Emergency!

A one-man show by Obie award-winning Daniel Beaty

Wednesday, February 18, 2009 - 7:30-9 PM

What does centuries of slavery do to the psyche of humanity? And how free are we really at the dawn of the 21st Century?

Daniel Beaty’s provocative play, Emergency! explores these heavy questions with a surprisingly fresh and quirky approach. Award-winning artist Daniel Beaty portrays a cast of 40 characters, including a homeless man, a scientist, a Republican business executive, a street vendor and 11-year-old boy from the projects who all respond to the phenomenon. A slam poet named Rodney is scheduled to perform in a poetry slam that evening, but is delayed by having to retrieve his schizophrenic father from the site of a slave ship's rising in 21st century New York Harbor. While Rodney and his brother go to see about their dad, the audience is treated to the poetry slam already in progress.

Through the characters' individual responses to the ship and their varied testimonies on identity and personal freedom, Emergency! weaves a stirring commentary on modern black life.

Daniel Beaty has performed in a variety of venues, including off-Broadway, Edinburgh/ Scotland, the NAACP National Convention, Portland, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and the White House. He holds a BA with Honors in English and Music from Yale University and an MFA in Acting from the American Conservatory Theatre (ACT). Daniel completed a highly acclaimed soldout extended run of his one-man play Emergency! off-Broadway at the Public Theater. Awards include 2007 Obie Award for Outstanding Writing and Performance, 2006 Ovation, Acclaim, & Everyday Freedom Hero Awards. Daniel is also the 2004 Grand Slam Champion at the world famous Nuyorican Poet's Café and The Fox Networks National Redemption Slam Champion.

Location: Agnes Flanagan Chapel, Lewis & Clark College

Admission: $10 for the general public
Free: Lewis & Clark students, faculty & staff with ID cards are free. Admission is first come, first serve and may be obtained at the door.

Thanks to the Lewis & Clark Black Student Union for their generous support of this performance. Other co-sponsors are the Center for Continuing Studies, and the Oregon Writing Project.