this plan for urban renewal will reimagine connectivity, integrating high-end architectural, landscape, and spatial design with the same thoughtfulness previously reserved for wealthier areas of Chicago. We believe that this documentation of Theatre Y’s integration into the North Lawndale community will spark questions about how to move an organization into a deliberately neglected neighborhood in a way that promotes revitalization without gentrification, and will provide a template of the successes and challenges of restorative justice through a global conservatory.