If there’s a unifying thread behind this week’s Fresh Start on Ohio Authority, it’s how we process the information and make it work in our sphere of influence. Two venerable, cutting-edge organizations meet in the middle to help the area’s women find healing and strength through the arts. One of the region’s great young writing talents contemplates (and then stages) one of pop culture’s defining moments for African Americans during the 1990s. And a 111-year-old building opens its doors to artistic/creative types and the public at large, bringing the surrounding community a new tradition to curate and look after. One thing’s certain: all three of these Fresh Starts are sure to change you and your perception. What you do with the messages and experiences? That’s up to you.
The Voice of Experience
Established more than a decade ago, the Women’s Voices Project pairs the Elyria YWCA Women’s Campus Project with the august Cleveland Public Theatre. Every year, they combine forces for an evening of original written works and poetry performance based on life experiences related to substance abuse, domestic violence and adversity. The inspiring results are then “toured” at Northeast Ohio’s women’s shelters, recovery centers and prisons. Think living well and recovering through empowerment and artistic expression and then you’re about halfway there. This year’s Women’s Voices Project debuts at Cleveland Public Theatre Wednesday, March 24 and will make the rounds at alternative performance spaces through late April. But my words here don’t even begin to sum up the words of the participants. If last year’s staging is any indication, this will rock you to your core.
Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems
Karamu House playwright-in-residence Michael Oatman is about as regional as they come. The Cleveland native holds a master’s degree from Kent State (creative writing), and his tour of collegiate duty includes Cleveland State, Youngstown State and the University of Akron. After a critically-acclaimed staging of his play Before I Die: The War Against Tupac Shakur, Oatman has followed up with Eclipse: The War Between Pac and B.I.G. In it, he examines what precipitated (and cultural waves set off by) the drive-by shootings of feuding rap superstars Tupac Shakur and his rival Christopher George Latore Wallace (aka Biggie Smalls, the Notorious B.I.G.). The setting may be the East Coast–West Coast hip hop of the 1990s, but the bigger picture is far more intriguing. Oatman’s new work raises Karamu’s curtain Friday, March 26 at 8 pm and will run through mid-April.
Cirque du Bazaar
Arts festivals are plentiful during the summertime in C-town, but where does that leave creative types and their devotees during the colder months? They all head indoors for smashingly quirky fêtes like Cirque Imaginaire, which features all things wearable, presentable and edible at the Sachsenheim, the century-old Saxon home on Denison Avenue. Check out the day-long festivities, beginning at 4 pm on Saturday, March 27, as this traveling showcase of local artists take over the ballroom/dance hall/solarium. Everything from jewelry, pottery and murals, to chocolates, textile works and robot pals are up for grabs. Local bands, including Safari, will perform live. As for the building itself, it’s a treasure that, until five years ago, wasn’t even open to the public. Sachsenheim hosts everything from performance art and concerts to shindigs like this art gallery/bazaar; if you haven’t been there yet, you’re missing a real treat. Fancy antediluvian digs and inspired artistry? Then Cirque Imaginaire is a twofer. Be sure to also check out www.clevelandhandmade.com.
