Read Spunk Program - California Shakespeare Theater

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takes you through experiences of
all kinds, and lands you somewhere
else. The stories in Spunk are
indeed stories of journey and, taken
together, trace the larger journey of
African-American migration in the
20th century (see pages 17-18).
The stories created by our young
collaborators are also journey stories,
some part of the great historical
journey of migration and immigration
that has shaped our region, and
some simply exploring what a daily
journey to school and back is like
for a 15-year-old in East Oakland
or in San Francisco’s SOMA district.
Working with these young artists,
we also discovered how far apart the
neighboring cities in our region can
feel, and that crossing the Bay Bridge
represented a journey to a completely
new country for many participants.
This inspired us to add a goal to the
Triangle Lab work in the upcoming
year: our programs will aim to create
trails that connect people whose daily
lives tend to keep them apart.
Thinking about these divides, we
began focusing on another pair of
communities: Oakland and Orinda.
Sitting next to each other on the
map but divided by resources,
reputation, and culture, they can
often seem impossibly far from each
other. Can we cross this divide? Can
we make this theater in the Orinda
hills a place where the stories of
Oakland are welcomed next to the
stories of faraway places? What are
the journeys we all took to arrive
here—in this amphitheater, this city,
this state? How do our journeys
bring us together or keep us isolated
in communities of like-minded
people? As you get ready to watch
the stories of Spunk unfold, we’ve
designed some other experiences at
the Bruns to invite you to consider
your own journeys, where you came
from, where you’re going, where you
never seem to fi nd yourself. On the
path up the hill you’ll fi nd signs by
April Banks asking questions about
journeys. Proceed from there to
an exhibit showcasing the photos
and writing of EC Reems students
who worked with Banks and other
artists to capture their daily lives
in words and pictures, and fi lms by
Mobile Media workshop participants.
Nearby, you can listen to recorded
pieces by Oakland playwright
Chinaka Hodge—featuring the voices
of Spunk actor Margo Hall and
Daveed Diggs—that invite you on
a journey into her vivid and mythic
Oakland landscape. These audio
pieces and the student fi lms and
photos can also be enjoyed online at
thetrianglelab.org.
Finally, we want you to have the
opportunity to bring your own
creative voice to the mix (as well
as groove to the great music of
Spunk) so we invite you to join
composer, music director, and Guitar
Man Tru Peterson before Thursday
performances for the Blues Holla
Jam, wherein you can learn about
the history of call-and-response in
blues music and create your own
chant; on Fridays, join choreographer
Traci Bartlow for a dance session
where you can learn jazz- and bluesinspired
moves, and dance with the
cast onstage.
And as you make your way back
down the path and home, we hope
you’ll keep pondering where your
journey has taken you so far, and
how it intersects with the journeys of
your neighbors around the Bay.
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Courtesy of Berkeley Repertory Theatre. © Ken Friedman
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