Voices Festival Productions (VFP) is a is an independent production company based in Washington DC, which produces plays (and the occasional musical) that stimulate debate and discourse, introspection and awareness, informed by revelation of our underlying humanity in all its color and complexity, finding resonance between those living with conflict in the Middle East and closer to home, in our nation’s capital, along the seams of our nation and its very real and perceived divides. We celebrate diverse, inter-cultural voices and encounters through inter-connected performance of both provocative and introspective new works for the stage, in dialogue with our moment.

All VFP personnel are asked to follow organizational policies for anti-discrimination/harassment and Covid safety protocols. In addition to our mission, we have iterated company safety documents, including our VFP Anti-Harassment Policy, Rehearsal Room Standards (based on the work of our colleagues at Not in Our House: DC, and Not in Our House: Chicago), an Intimacy Pillars Reference Guide, Concern Resolution Form, COVID Safety Plan, and more. www.voicesfestivalproductions.com

NOTE: Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimination. Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to submit.

Local AEA and EMC actors are especially encouraged to submit. MUST BE A DC LOCAL HIRE.

[ CHARLOTTA BASS / ANITA ]
20s-30s, female-identifying, Black (or Afro-Latine/x). CHARLOTTA – 20/30s, the first Black woman candidate for Vice President in the United States. ANITA – 40s, Black, painter and garden enthusiast.

[ PATSY MATSU TAKEMOTO MINK / MOIRA ]
40s-60s, female-identifying, Asian American Pacific Islander. PATSY – 40/50s/60s, the first woman of color to be elected to the house of representatives, the first Asian American woman to run in congress and the first Asian-American to run for president of the US. MOIRA – 40s, Asian American*, lawyer and garden enthusiast. Moira was born in Hawaii and identifies as Asian American Pacific Islander.

[ NON-AEA COVER FOR CHARLOTTA/ANITA/CHARLENE/ZURI ]
20s-40s, female-identifying, Black (or Afri-Latine/x).

Storyline: LETTERS TO KAMALA – Set right before election night as three major political women in US history come to visit the Vice Presidential candidate to offer words of wisdom – which she will need. A provocative call to recognize powerful Women of Color throughout history who have made strides to shatter all kinds of ceilings in the world we live in, we meet CHARLOTTA BASS, the first Black woman candidate for Vice President in the United States; CHARLENE MITCHELL, the first Black woman to run for president of the US; and PATSY MATSU TAKEMOTO MINK, the first woman of color to be elected to the house of representatives and first Asian-American woman to run in congress and for president of the US. The play offers a bracing history and thought-provoking meditation on group identity, allegiance, the cost of breaking barriers, and doing the thorny work of institutional change. The playwright asks, “What can we ultimately never compromise on?” The answer is this blistering play of tough love.

DANDELION PEACE – At an urban community garden, Moira struggles to preserve civility (and keep her status as garden president) as Zuri and Anita go head-to-head over “invasive species” and the right to grow weeds to make delectably-tasting wine. The result is all-out comic warfare about literal turf battles and the precarity of Women of Color in power – with plenty of sisterly squabbling. In the end, it’s the dangers posed by a manipulative, would-be, female dictator running for board president that poses the gravest threat to the community as the election approaches!