On the Boards Performance Program: Ahamefule Oluo (Dec 2019)

AHAMEFULE J. OLUO

DEC 5 - 8

SUSAN

PHOTO BY NAOMI ISHISAKA

We begin by acknowledging this land is the ancestral home of the Duwamish and many other Indigenous peoples recorded and unrecorded, who have been the custodians of this land since time immemorial. As guests and — in many of our cases — as settlers on this land, we extend our deepest gratitude and respect to their ancestors and elders past, present, and future.

On the Boards is beginning to engage in conversations to deepen our practices in a way that reflects and honors Coast Salish protocol.

Part of our understanding of the protocol is making material gifts to the Indigenous peoples of this land as a way of recognizing their genealogical responsibility to the well-being of the territory and all beings who make a home here. We encourage you to donate online at realrentduwamish.org.

This performance will contain haze.

Filming and photography are not permitted during performances.

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Dear Art Lover, We are so thrilled to have you with us here on this momentous occasion.

Thanks for being in the audiences with us tonight. We welcome those of you that this is your first time here and those of you that have subscribed for several years, we appreciate each of you making the decision to come out of your house and sit inside this magical theater together and be moved by this amazing artist and musician from Seattle!

As the cold and dark sets in this winter season, know that On the Boards is the place to find your community of fearless art makers and believers. A place of radical care and of togetherness. Our mission is to invest in the leading contemporary performing artists near and far, and connect them to a diverse range of communities interested in forward-thinking art and ideas. That’s On the Board’s reason for being and that’s the mission that has been steadfast and true throughout our forty years of existence.

We believe in this Seattle community who are interested in supporting forwardthinking art and ideas. There are fewer and fewer places in Seattle where we find a creative community we truly connect with. We are fighting to ensure that these spaces not only stay open but become even more accessible. We want you to always walk through our doors knowing that the artists on the stage, the celebrations in the lobby, the revelry at the Fubar, the great meals at the Studio Suppers, the conversations in the bright pink elevator, are all possible because of YOUR dedication to daring art and ideas. Along with so many others, you have built this artistic community.

Here at On the Boards, the mix of art, questioning, and purpose bring us together and hold us in a uniquely immediate interconnection. The experience of watching a performance together, sharing a meal with one another, having a drink in the lobby, or simply walking through the doors gives us the opportunity to connect with people from our city and embrace the thrill of complex creativity, and very real, very risky vulnerability.

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We need you; we always have – and we need On the Boards to bring us together, spark conversations, inspire us, and keep us questioning.

As we keep fighting for space for our nonconformist, subversive, and brilliant artists like Ahamefule Oluo and his collaborators, and for and friends like you, we ask that you consider making a year-end donation or purchase a gift subscription for a friend to help protect a future for remarkable possibilities here at On the Boards.

In Solidarity,

Betsey Brock Executive Director

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Rachel Cook Artistic Director

About the Artist AHAMEFULE J. OLUO, Musician, Composer, Writer and Stand-Up Comedian Ahamefule J. Oluo is a Seattle-based musician, composer, writer, and stand-up comedian. Oluo is a founding member of and trumpet player in the Stranger Genius Award-winning jazz-punk quartet Industrial Revelation, and was featured in City Arts Magazine’s 2013 Future List as one of Seattle’s most promising artists.

Oluo has collaborated with such diverse acts as Das Racist, Macklemore, Hey Marseilles, and TacocaT. In 2015 he appeared on This American Life and received a Creative Capital Award. In 2016 Oluo was awarded Artist Trust’s Arts Innovator Award, and the performance of his autobiographical musical Now I’m Fine at the Public Theater in New York City was called “dizzying,” “engaging,” and “grand” by the New York Times. In 2018, production wrapped on Thin Skin, a feature film adaptation of Now I’m Fine, co-written by Oluo, Charles Mudede, and Lindy West.

Oluo both stars in and scored the film which will premiere in 2020.

