VOICES IN THE MARGIN, a reader’s theater performed and video shot during the Covid-19 pandemic at Santa Barbara Public Library in front of the art installation “Lament” by Nancy Gifford. A Theater piece created in collaboration with the Social Justice Book Club of the Santa Barbara Public Library. Our script was created by E. Bonnie Lewis; by combining powerful words and sections from books read in the Social Justice Book Club as well as original works created by the company in response to the themes that the company explored. Books from Social Justice Book Club: Resistance & Hope - Essays by Disabled People, Crip Wisdom for the People: Wong, Alice (2018). Edited by Alice Wong, Founder and Director of the Disability Visibility Project, Resistance and Hope will transform the way you think about activism, leadership, and social justice. How do we fight back in an era of uncertainty, institutionalized cruelty, and widespread tolerance for ableism and hate? Written in 2017, the authors explore resistance, hope, self care, disability rights and justice, and the politics of Trump in a series of provocative, challenging essays. Dare to dream bigger and create space for all with this visionary essay anthology from multiple marginalized disabled people redefining an inclusive climate of resistance. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe: Saenz, Benjamin Alire (2012). Affectionately referred to by fans as Ari and Dante, this multiple award-winning young adult novel is a coming of age story that explores topics such as racial and sexual identities, family relationships, and mental health issues. Eyes to the Wind: A Memoir of Love and Death, Hope and Resistance: Barkan, Ady (2019). Eyes to the Wind is a memoir featuring intertwining stories of determination, perseverance, and living a life filled with purpose. The first traces Ady’s battle with ALS: how he turned the initial panic from his diagnosis into a renewed commitment to social justice—not despite his disability but because of it. The second, told in flashbacks, illustrates Ady’s journey from a goofy nerd to a prominent figure in the fight for equity and justice. Life On Mars: Smith, Tracy (2011). With allusions to David Bowie and interplanetary travel, Life on Mars imagines a soundtrack for the universe to accompany the discoveries, failures, and oddities of human existence. In these new poems, Tracy K. Smith envisions a sci-fi future sucked clean of any real dangers, contemplates the dark matter that keeps people both close and distant, and revisits the kitschy concepts like “love” and “illness” now relegated to the Museum of Obsolescence. Another Brooklyn: Woodson, Jacqueline (2016). Running into a long-ago friend sets memories from the 1970s in motion for August, transporting her to a time and a place where friendship was everything—until it wasn’t. For August and her girls, sharing confidences as they ambled through neighborhood streets, Brooklyn was a place where they believed that they were beautiful, talented, brilliant—a part of a future that belonged to them. But beneath the hopeful veneer, there was another Brooklyn, a dangerous place where grown men reached for innocent girls in dark hallways, where ghosts haunted the night, where mothers disappeared. A world where madness was just a sunset away and fathers found hope in religion. Dear America: Vargas, Jose Antonio (2018). This is not a book about the politics of immigration. This book is not about immigration at all. This book is about homelessness, not in a traditional sense, but in the unsettled, unmoored psychological state that undocumented immigrants like myself find ourselves in. This book is about lying and being forced to lie to get by; about passing as an American and as a contributing citizen; about families, keeping them together, and having to make new ones when you can’t. This book is about constantly hiding from the government and, in the process, hiding from ourselves. This book is about what it means to not have a home. After 25 years of living illegally in a country that does not consider me one of its own, this book is the closest thing I have to freedom. Quotes from: Martin Luther King Elie Wiesel Dr. Who Original Material Inspired from the reading of these books: Marisia Elena, Felicia Hall, Kathy Marden & E. Bonnie Lewis Performers: Marisia Elena, Ken Gilbert, Felicia Hall, Kathy Marden & Josh Jenkins Original Music Inspired by the Material and performed: Josh Jenkins Videographer: Jennie Reinish Script Materials: Chosen by Company Compiled by and put into script form: E. Bonnie Lewis Direction: E. Bonnie Lewis; Co-Directed Ken Gilbert Social Justice Book Club Facilitator and Library Liaison: Jennifer Lemburger Contributors and Sponsors: California Arts Council Santa Barbara Office of Arts and Culture City of Santa Barbara Public Library DramaDogs, a Theater Company VOICES IN THE MARGIN is part of DramaDogs’ RELEVANT ACTION Projects
