This show has closed!
Performances
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Thursday, January 25 - 7pm*
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Saturday, January 27 - 2pm & 8pm
*Ticket to this performance includes access to Opening Night party!
Location
Te Ata Theater
Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center
11 NW 11th St. | Oklahoma City, OK 73103
Written by Jessica L. Hagan and by Ryan Calais Cameron
Directed by Jessica Kaliisa
A co-production with Soho Theatre and Nouveau Riche
Presented in partnership with:
Oklahoma Contemporary &
Under the Radar; Mark Russell, Festival Director | ArKtype, Festival Producer
JANUARY 25-27, 2024
ABOUT THE SHOW
The four powerful Black women that form the beating heart of Jessica L. Hagan's knowingly sharp and riotously funny choreopoem Queens of Sheba demand respect and, with every story told, they earn it. A spiritual successor to Ntozake Shange's for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, Queens incisively calls out and lances the constellation of racist, sexist, and colorist micro and macro-aggressions that its characters encounter: the music and the misogyny, the dancing and the drinking, the women and, of course, the (white) men.
Turned away from a nightclub for being “too black”, the Queens navigate the minefields of misogynoir, seeking power among the songs of Tina Turner and Diana Ross and Aretha Franklin, finding elevation in sisterhood, sweet relief in the riot of laughter and the shedding of tears. Playful, intellectually rigorous, packed with righteous fury and genuine soul, Queens of Sheba is a unique meditation on Black Women’s identity, suffering and joy.
Press
⭐⭐⭐⭐Broadway Baby
⭐⭐⭐⭐The List
⭐⭐⭐⭐The Guardian
⭐⭐⭐⭐Ed Fest Mag
⭐⭐⭐⭐The Independent
"Joy and entertainment" - The Guardian
“Gives insight to the black female experience, but is fundamentally about speaking one’s own truth.” - The Guardian
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About Under the Radar
UNDER THE RADAR FESTIVAL is a world-renowned international theater festival shining a spotlight on new theater work from around the world.
Under the Radar: On the Road increases the impact and scope of the Under the Radar Festival programming by collaborating with performing arts centers across America. Now in our third year, OKC Rep has partnered with the Under The Radar Festival to bring QUEENS OF SHEBA to OKC Rep. The show will perform at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on January 5-13 and then will come to Oklahoma City.
More information at utrfest.org
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"It gives people a wider experience of America. ... I think what Kelly's doing is at the frontlines of culture. ... Getting this intimate, very specialized work out to people to really receive it, it's great. It's been part of my mission all along. ... I think it's great to point to Oklahoma City as a success — that this work does land out there and not just in this little bubble we call New York City. Great art connects."
-Mark Russell, Director of Under the Radar, interviewed by Brandy McDonnell in The Oklahoman
CAST
Paisley Billings
Déja J Bowens
Jadesola Odunjo
