Word Becomes Flesh
by Marc Bamuthi Joseph
for The Living Word Project
Tour Producer: MAPP International Productions
Thursday-Friday, September 20-21, 7:30 pm
Space Place Theater
Pre-performance discussion moderated by Kim Euell, University of Iowa MFA graduate and editor of Plays from the Boom Box Galaxy-Theatre from the Hip Hop Generation
Friday, September 21, 6:30pm / Wild Bill’s Coffee Shop, North Hall
Critical and political, haunting and poetic, Word Becomes Flesh is a powerhouse theatrical narrative that integrates live music, dance, spoken word, and hip-hop culture. Written and directed by Marc Bamuthi Joseph—one of America's vital voices in performance and arts education—the piece features five performers and a live DJ creating fiery movements and
passionate slam poetry to explore race, patriarchy, bodily ownership, and the cleansing power of new beginnings. The story unfolds as a series of letters from a young single father to his unborn son, and in turn provides a thought-provoking examination of the experience of fatherhood in the black community.
Word Becomes Flesh (2011) excerpts from MAPP International on Vimeo.
Word Becomes Flesh is a National Performance Network (NPN) Re-Creation Fund Project sponsored by La Peña Cultural Center (Berkeley, CA) in partnership with Painted Bride (Philadelphia, PA), Dance Place (Washington, DC), Youth Speaks (San Francisco, CA) and NPN.
This project has been made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts as part of American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius.
Principal development support for Word Becomes Flesh was provided by Z Space Studio (San Francisco, CA).