Spring 2021 ON THE BRINK Reading Series
Curated by Professor Saffron Henke
What have we learned from 2020? How do we as theatre artists respond to this moment?
These are multifaceted times we are facing, not just in terms of the political, social and cultural upheavals that 2020 brought upon us, but also the challenges the pandemic has brought to live performance as well. In response, this Spring, the Colorado State University Theatre Department will begin a series of readings of new works addressing the hot topic themes of our times – issues that have pushed our culture to the brink…and that reveal whole new worlds of possibilities. A collaboration of professional theatre artists, faculty members, current students and CSU alumni, On the Brink will explore works representing a variety of underrepresented voices and perspectives.
7:30-9 p.m. Reading
9 p.m. Facilitated post-reading discussion
UnEntitled by Ewok Robinson
Performed by guest artist, Ewok.
Facilitated discussion hosted by Dr. Megan Lewis, author of Performing Whitely in the Postcolony (2016)
South African spoken word artist, rapper, activist, and educator Iain “Ewok” Robinson, uses hip-hop practice to galvanize communities around social justice issues. We are every honored to have this multitalented graffiti artist, musican and stage performer join us via Zoom from South Africa to read/perform his one-man tour de force: UnEntitled. Blending exquisite wordplay, deep interrogations, and humorous reflections, Ewok examines assumptions about whiteness and privilege with sincerity, humor and honesty.
Guest:
Durban-based spoken word artist, rapper, activist, and educator Iain “Ewok”
Robinson, uses hip-hop practice to galvanize communities around social justice issues.
An aerosoloist and graffiti artist, he has painted banners and canvasses for
environmental and social justice groups such as the Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self Determination and Liberation, COP17 for climate justice, and he paints for
Palestine every year. He is a Dennis Brutus Community Scholar at the Centre for Civil
Society at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and has taught at Clifton College, an
independent boys school in Durban, where he founded the Clifton Spoken Word Society. He has authored and performed several one-man stage shows through Amhelo Productions with his partner Karen Logan: Seriously? (2011), YOBO: You’re Only Born Once (2015), I to I (2015) with UK-based artist Kat Francois, and UnEntitled (2017), which premiered at The Quick Center in The USA in Fall 2017. He also has two anthologies of poetry and four albums of recorded music and spoken word to his name.
For more on his Spoken Word flavored Hip Hop activism, visit ewokessay.com