Celebration Eastlake
Celebration Eastlake is an original performance built by Sleeveless Acts from the stories of Eastlake Park community members over the last two years.
Ginni Green is a civil rights lawyer in both her community of Eastlake Park and the outside world and she learned it all from her Grandfather, Calvin, who is also an important politician/local activist. But Ginni doesn’t live in Eastlake anymore and there have been a lot of changes while she’s been away including her grandfather’s declining health and changes to the neighborhood itself. Everyone’s got a different opinion about where to go next but with an impending sense of doom Ginni needs all the help she can get. Will she be able to reconnect before her home is gone forever? Told with a whimsical ensemble of narrator characters both witty and wise, this story is about family, segregation, joy, and the life and legacy of historic Eastlake Park.
We performed in May 2019 site-specifically in Eastlake Park and in December 2020 on Zoom.
The project was featured in the Arizona Republic (full article here.)
Celebration Eastlake
Written by: Alicia Johnson, Dontá McGilvery, and Claire K. Redfield
in collaboration with the Eastlake Park Community
Directed by: Dontá McGilvery and Claire K. Redfield
Stage Managed by: Sarah Dolens-Moon
Media Design by Ethan Fox
First Workshop: May 18th, 2019
Featuring: Carmen Bradford, James Caddy, Janae Goode, Dontá McGilvery, Susan Rayford, Caress Russell, and Jontasia Quonee Taylor
Sound Design: Caress Russell aka Lady Caress
Second Production: December 12th and 13th, 2020 (on Zoom)
Featuring: Carmen Bradford, Alicia Johnson, Evan LeBlanc, Dontá McGilvery, Billy Ramsey, and Jontasia Quonee Taylor
This project was supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts through the City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture
Photography by Tim Trumble Photography.
Ginni Green is a civil rights lawyer in both her community of Eastlake Park and the outside world and she learned it all from her Grandfather, Calvin, who is also an important politician/local activist. But Ginni doesn’t live in Eastlake anymore and there have been a lot of changes while she’s been away including her grandfather’s declining health and changes to the neighborhood itself. Everyone’s got a different opinion about where to go next but with an impending sense of doom Ginni needs all the help she can get. Will she be able to reconnect before her home is gone forever? Told with a whimsical ensemble of narrator characters both witty and wise, this story is about family, segregation, joy, and the life and legacy of historic Eastlake Park.
We performed in May 2019 site-specifically in Eastlake Park and in December 2020 on Zoom.
The project was featured in the Arizona Republic (full article here.)
Celebration Eastlake
Written by: Alicia Johnson, Dontá McGilvery, and Claire K. Redfield
in collaboration with the Eastlake Park Community
Directed by: Dontá McGilvery and Claire K. Redfield
Stage Managed by: Sarah Dolens-Moon
Media Design by Ethan Fox
First Workshop: May 18th, 2019
Featuring: Carmen Bradford, James Caddy, Janae Goode, Dontá McGilvery, Susan Rayford, Caress Russell, and Jontasia Quonee Taylor
Sound Design: Caress Russell aka Lady Caress
Second Production: December 12th and 13th, 2020 (on Zoom)
Featuring: Carmen Bradford, Alicia Johnson, Evan LeBlanc, Dontá McGilvery, Billy Ramsey, and Jontasia Quonee Taylor
This project was supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts through the City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture
Photography by Tim Trumble Photography.