In 2008, I began my company GoKash Productions with a play about HIV/AIDS and the prevalence of it in the African American community. I knew that it was good, impactful, and important and I also knew there was a potential marketability of this type of a story. I didn’t know that the epidemic in my demographic would continue to grow at the rate it has in the three years that VI Degrees debuted.
Entertainment is a very important component of what we seek to do with our art, but education and enlightenment is equally important. And it’s our desire to provide all of these facets of storytelling in a very acceptable and inviting way. Now, in 2011 with AIDS being the #1 killer of African American women aged 25 – 34, and a neighboring metropolitan like Washington D.C. being considered the AIDS capitol of America with African American prevalence of HIV greater than 80% of the cases, our offering of VI Degrees is more important now than ever.
We presented VI Degrees under my direction in last year’s Philly Urban Theater Festival and I am ready to admit that I was not happy with the outcome of the show. This isn’t an indictment on anyone in particular except for myself as the director. I made some decisions that were born out of me becoming bored and blase’ with the piece. It had become predictable to me and I was no longer finding new discoveries in the work. My fire was gone. Thankfully there were some performance values that were strong enough and the story line is intact (full of it’s twists and “ah hah” moments), that I don’t think that the universal audience experience was the same as mine. At least I hope it wasn’t. But, to me that wasn’t the VI Degrees that I have come to know and love. It’s a story that has the ability to transcend the mundane. To be new and fresh each and every time it’s presented. And I’m very happy to say that I’ve rediscovered that fire.
There are a few things that happened since last year’s PUTF mountings that have re- ignited my love and passion for the piece like a blowtorch to a lighter fluid drenched bag of Kingsford. First, we were fortunate to be invited to both Lincoln and Delaware State Universities to share this story with the honest HBCU student demographic and their feedback to the live action was astounding! There’s nothing like re-discovering your joy for your work than to present it before an audience that “gets” every single aspect of the work. Second, for the first time ever I opened up to having it guided by another director in Philly a few months ago. My friend and colleague, Donja R. Love handled the piece with precision and care and I was bursting with excitement as I watched from the audience 4 times! After these engagements, and another invitation to present to 900+ students of Delaware State again this Thursdy, I felt like I had to bring it back to Philly again in a brand new venue and with a brand new cast. Eight of the thirteen characters who will mix and match between the Del State show and the Philly mounting are brand new to my cast. However, all have worked in it with either myself or Donja.
Mixing these casts, with notably different interpretations of the work from the separate experiences presented a unique opportunity and challenge to me as a director. I felt like it was important to first strip what all of us knew and / or experienced about the play from our previous runs. It was then and only then that we could relate to a fresh imagining of the piece together. I needed to make it new for myself as well. It is here that I want to give Kudos to my new cast of Neil Carr, Kevin Moore, Martina Holley, Alisa Murray, Jacqueline Vaughn, Todd Anthony, Jason Stewart, Carlene Pochette, Shonte Cherry, Sherri Fisher, Jessica Ludd, and Deanna Wright. The work has been refreshing and fun. It’s my firm belief that we will “wow” the audience in a way that we never have before.
There are some new wrinkles that have been built into the show for the first time. There are some very intense moments that are newly discovered. I can say with confidence that even those who have seen the play in the past, it will feel brand new to them once again. We even have a venue which has not been used before for it. I CANNOT WAIT to share this experience this week, and I had to talk about it just to buy me a little more time. I will be sure to check back with you just to let you know how glorious of an experience it was. I feel like it’s a culmination of a process that began waaay back with that first group of 10 in 2008. I thank everyone who has continued to work hard and be a blessing in developing these characters and helping me to understand what I’ve written each of those years and during each of those many mountings along the way. I am consistently blessed with a network of the most generous actors / actresses a director could ask for. I don’t take that for granted. I also don’t take for granted the blessing to continue to do this.
Thank you for sharing this with me! For more information about the shows coming 8/27 and 8/28 at 4pm and 8pm and / or to get tickets starting as low as $15, please visit www.gokashproductions.com. Please don’t forget to sign up for our mailing list while you’re there.
K.G.
