What’s On in 2024
Dear beloved community, we recently invited you to activate your voices in artistic protest – to create and heal through the power of art. THANK YOU for your inspiring responses. Keep them coming.
It is an honor to invite you to some upcoming projects that are specific opportunities to get involved ASAP! While proposals for Curious Sensory Encounters are a refreshing vehicle to explore artistic protest, we are eager to be in vital conversations on mental health and identity with our longtime friend Parris Sarter in Eunice in Paris, the newest work in our Home Brew Series. Further, True North shines a light on the latest scientific research combined with ancient practices which enable each of us to ground ourselves in the midst of uncertainty. Together we WILL continue to create – there will be singing in these dark times. We have so much encouragement as we collectively envision a future of global healing and opportunity. Our stages are yours, see you soon!
– Heidi S Howard, 7 Stages Artistic Director
Eunice in Paris – A Presentation of New Work as Part of 7 Stages’ Home Brew Series – January 27-28, 2024
Performance Saturday, January 27, 2024 at 5:30 PM, & Sunday, January 28, 2024 at 3:00 PM followed by post-show Art of Activism dialogue.
7 Stages will begin 2024 with a presentation of Eunice in Paris, a presentation of new work as part of our Home Brew Series. Set in the 1980s in the Parisian nightclub Theatre Olympia, Nina Simone is confronted with her choices and relives experiences with James Baldwin, Lorraine Hansberry, her parents and others in a piece that crescendos with an existential look into her mental health, her choices, and of course the motivations behind her music and songwriting.
This production, in development with Hush Harbor Lab, was performed at The Atlanta Black Theatre Festival in 2022. Now, a revised presentation will hit the 7 Stages Backstage Theatre with Parris Sarter as Nina Simone. Written by Amina S. McIntyre, and directed by Thandi DeShazor.
This presentation is part of 7 Stages’ Home Brew Series, which provides a platform and resources for works in development that exhibit promise, stimulation, and provocation. Performances will take place January 27 and 28 at 7 Stages, accompanied by Service Saturday and Art of Activism programs. Learn more and get tickets at 7Stages.org/shows/eunice-in-paris-2024
Service Saturday – Jan. 27 from 2-5 PM before Eunice in Paris performance
Service Saturdays aim to help our community thrive by providing vital resources like food, clothing, and personal protection equipment, while bringing together local community-driven organizations under one roof. We have often collaborated with artists to make our Service Saturdays as entertaining as they are enlightening. These events are always complimentary, and they will continue to provide valuable resources to people of our community.
Guests on January 27 include LifeSouth Blood Donation Centers, New Georgia Project, Fulton Co Board of Health, and Policing Alternatives & Diversion Initiative. Refreshments provided by Sip & Share Wines.
Art of Activism – Jan. 28 from 4-6 PM after Eunice in Paris performance
Art of Activism brings together community experts, artists and patrons for powerful conversations. Throughout the year, community members gather to discuss social justice, othering, and the prevalence of intolerance.
Conversations are often related to a specific 7 Stages production, but always cover topics of the utmost social importance and relevance. You don’t have to see the production to participate in the Art of Activism dialogue but we encourage participants to do so to fully understand how the art connects to the community conversations.
The January 28 Art of Activism will follow a presentation of Eunice in Paris, relating to the themes and development of the production.
True North – March 2024
Atlanta playwright Lee Nowell’s play True North first came to 7 Stages as part of our Home Brew @ Home Series in 2020, and is now being developed as a full stage production. This scientific theatrical experience asks audiences to consider the things around them that they can’t see, like electromagnetic energy and the way we interact with it, in addition to the way it affects all of us.
All compasses point to Magnetic North, but Magnetic North is currently moving erratically – averaging 34 to 40 miles per year- and humans feel it. When magnetic fields move erratically, the part of our brain that makes ethical decisions becomes impaired, and our health can be compromised.
Developed in partnership with a NASA scientist, the project illuminates the dedicated work of scientists from around the world. TRUE NORTH is a creative exploration of the forces that interconnect us, and the ways we can accept and work within them to stabilize ourselves internally and create a more just, peaceful world. Characterizations of Magnetic North and the Noosphere are paired with relatable everyday Joe and a scientist speaking her truth. The show is a guidebook, combining the latest scientific research with ancient practices from cultural traditions which enable each of us to ground ourselves in the midst of uncertainty.
Curious Sensory Encounters – May 2024
7 Stages’ wildly popular recurring (yet ever-changing) immersive journey explores all of the intricacies of a particular theme with numerous performances and installations throughout the theatre. This year, we will explore the senses, as related to Ilya Kaminsky’s book Deaf Republic. Artists of various disciplines will create artistic responses to the book and general theme, resulting in a wide range of experiences for patrons.
Applications for artists of many disciplines open through March 4, 2024 at 7Stages.org/shows/curiousencounters
Youth Creates – June 24 – July 27, 2024
In its twenty-second year, 7 Stages’ summer theatre training program for teenagers will take students on a journey through every facet of live theatre production–from writing scripts to performing on stage, and all of the technical aspects in between.
Learn more about Youth Creates and apply at 7Stages.org/ourprograms/youth-creates
