~ one World in Peace ~
Live Garra Theatre Imagines Perfect Peace
SEPTEMBER 21, 2024 ~ WORLD PEACE DAY
SEPTEMBER 21, 2024 ~ WORLD PEACE DAY
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PROFESSOR VERA KATZ CONDUCTS
A SCENE STUDY ~ MASTER CLASS ~ AT THE BLACK BOX Live Garra Theatre hosts a Master Class with Professor Katz on Thursday, September 19th at 7:00 pm. Acting is doing! It’s a real emotional response to an imaginary stimulus; a moment-to-moment reality where fictional characters come alive! Professor Katz’s Scene Study class teaches how to make this happen! She uses exploratory creativity to discover a character’s playable intentions and to reflect on feedback as a way to evaluate performances after scene work. Improve performance techniques, take risks, and stretch the limitless boundaries of the imagination. Professor Katz is the Empress of acting instruction. This Master Class will enhance the abilities of the capable student and enrich the gifted actor remarkably. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to study under her tutelage. She is a marvel. Thurs., 9/19 (7 pm) $25 online / $30 at the door. 
Vera J. Katz is a Professor Emerita from Howard University in the Department of Theatre Arts where she taught both acting and directing for 32 years. For 22 years, she taught acting at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. She has worked with the famed Broadway playwright-director-author,
Moss Hart. Professor Katz holds a BFA in Theatre Arts from Brooklyn College, an MFA in Directing and Acting from Boston University, and has studied Film at both the University of Southern California and the University of California/Extension. She has been a guest teacher and director at Rutgers University; a visiting professor for the Mentor Series in directing graduates at University of Michigan. For the Centennial, she directed F.DOUGLASS and C.REDMOND DEBATE at the Smithsonian Institute. She has taught such notables as Debbie Allen, Anthony Anderson, Chadwick Boseman, Taraji P. Henson, Phylicia Rashad, Lynn Whitfield and Isaiah Washington. |
COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS
AT THE BLACK BOX Live Garra Theatre conducts ongoing Playback Theatre workshops! Playback Theatre inspires story-sharing to find bonds between stories. The audience is invited to share a situation focused on racial bias and issues of marginalization, and actors improvise and re-enact the scene-they play it back! Please join us on Friday, September 20th at 8:00 pm when Professor Ernest Quarles will be our special guest. He will facilitate our community conversation focusing on concepts aimed at defining the impact of systemic and institutional racism. These community forums foster meaningful dialogue through our collective experiences and lets the storyteller see his or her personal tale up on stage and view it from a different perspective. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Workshop Dates: Fri., 9/20 (8 pm) Sat., 9/21 (8 pm) ~ WORLD PEACE DAY Sun. 9/22 (3 pm) PAY WHAT YOU MAY Engage Onstage ~ Erase Racism ~ Humanity Found Here Parental guidance advised; adult and controversial themes may be discussed. 
Ernest J. Quarles is an attorney, intersectional critical race researcher, who teaches at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. His courses focus on deficits in America’s storytelling, erased and marginalized histories, and U.S. racial history. Within those spaces, his methodology embraces intersectional frames and other critical lenses and, in so doing, enables truly transformational learning. Professor Quarles presently serves on the Prince Georges County (MD) Lynching Education Committee. He currently sits on the Board of the African American Policy Forum, one of the nation’s leading think tanks on race and social justice.
Professor Quarles special guest speaker Fri., 9/20 (8 pm) ~"Sign up today ~ Don't delay ~ Send Yours in right away" ~
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Peacetime Heyday
PLEASE JOIN US!
PLEASE JOIN US!
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MONTGOMERY MAGAZINE ON STAGE:
LIVE GARRA MAKES THEATER WITH PERSISTENCE
BY LISA TRAIGER
"GARRA IS A PORTUGUESE WORD for the curved or hooked claw of a bird of prey or animal. And it’s an unexpected name for a theater company. But after spending some time with Silver Springbased actor, producer and educator Wanda Whiteside it becomes clear why she chose the name Live Garra Theatre, with its mission to 'illuminate all facets of a multicultural society and to preserve the unique legacy of the African American heritage.'”
LIVE GARRA MAKES THEATER WITH PERSISTENCE
BY LISA TRAIGER
"GARRA IS A PORTUGUESE WORD for the curved or hooked claw of a bird of prey or animal. And it’s an unexpected name for a theater company. But after spending some time with Silver Springbased actor, producer and educator Wanda Whiteside it becomes clear why she chose the name Live Garra Theatre, with its mission to 'illuminate all facets of a multicultural society and to preserve the unique legacy of the African American heritage.'”
The Window King
A Brooklyn Village Songbook
A Brooklyn Village Songbook
Welcome to Live Garra Theatre!
OUR MISSION
The word "garra" literally means claws - to hold on and to ‘live Garra’ (Portuguese for prevail) means to go the distance and never give up. The organization exists to Illuminate all facets of a multicultural society; foster cross-cultural understanding of the many voices in the community, and to fill the void of culturally specific Theatre. Live Garra Theatre endeavors to effectuate change and have a positive impact on the diverse communities in and around the Silver Spring and DMV areas.