SUSAN is a Creative Capital Project. SUSAN is commissioned by On the Boards and works-inprogress of the performance were presented in various stages of development in and around Seattle at bars, arts organizations, and clubs. SUSAN was presented as part of Portland Institute of Contemporary Art’s TBA Festival in September 2019. Ahamefule J. Oluo was one of the 2018/19 Artists-in-Residence at On the Boards. SUSAN will be presented as part of Under the Radar 2020 at the Public Theater in New York City this January.

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SUSAN Writer | Composer | Performer, Ahamefule J. Oluo Co-Writer, Lindy West Lyrics, okanomodé and Tiffany Wilson Director, Jennifer Zeyl Audio Engineer, Matthew Starritt Lighting Director, Robert Aguilar Projections Designer, Juniper Shuey Production Manager, Steven Carlino Company Manager, Haley Freedlund

BAND Vocal Soloist, okanomodé Vocal Soloist, Tiffany Wilson Trumpet, Ahamefule J. Oluo Trombone / Sousaphone, Jerome Smith Trombone, Jason Cressey Saxophone, Skerik Upright Bass, Marina Christopher Drums, D'Vonne Lewis Keyboards, Marina Albero

Special Thanks Roya Amirsoleymani, Bobby Asher, Catherine Blake-Smith, Sammantha Burns, Erin Boberg, Betsey Brock, Vada Briceño, Rachel Cook, Jacque Gbalipre, Jon Grenay, Brett Hamil, Geoff Harper, Wier Harman, Kyle Hartmann, Clare Hatlo, Kay and Robert Hawley, Kristan Kennedy, Hari Kondabolu, Kathleen Le Coze, Jack McLarnan, Emmett Montgomery, Penelope and Charley, Josh Rawlings, Rob Sample, Eze-Basil Oluo, Susan Oluo, Ijeoma Oluo, Ingrid West, Mo Wilhelm, Evan Woodle 4Culture, Art Matters, Creative Capital, Intiman Theatre, Meany Center for the Performing Arts, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Seattle Repertory

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THANK YOU, ON THE BOARDS DONORS! INSTITUTIONAL & COMMUNITY PARTNERS 100,000+ | The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation 50,000+ | New England Foundation for the Arts (National Dance Project and National Theater Project)

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THANK YOU

On the Boards is grateful for the generous support of the following organizations

IN KIND & MEDIA SPONSORS

About On the Boards Founded by artists in 1978, On the Boards invests in leading contemporary performing artists near and far, and connects them to a diverse range of communities interested in forward-thinking art and ideas.

We believe if we are successful in our work that we can grow our field, enrich peoples’ lives, and contribute to civic and global dialogues.

We value: artistic risks while being fiscally responsible; leadership in our field and the multiple communities we serve to strategically advance the role contemporary artists play in society; racial and social equity, and accountability, to ensure our organization includes multiple viewpoints; provocative art as a vehicle to connect people of diverse backgrounds and perspectives; our local creative community as we engage with international artists and peers; and professional and transparent management.

STAFF Betsey Brock, Executive Director Rachel Cook, Artistic Director Rich Bresnahan, Technical Director Erica Bower Reich, Development Manager Kate Connerty, Communications Associate Sara Ann Davidson, Operations Manager Samie Detzer, Director of External Relations Alexandra Harding, Assistant Technical Manager Clare Hatlo, Associate Producer Sara Jinks, Production Coordinator Ben Marx, Sound Technician Erin McCarthy, Bookkeeper Pamala Mijatov, Director of Audience Services Eze-Basil Oluo, House Manager Charles Smith, Curatorial Administrator

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BOARD Davora Lindner, Board President Ruth Lockwood, Past President John Hoedemaker, Vice President John Robinson, Treasurer Michaela Hutfles, Secretary Tyler Engle, Member at Large Tom Israel, Member at Large Norie Sato, Member at Large Kristen Becker, Lara Behnert, Kim Brillhart, Maryika Byskiniewicz, Jeanie Chunn, Florangela Davila, Jeffrey Fracé, Corey Gutch, Rodney Hines, John Hoedemaker, Tina LaPadula, Mireya Lewin, Mari London, Lance Neely, Emily Tanner-McLean, David Taft, Kate Murphy, Mary Ann Peters, Spafford Robbins, Jimmy Rogers, Robert Stumberger, Josef Vascovitz, Bill Way

COMING SOON

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!

