SEASON
MPAACT is pleased to present our Podcast Play Series!
Feral
Written & Directed by Shepsu Aakhu
Young black activist Francis Xavier — known to his friends as FX — has been waging a politically-motivated graffiti campaign, spraying the word “FERAL” on the sides of buildings all over the city. In the heat of a late July night, FX is caught in a moment of violence with the local police. The resulting controversy engulfs the city and the country, with FX’s friends, family and members of his movement pulled into the fray. But will all this commotion overshadow the complex ideas FX hoped to communicate
Never the Milk & Honey
Written by Shepsu Aakhu
Directed by Carla Stillwell
There are covenants that bind certain people together – man and woman, Pastor and flock, humanity and divinity. Never the Milk and Honey explores the fall-out when those covenants are broken. Can those covenants ever be rebuilt?
Black and Blue
Written by Shepsu Aakhu
Directed by Andrea J. Dymond
Davoe Sexton and Jayson Rabedeau patrol the notorious neighborhood on Chicago’s long-neglected south-east side. The area is known to locals as “Terror Town.” As veteran cops who “happen to be Black,” these men must navigate the streets, the policies of policing and the deeply conflicted roles that they play in the lives of those that they are supposed to “serve and protect.” Set in 2016, these officers find themselves at ground zero when long-suppressed evidence surfaces, illuminating an officer-involved shooting on the very streets that they patrol. Over the course of a single day, these officers must confront the most corrosive questions that face African-American officers. Are they Black? Are they Blue? Or are they a volatile mix of Black and Blue?
Starting Over
Written by Shepsu Aakhu
Directed by Lauren "LL" Lundy
We all grow and change over time, and reconnecting with an old lover is complicated. The pair of former small-town lovers in Starting Over, however, have a dramatic change to confront when they reunite in a major city. With one of them now expressing their true identity, they must decide if they can re-spark the flames despite the changes- both physical and emotional- they’ve undergone.
Mother of the Dark Water
Devised and Directed by Lauren Wells-Mann
Vocal Arrangements by Lynsey Moxie
Original Music by Danjuma Gaskin
Inspired by original images of the Black Madonna, five Black women decide to reclaim their truth and voices in the normative feminist movement. Based on personal stories, original poetry and movement, Mother of the Dark Water celebrates the power of speaking out, resistance and self-love.
Dandelions
Written by Tina Fakhrid-Deen
Directed by Erica Faye Watson
King Davis is a recovering addict whose only legacy is the six-flat building in Bronzeville that his mother owns and it is in immediate threat of being taken from his family due to mounting back taxes. King swoops in to save the day only to find out his mama has entrusted the building’s future to a new neighbor. How can King finally show who he is when the people around him only see him for who he was? This searing drama is about survival, loss, and redemption. Dandelions is about who gets to stay and who’s weeded out.