OUR VISION
As a resident Company of the Theatre Consortium of Silver Spring, the organization operates out of the Silver Spring Black Box Theatre as a performance training studio, an incubator for a core repertory of skilled poets, playwrights, and artists coming together to teach and share a blend of the cultural arts. Live Garra Theatre features full-length productions, play readings, acting seminars, internships, workshops, lectures, and question and answer discussions.
OUR CORE VALUES
To employ the cultural arts to address universal social-life issues. Reinforce the value of diversity, strengthen the social connections among people, as well as provide a 'safe harbor' for the youth. Live Garra Theatre is dedicated to increasing awareness, preserving the unique legacy of the African-American heritage; contributing to the survival of Black Theatre.
OUR QUINTESSENCE
The haunting Negro Spiritual, 'Follow the Drinking Gourd' was sung by slaves in the South to pass along secret directions to run-aways who journeyed on the Underground Railroad. The Big Dipper constellation; the drinking gourd in the sky that points North, guided African-Americans' ancestors through dark dangerous pathways that ran throughout places like Maryland; a candle in the window gave them respite - hush, a 'safe-house'. They endured, they lived Garra until they saw the light of liberty. “Children, if you get tired, keep going; if you are scared, keep going; if you are hungry, keep going; if you want to taste freedom ... keep going.” - Harriet Tubman
Why Black Lives Matter ...
The word "garra" literally means claws - to hold on and to ‘live Garra’ (Portuguese for prevail) means to go the distance and never give up. The organization exists to Illuminate all facets of a multicultural society; foster cross-cultural understanding of the many voices in the community, and to fill the void of culturally specific Theatre. Live Garra Theatre endeavors to effectuate change and have a positive impact on the diverse communities in and around the Silver Spring and DMV areas.
OUR VISION
As a resident Company of the Theatre Consortium of Silver Spring, the organization operates out of the Silver Spring Black Box Theatre as a performance training studio, an incubator for a core repertory of skilled poets, playwrights, and artists coming together to teach and share a blend of the cultural arts. Live Garra Theatre features full-length productions, play readings, acting seminars, internships, workshops, lectures, and question and answer discussions.
OUR CORE VALUES
To employ the cultural arts to address universal social-life issues. Reinforce the value of diversity, strengthen the social connections among people, as well as provide a 'safe harbor' for the youth. Live Garra Theatre is dedicated to increasing awareness, preserving the unique legacy of the African-American heritage; contributing to the survival of Black Theatre.
OUR QUINTESSENCE
The haunting Negro Spiritual, 'Follow the Drinking Gourd' was sung by slaves in the South to pass along secret directions to run-aways who journeyed on the Underground Railroad. The Big Dipper constellation; the drinking gourd in the sky that points North, guided African-Americans' ancestors through dark dangerous pathways that ran throughout places like Maryland; a candle in the window gave them respite - hush, a 'safe-house'. They endured, they lived Garra until they saw the light of liberty. “Children, if you get tired, keep going; if you are scared, keep going; if you are hungry, keep going; if you want to taste freedom ... keep going.” - Harriet Tubman
Why Black Lives Matter ...
Supported in part by
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About our Artistic Producer
Dr. Whiteside has been conferred with the designation Fellow for Institute for Social Innovation at Fielding Graduate University. As a recipient of the prestigious Dianne Kipnes Social Innovation Award; she will advance her work as a researcher-practitioner, conducting an ongoing workshop series that incorporates Playback Theatre, a performance exercise that invites the audience to participate in the creation of improvised scenes focused on racial bias and issues of marginalization.
Dr. Whiteside trained at the Boston Conservatory of Music, HB Actor's Studio and Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts in New York. She has performed professionally at the Olney Theatre Center, the Arena Stage and the Round House Theatre. She served as a judge for the NAACP ACT-SO competitions and presenter at the University of Maryland Black Theatre Symposium on the state of Black Theatre in America. Wanda was employed at Discovery Communications, Inc. for 15 years as a Director/Editor. She and her husband owned and operated the Bonifant Theatre Space in Silver Spring, MD.
Wanda earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Arts from Howard University. She received a Master of Science in Business Management from Strayer University and holds a Master’s degree and Doctorate of Education in Leadership for Change, both from Fielding Graduate University. Wanda is currently a faculty member at Montgomery College as an Acting instructor. Dr. Whiteside received an Honorable Citation from the Maryland State House of Delegates for her work with the Silver Spring Town Center, Inc., of which she is a founding member and advisory board member. Dr. Whiteside is a founding member and current ex-officio board member of the Theatre Consortium of Silver Spring, Inc. She was awarded Montgomery’s Best Honoree Community Service award. Dr. Whiteside believes "Artistry is the insatiable desire to be free"-w.
“Respecting Race and Recognizing Racism through Playback Theatre"