Performance Lab: Uncanny Cabaret Wed, Dec 11, 8:00 pm Studio Theater Co-curated by Performance Lab Producer Charles Smith and artist Matt Aguayo A post-binary performance for the glamorous, the outrageous, and the utterly sublime.

Hosted by iconoclastic co-curator, Matt Aguayo (Angel Baby Kill Kill Kill), this Performance Lab will transform OtB’s Studio Theater into a cabaret space presenting drag, dance, burlesque, lip sync, and spoken word. Unruly, uninhibited, and radical, this is a Performance Lab one you don’t want to miss.

Taylor Mac: Holiday Sauce Dec 19 - 20, 8:00 pm The Moore Theatre Christmas as calamity – 2017 MacArthur Fellow and Pulitzer Prize finalist Taylor Mac takes on the holidays to celebrate the season in all of its dysfunction.

For this new production, Taylor Mac is joined by longtime collaborators, designer Machine Dazzle, Music Director Matt Ray, and a spectacular band to reframe the songs you love and the holidays you hate.

Tickets can be purchased through STG.

ontheboards.org

Tim Smith-Stewart & Jeffrey Azevedo: Salvage Rituals (Work-in-Progress Showing) Feb 1, 2020, 7:00 pm Merrill Theatre This work-in-progress showing invites the audience into the first iteration of an ongoing community practice and dance party. Born from a private ritual to mourn friends very much alive but lost to unsupported neurodivergence and addiction, Salvage Rituals is interested in the potential of communal ritual intersecting with DIY engineering as an embodied practice of mutualism/mutual aid.

A rigorous movement score takes place on a hexagonal platform constructed of piezoelectric tiles, which transforms the mechanical stress from the performers' bodies into electrical current, actively powering the stage lights.

Solo: A Festival of Dance Feb 20 - 23, 2020 Merrill Theatre Solo: A Festival of Dance explores the solo as a rebellious act of self-expression.

This year’s festival will feature an evening length program with five solo performances created by Jade Solomon Curtis, Jumatatu Poe, Adrienne Truscott, Marianna Valencia and Allie Hankins.

In addition to these performances there will be additional day-time and late-night programing co-curated with Dani Tirrell happening all over the OtB building.

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COMING SOON

CUCKOO JAHA KOO

JAN 23 - 26

In Cuckoo, South Korean artist Jaha Koo gives a touching insight into the tragedy of a lonely life in a thoroughly technologized society–all through a sequence of dialogues between Koo and three rice cookers. One day when his electric rice cooker informed him that his meal was ready, Jaha Koo experienced a deep sense of isolation. ‘Golibmuwon’ is an untranslatable Korean word expressing the feeling of helpless isolation that characterizes the lives of many young people in Korea today.

Twenty years ago there was a major economic crisis in South-Korea, comparable to the financial crash in the United States and

Southern Europe in 2008. This crisis had a huge impact on the young generation to which South Korean artist Jaha Koo belongs. He witnessed many endemic problems including youth unemployment and socio-economic inequality. Rising suicide rates, isolation, acute social withdrawal and a fixation on personal appearance are but a few of the symptoms.

In bittersweet and humorous dialogues, Jaha and his clever rice cookers take you on a journey through the last 20 years of Korean history, combining personal experience with political events and reflections on happiness, economic crises, and death.

Presented in partnership with PuSH Festival, Vancouver, and International Festival of Performance and Ideas, Toronto. Cuckoo was realized with the support of de Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie.