Circuit City
Written by Camae Ayewa, Music by Moor Mother
June 20—22, 2019
2019 High Pressure Fire Service
Runtime TBA
Cost TBA
FringeArtsMap
June 20—22, 2019
World Premiere
Photo by Bob Sweeney
Poet and noise musician Camae Ayewa (Moor Mother) presents her first theatrical work, a futuristic exploration—part musical, part choreopoem, part play—of public/private ownership, housing, and technology set in a living room in a corporate-owned apartment complex. Framed by Ayewa’s bold poetry and bolstered by new Moor Mother music performed live by Irreversible Entanglements and the Circuit City Band, Circuit City is an afrofuturist song cycle for our current climate.
XPN Welcomes Circuit City by Moor Mother
Run Time: 60 minutes
HPFS Subscriptions:
$150 Six-Show Package / $120 for members*
15% off tickets to 3-5 performances / 30% off for members*
All subscribers receive free ticket exchanges and reduced fees.
Single Tickets:
$31 general / $21.70 members
$15 students and 25-and-under
$2 FringeACCESS members
Feature Photo by Rasheedah Phillips
NO ESCAPE REAL ESTATE
By Camae Ayewa
Photo by Johanna Austin
ANCESTRAL MEMORY
EMINENT DOMAIN
LOUD BOOMING
ROUND OF APPLAUSE
CENTURIES LONG
PUBLIC PROPERTY
PRIVATE OWNERSHIP
SILENT BODIES
CHALK LINE/REDLINE
CIRCUIT BREAK
Reverse Gentrification of the Future Now: Essay by Rasheedah Phillips
“We are experiencing an affordable housing crisis, and this crisis is exacerbated by the average of 22,000 eviction filings each year and the unknown number of illegal evictions…Compounding these issues is pervasive housing discrimination – single mothers and their children, seniors, Black people, LGBTQ people, immigrants, and people living with disabilities are disproportionately impacted by evictions and lack of access to safe, habitable, and affordable housing…Circuit City considers both the implications of time and of space involved in privatization of public housing, gentrification, displacement, and redevelopment. There is no set year or place in the play, but instead a layering of multiple temporal spaces.”
–Read the full essay on the FringeArts Blog
Happy Hour on the Fringe
On this episode of Happy Hour of the Fringe, we share a drink with poet, noise musician and Afro-futurist Camae Ayewa and discuss her latest project, Circuit City. Known as a force of nature in the Philadelphia Arts scene, Camae has also made her mark world wide as the one-woman band, Moor Mother. Camae discusses how Circuit City explores what the concept of freedom really is, through the lens of the housing crisis and its effects on those who’ve spent their lifetime in their community. Read the full transcript on the FringeArts Blog or listen below.
About Camae Ayewa
A prolific voice in the Philadelphia arts community, Camae Ayewa has released more than a dozen EPs as Moor Mother and Moor Mother Goddess since 2012. She has performed in the punk band The Mighty Paradocs and is also the co-founder of Rockers! Philly, an event series and festival focused on marginalized artists, and Black Quantum Futurism Collective, a literary and artistic collaboration with Rasheedah Philips (The Afrofuturist Affair).
High Pressure Fire Service
A Presentation Series for Philadelphia Artists
High Pressure Fire Service (HPFS) takes its name from FringeArts’ historic building, the first high pressure pump house in the country. Opened in 1903, the station pumped water from the Delaware River to fire hydrants across Philadelphia, connecting the city and helping it grow and thrive. This history of creativity and connectivity is at the very heart of the High Pressure Fire Service festival. Addressing issues of representation, gender, accessibility, reproductive justice, and more through devised theater, comedy, and participatory play, these productions embody the vast range and exceptional talent of Philadelphia’s rich performing arts community.
Check out the FringeArts Blog to read about Who’s Who in High Pressure Fire Service, part one and part two.
Support for High Pressure Fire Service has been provided by the Wyncote Foundation.