Word Becomes Flesh is a commission to redevelop Bamuthi’s first landmark work into a multi-player work of theater, with new writing and new direction. In a Re-Creation of Word Becomes Flesh, Youth Speaks Living Word Project gathers Daveed Diggs, Dahlak Brathwaite, Dion Decibels, Khalil Anthony, Mic Turner and B.Yung to present a series of performed letters to an unborn son.

Using poetry, dance and live music, the collective documents nine months of pregnancy from a young, single father’s perspective.

Download the “Word Becomes Flesh – One Sheet”

Credits:

Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Artistic Director
Joan Osato, Producing Director
Written and Directed by Marc Bamuthi Joseph
Written and Performed by Dahlak Brathwaite, Daveed Diggs, Dion Decibels, Khalil Anthony, Michael Turner and B.Yung
Technical Director/Lighting Designer: Haldun Morgan
Production Manager/Stage Manager: Joan Osato
Photography by Bethanie Hines

About Word Becomes Flesh

Word Becomes Flesh is a fluid evening-length choreopoem written in the form of a narrative verse play. Presented as a series of performed letters to his unborn son, the piece uses poetry, dance and live music to document nine months of pregnancy from a young single father’s perspective.

These performed letters incorporate elements of ritual, archetypes, and symbolic sites within the constructs of hip hop culture. Word Becomes Flesh evolves the realm of spoken word and realizes the form’s theatrical potential as the poet/dancer cogently presents the complex contradictions involved in race, using the stage as an open page, and deftly writing the body as text.

While women continue to fight for their right to make choices about their bodies, the legacy of patriarchy and male privilege still allow a man the social right to choose domestic absenteeism and refrain from offering either emotional or financial support.

Word Becomes Flesh critically, lyrically, and choreographically examines this phenomenon. In the process we confront the intersection of the physical reality and mythology of the black male body from the cotton field to the athletic field and all spaces in between. The piece was performed in the original production and tour by Marc Bamuthi Joseph with live music composed and performed by Paris King, Sekou Gibson and Ajayi Jackson. Other collaborators included dancer/choreographer Adia Whittaker and dramaturg Roberta Uno.

We’re proud to say that these artists have had a long relationship with Youth Speaks and The Living Word Project. Of the young artists who are re-envisioning this important piece, two started with Youth Speaks when they were 16, one was a big part of our partner program in NYC, 3 have collaborated in LWP repertory works and tours previously, and all 5 of the poets are veterans of Youth Speaks’ Annual Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam Festival.

Word Becomes Flesh premiered in November 2003 at the Alice Arts Center (Oakland, CA) and subsequently toured through 2007 nationwide to venues including Bates Dance Festival (Lewiston, ME), ODC Theater and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco, CA), On the Boards (Seattle, WA), New World Theater (Amherst, MA), Dance Theater Workshop (New York, NY), Live Arts Festival (Philadelphia, PA), Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago, IL), University Musical Society (Ann Arbor, MI), Miami Dade College (Miami, FL), and Dance Place (Washington, DC). Considered the seminal work of Marc Bamuthi Joseph and The Living Word Project, this piece was chosen by the National Performance Network for its 25th Anniversary Re-Creation Initiative supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

For Booking and More Information:

Joan Osato, Producing Director
Youth Speaks, Inc. + The Living Word Project
c) 415-710-7427
josato@youthspeaks.org
www.livingwordproject.org

Created by The Living Word Project / Marc Bamuthi Joseph
Directed by Michael John Garcés

A multimedia excursion across planet hip-hop, the break/s dramatically realizes the living history of the hip-hop generation through the performed personal narrative of poet Marc Bamuthi Joseph. the break/s is a deeply honest investigation into the conflicts between Bamuthi’s public identity as successful spoken word artist, and his private identity as young man coming of age in our globalized, multieverything era. A life-long performer, he leaves it all on stage—simultaneously devouring the space with everything from shamrocks to attitude turns and eloquently spitting rhymes spoken from the heart.

Joseph is the real deal, swinging with such confidence that you grasp for adjectives to capture his skills.” -Star Tribune

In the break/s, the medium is also the message. In this “mixtape for the stage,” Bamuthi performs in a call-and-response format with turntablist DJ Excess, and beatboxer and percussionist Tommy Shepherd (aka Soulati). The multiple layers of meaning in their exchange are intensified by video projections, created by filmmaker Eli Jacobs Fantauzzi, composed of interviews and documentary footage of hip-hop culture throughout the world.
Bamuthi drew inspiration for the break/s from Jeff Chang’s 2005 American Book Award winning publication, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, which definitively captures the birth of hiphop as a local movement inspired by a generation’s longing to make culture that impacts the world.

A remarkable team of artists and creative advisors contributed to the break/s, led by director Michael John Garcés, and including dramaturg Brian Freeman, choreographer Stacy Printz, video and set designer David Szlaza, lighting designer James Clotfelter, and composer Ajayi Lumumba.

Click here to view the embedded video.

a few links…

MAPP International Productions

the break/s press kit PDF

Schedule…

For more information contact:
Cathy Zimmerman
Co-Director & Producer
MAPP International Productions
140 Second Avenue, Suite 502
New York, NY 10003
T: 646.602.9390
E: cathy@mappinternational.org

A big thanks…

Lead commissioning and development support for the break/s was provided by the Humana Festival/ Actors Theatre of Louisville, Walker Art Center, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and National Black Arts Festival. Additional residencies were held at Painted Bride Art Center; University of Wisconsin at Madison, and Z Space. The project has received generous support from the Wallace A. Gerbode Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, Zellerbach Family Foundation, East Bay Community Foundation, Creative Capital, The James Irvine Foundation, Ensemble Theatre Collaborations Grant Program, The MAP Fund, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Emerging Playwrights 2006 Initiative, and Association of Performing Arts Presenters Ensemble Theatre Collaborations Grant Program, a component of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Theatre Initiative.