Sponsored in part by Rotary Club of Oakland - Bringing Oakland's youth and educators to transformational theater by a generous grant for tickets accompanied by a curriculum written by Dr. Dawn Williams Ferreira. Amongst the non-profit groups attending are: Youth Alive!, Youth Uprising, Youth Radio, First Place for Youth and Oakland Unified School District's African American Male Achievement Initiative, Alameda County Juvenile Justice System organizations, and others.
Piper knows firsthand about the poignant poetics of violence.
Aside from having a curriculum that accompanies his play, Piper also
makes his art transformative by including a panel discussion after the
youth-attended matinee performances. Among those who will join Piper
in the panel discussion are
Geoffrey Godfrey of
Oakland Inc., the
Oakland branch of California Youth Outreach, and
Jesus El of Showtimedunk who works with youth around domestic violence and gun violence (
http://showtime.localon.com/Team).
"It's important to talk about our
experiences, after a live performance awakens us. The panel discussions
are a tool that give us the power to take charge of our lives again,"
added Lew Levinson, co-director.
"Cops & Robbers" is a political
Rochambeau, told in Rashomon style in a riveting tour de force
performance! Piper flawlessly plays all 16 characters weaving together
the stories behind the crimes in our community, the way law enforcement
reacts and the way the media spins the news.
This is a play for anyone who wants
to improve the quality of life in the community, anyone who is
interested in a solution rather than in just winning the debate.
"Seeing 'Cops & Robbers' will definitely motivate people to take action in their communities." Hodari Davis, National Director of Youth Speaks.
The spring performances kick off Saturday, May 18th (2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.) with additional performances, Friday, May 31st (8:00 p.m.) and Saturday, June 1st (2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.) at the Lakeside Theater in The Kaiser Center, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, CA 94612.
"Cops & Robbers" is for mature audiences (mature high school students and adults).
ABOUT PIPER, Williams Ferreira, ZINS & LEVINSON
The Piper is a rapper, actor, and screenwriter from Oakland,
California. He is one-third of Flipsyde, an alternative hip hop band
that has toured internationally with artists such as Snoop Dogg, The
Black Eyed Peas, Akon, The Game, Bustah Rhymes, etc. Flipsyde has
written anthems for the 2006 Winter Olympics and the 2008 Summer
Olympics. The band continues to enjoy several song placements in
television and film, as well as sporting events. In 2009, Piper won the
best screenwriter award at the Tribeca Film Festival for his CIA
thriller: Walter's Boys. In the spring of 2010, Piper paid his way
through a Bay Area law enforcement academy, eventually graduating in
the top percentile and delivering the commencement speech. The paradox
of having strong ties to the Black community and Hip Hop, while
simultaneously working in Law Enforcement, served as the inspiration to
write Cops & Robbers.
Dr. Dawn Williams Ferreira is
the curriculum writer for Pipedreamz Entertainment. In this capacity,
she is able to extend the Piper's creative work by adding an
educational element. She has taught in rural, suburban, and urban
school districts in mainstream and alternative education, and served as
an educational consultant for Teach Youth Radio, writing curriculum
for youth-written and produced news stories. Williams Ferreira is the
co-founder of the Williams-Bah Museum in Dalaba, Guinea, West Africa,
where African Diaspora history is honored and celebrated. Her doctoral
dissertation for UC Berkeley looked at Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
in urban classroom settings.
Ami Zins was director of the Oakland
Film Office for 13 years, where she was instrumental in bringing such
films as "Pursuit of Happyness", "Matrix Reloaded" and "Matrix
Revolutions" to the Bay Area and won numerous awards for
her service to the local film industry, most recently from the
Directors Guild of America, Northern California Chapter. Zins currently teaches at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and has
taught at Laney and Contra Costa Colleges, Holy Names High School,
developed a role-play program for AC Transit, and directed over a dozen
plays in the Bay Area, most of which dealt with themes of social
justice.
Lew Levinson was
Chairman of the Laney College Theater Arts Department for more than 30
years, where he produced and directed over 40 full-length college,
community, and professional plays. "A Soldier's Story", "For Colored
Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf" and
"Colored Museum" as well as "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", "Homeland
and The Dutchman" are just a few titles from his expansive creative
career that includes acting. Most recently, Levinson starred in the
award-winning feature "Less," one of seven films he has appeared in
along with many local theater productions.
Cops & Robbers premiered in September 2012 - Related Articles:
