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The Exponential Festival Presents: Being Up in Here and All the Other Businesses that Don’t Concern You OR When You See a Buncha Black People Running, What Do You Do?
Marissa Joyce Stamps
January 5 - January 13
$20 – $50The Exponential Festival and The Brick present
Being Up in Here and All the Other Businesses that Don’t Concern You
OR When You See a Buncha Black People Running, What Do You Do?
by Marissa Joyce Stamps
January 5 – 13, 2024
January 6th: Cast + Creative Talkback
January 12th: Talkback with WeRunBrownsville’s Co-Founders Sheila Gordon and Dionne Grayman and Lane 1 creator Amira-Dior Traynham-Artis on the themes of rest, recuperation, and hustle/grind culture for Black women and femmes!
Being Up in Here… is happy to be hosting a shoe drive during our production’s run; all donations will be given to the Brooklyn-based St. Mary’s Clothing Drive. Donations will be accepted in the 30 minutes before all performances begin. Please bring shoes that are clean and ready to be used.
“We runnin cross country.”
Being Up in Here… follows best friends Aaliyah and Eli who get magical running sneakers and run On Their Way, as far as space as near as Brownsville’s GnM bodega, to reach The Final Destination where they’re to meet Mama She. But, what happens when they make the unfamiliar familiar and run off course?
Written + Directed by Marissa Joyce Stamps
Co-Produced by Marissa Joyce Stamps, Ava Elizabeth Novak, Thalia Sablon, + Nola Latty
Featuring Alexis Dobynes, Aja Downing, Marie Flore Stamps, Mariyea, Chloe Mutebi, + Danté Charles Crichlow
Scenic Design by lucas a. degirolamo
Lighting Design by André Segar
Costume Design by DeShon Elem
Sound Design & Composition by Lamb
Lead Carpentry by Thomas Wagner
Stage Management by Abigail Berven-Stotz
By invoking running, the play centers the utopian possibilities in Black folks’, especially Black women and femmes’, relationship to rest, recuperation and restoration, while trying to conquer the utter guilt that comes with embracing those principles for ourselves. And in the same breath, Being Up in Here… brings into focus the internal conflict of deciding whether to it’s better to stay close to the familiar, like one’s close-knit hometown community, or if it’s better to uncover the unfamiliar and take the risk of seeing what lies outside in uncharted territory, and examines the nuances of prioritizing one over the other in one’s search for home, belonging, and self-actualization.
cw: sudden loud noises, strobing light, fog, mention of suicide, and discussion of death.
Find them: marissajoycestamps.com @marissajoycestamps @beingupinhere
THE EXPONENTIAL FESTIVAL
JANUARY’S BROOKLYN-BASED THEATRE FESTIVAL
~ A pleasure, a mess, a thrill, and a dream. ~
Exponential is a month-long January festival dedicated to New York City-based emerging artists working in experimental performance. The participants in this multi-artist, multi-venue festival are committed to ecstatic creativity in the face of commercialism. Exponential is driven by inclusiveness and a diversity of artists, forms, and ideas coupled with utopian resource-sharing, mentoring and the championing of risky, rigorous work in eclectic fields. theexponentialfestival.org
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The Brick is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. We rely on the generosity of our patrons. Consider giving a tax-deductible donation today to help make The Brick a sustainable hub of experimental performance for many years to come. Donate Here or Join Our Patreon
A Note on Accessibility: The Brick has trigger warnings posted in the space for each show for you to check if you so choose. If you would rather ask questions in advance of being in the space or would like to enter in advance of house opening due to our seating not being assigned, please reach out to theresa@bricktheater.com.
Mask Policy: The Brick strongly encourages but does not require masks for audience members. We are in ongoing conversation with our artists and audiences as we continue to adapt our covid policies and it is subject to change at any time. Thank you.