AUG. 9 - 25: LIMITED RUN!
The Black Experience Festival
Co-produced by The Breath Project

Join us for a three-week immersive journey into the multifaceted realities of Black life in America.

Through impactful theatre productions, insightful talks, and interactive workshops, this festival seeks to ignite important conversations, challenge perspectives, and foster a deeper understanding of the Black experience, both its enduring struggles and its vibrant resilience.

GET TICKETS to Crawfish: We the Invisible
August 9, 16, 23 at 8:00 pm | August 10, 17, 24 at 2:00 pm

GET TICKETS to Pass Over
August 10, 17, 24 at 8:00 pm | August 11 & 25 at 2:00 pm

GET FREE TICKETS to The Civil Reparations Mock Trial
Sunday, August 18 at 7:00 pm

Crawfish: We the Invisible
by Gamal Abdel Chasten

August 9, 16, 23 at 8:00 pm | August 10, 17, 24 at 2:00 pm

Crawfish: We the Invisible is the story of Cristofer “Crawfish” Cruz, who reluctantly migrated to the Bay Area after Hurricane Katrina with his mother Aretha. Now, finding himself homeless after fighting the long and expensive battle of Aretha's dementia, Cristofer tells his story, assisted by the ghostly presence of Aretha, in a mix of narrative prose, spoken-word poetry and song.  Cristofer, once a home owner and member of the working class, brings a voice and face to the experience of homelessness and housing crisis in this country, particularly in the Bay Area, where the crisis is acute.

Featuring Gamal Abdel Chasten (Co-Founder of Universes Theatre Company - Party People, Ameriville, Slanguage), Awele Makeba (acclaimed storyteller, Kennedy Center for the Arts, Broadway World San Francisco Region Award for Best Performance) and Bay Area drummer Jim Bove.

"'Ya see, what people don’t realize is that homeless people are anthropologists,' says Crawfish. 'We observe life.' Those observations, in Gamal Abdel Chasten’s Crawfish: We the Invisible, are rich, poetic and keen ... Each syllable is a melodic playground.” - Lily Janiak, SF Chronicle

Production Team
Directed by Marieke Gaboury
Stage and Production Manager: Kelly Weber-Barraza
Lighting Design: Brittany Mellerson

Pass Over
by Antoinette Nwandu

August 10, 17, 24 at 8:00 pm | August 11 & 25 at 2:00 pm

Moses and Kitch stand around on the corner – talking shit, passing the time, and hoping that maybe today will be different. As they dream of their promised land, a stranger wanders into their space with his own agenda and derails their plans. Emotional and lyrical, Pass Over crafts everyday profanities into poetic and humorous riffs, exposing the unquestionable human spirit of young men stuck in a cycle just looking for a way out. A provocative riff on Waiting for Godot, Pass Over is a rare piece of politically charged theater by a bold new American voice.

Featuring Adam C. Torrian, Tory Williams and William J. Brown III.

“Pass Over is a powerfully imaginative drama that will shake up audiences, instantly tagging the playwright as a significant new voice.” – The Hollywood Reporter

★★★★ “For many Black men, living in a country that was built on slavery and still struggles with ingrained notions of white supremacy feels absurd, dispiriting and paralyzing. Playwright Antoinette Nwandu has devised an ingenious and unsettling way to dramatize that terrifying state of existence... Although much of its repartee is quite funny, Pass Over is a tough show. It’s intended to challenge.” – Time Out New York

Production Team
Directors: John R. Lewis and Sinjin Jones
Stage and Production Manager: Kelly Weber-Barraza
Lighting Design: Brittany Mellerson

The Civil Reparations Mock Trial

We asked our jury to vote at the end of the trial, and as promised, we are sharing the results of that vote with you!

In the case of Jones v. Baker (the case of the burned farm sold at auction), 72% of the jury voted in favor of the plaintiff. In the case of Mason v. Baker (the case of the amended will for property and loss of wages), 76% of the jury voted in favor of the plaintiff. In both cases, more than half of those who voted in favor of the plaintiff indicated that they would choose to award a sum "greater than two million dollars.” Please note – in a states like California or Mississippi, the plaintiff must receive 9 out of 12 votes in favor of their suit in order to win a case. In those states, only the plaintiff John Mason would have won his case. In states like Massachusetts where the burden is higher (a 5/6 or 10/12 vote is needed), neither plaintiff would have won.

Thank you to all of the participants in our Mock Trial event!

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The Mock Trial took place Sunday, August 18 at 7:00 pm. Admission was FREE of charge.

This co-production presented a fictional lawsuit between the descendants of former slaves against the descendants of former slave-holders. The Breath Project has worked with Chicago-based civil litigation attorney John H. Ray, III of John Ray & Counsel, P.C., to develop the facts and evidence of the fictional suit. This presentation by local actors and law professionals was FREE to attend, and was followed by a Q&A and audience discussion.

Reparations Project Community Participants: Sonia Decker, Nique Eagen, Dwayne Jackson, Bezachin Jifar, Daniel Joyce, Leah Kennedy, Padraic Lillis, Wei Lim, Awele Makeba, Ginny Walia, Jaime Wolf, and Gary Wright. Interns: Aryan Kawatra and Avni Lochan. Consultant: John H. Ray.

 “When approached to consult on this project, I felt it was an important challenge.  The difficult questions presented by the timely, if belated, reparations debate are as complex and as they are necessary.  And the opportunity to assist in demonstrating why this debate is not merely a historical discussion, but one that bears directly on current issues of the distribution of wealth and economic fairness, was what made this project, for me, meaningful. ” – John H. Ray, III of John Ray and Counsel, P.C.

Production Team
Director: Marieke Gaboury
Stage and Production Manager: Kelly Weber-Barraza
Lighting Design: Brittany Mellerson