Act 1. Evil nigger -- Act 2. St. Joan -- Act 3. Stay on it -- Act 4. Gay guerrilla.
Summary:
"Searching for Eastman is a multidisciplinary performance in 4 acts based on the interpretation of four of Eastman's compositions through poetry, theatre, music, dance, and video. these pieces are: (1) evil nigger; (2) prelude to st. joan; (3) stay on it; and (4) gay guerrilla. this work is a choreopoem whose roots trace through the african griot tradition, the harlem renaissance (e.g. the work of langston hughes with Katherine dunham and kurt weill), the black arts movement (e.g., amiri baraka's work with sun ra) and defined as "a form of dramatic expression that combines poetry, dance, music, and song...(as) first coined in 1975 by ntozake shange in a description of her work, "for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf." each act reveals something of eastman's life, from childhood on with particular attention to his being caught between worlds, neither home in black or queer spaces during times of turbulence related to these identities. the first act checks in on how such a persona came to be, the construction of this liminal space in the myopic stasis of 1950s mccarthyism sanitized suburban america followed by the hot political 1960s' focus on freedom and identities. the second act unfolds his core practice, its methods and madness, the controversies he was at the heart of in the emerging canon of american minimalism, his seeming yearning for martyrdom. the third act is that of his relationships, torrid and engaging, short and destructive, demanding. the final act is his rebellion as warrior guerrilla, abandoned and alone, disappearing into the nebulous world of homelessness, drugs and alcohol. each act is structured in time with eastman's music to honour his work and the stories he seemed to be telling in them. also, there are moments in between each piece where the audience will be able to participate by reading his words, or words of others about him, while associated images appear on screen."-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.