Very timely and moving piece of theatre.
I’m glad to see 6th St embracing contemporary artists of color who are creating works that reflect the struggles of our times. Thanks for producing it.
The performance was riveting. It translated the situation that’s easy to distance from into a very human story, something I could have compassion for.
On-Demand March 1-8, 2021
February 26-27, 2021 7PM PST
February 28, 2021 5PM PST
Notice to viewers: Please note this show uses strong language and contains mature content.
Running time: 50 minutes
Virtual 6th Street Playhouse Stage
Accessible Ticket Pricing
We are striving to make our ticket pricing accessible to all during this hard time and have tickets ranging from $16-$60.
Please pay what you can because every dollar helps support the playhouse staying open, maintaining jobs for our staff, and makes it possible for your fellow patrons to see our shows.
A Workshop Performance Benefitting ‘The Living Room’
by Gamal Abdel Chasten
directed by Marieke Gaboury
6th Street Playhouse–Virtual Stage
featuring Gamal Abdel Chasten as Crawfish
THE SHOW
We see the homeless. Or do we?
In 50 minutes, Gamal Abdel Chasten’s one-man show uses poetry, spoken word and haunting percussion, to shed light on one man’s journey from ‘home’ to ‘homelessness.
The Cast
GAMAL CHASTEN, playwright and performer
Gamal is a playwright, actor, and composer. He is a co-founding member of Universes theater ensemble, originally based out of New York. In 2020 Chasten co-founded The Breath Project, a theatre-based organization whose mission is to work in partnership with theaters around the country to work toward dismantling systemic racism in American theatre.
Gamal’s theatrical writing credits include: The Last Word, God Took Away His Poem, The Black Mann Act Trail of Jack Johnson, The Wall Let Bygones Be, featured at the Humana Festival’s 2010 Ten Minute Play series, and currently in development Crawfish.
Co-writing Credits includeThe Ride (Universes) premiered at PS:122; Slanguage (Universes) premiered at New York Theatre Workshop; Ameriville (Universes) premiered at Actor’s Theatre of Louisville; Americus (Universes) premiered at Cincinnati Playhouse
Commissions include New York Theater Workshop, Slanguage 1999; Oregon Shakespeare Festivals, United States History Cycle 2008; Actors Theater of Louisville, Ameriville 2009; Cincinnati Playhouse, Americus 2019
Published Works include Writers Corp Teacher Anthology, publisher City Lights Books 2009; The Fire This Time: African American Plays For The 21st Century; Humana Festival: The Complete Plays, 2003, 2009, 2010.
thebreathproject2020@gmail.com thebreathproject2020.com
MARIEKE GABOURY, director
As a Theatre Specialist for the City of Palo Alto, Marieke is delighted to be a part of the team that supports performing arts programs for youth in the Bay Area. A California native who has happily returned home, Marieke spent some years in New Orleans, where she was the Manager of Institutional Development for the New Orleans Ballet Association, as well as Managing Director of Southern Rep, one of the only professional theatre companies in Louisiana. Her move to New Orleans followed 13 years in New York City, where she was Producing Director of LAByrinth Theater Company, the ensemble-driven Off Broadway collective which developed and produced new work by both emerging and distinguished, award-winning theatre artists. Recent projects include directing productions of East of the Sun and West of the Moon and The Phantom Tollbooth for Palo Alto Children’s Theatre; serving as a project mentor for Stanford University’s Stem to Shtem Summer Internship program; and, in the Summer of 2020, Marieke also co-founded The Breath Project, an archive of original theatrical works created by BIPOC artists, in response to the murder of George Floyd, and the deaths of so many people of color at the hands of law enforcement in this country. As a playwright, her play Sunday Night was a finalist in a competition held by the Tennessee Williams Literary Festival.
Media Gallery
Crawfish Audio Sample
Click here to watch the Word on the Street interview with Gamal Adbel Chasten
COLOSSUS:HOME is an anthology that gives voice to Bay Area writers as they respond to the housing crisis. Over 70 writers and artists contributed work to this collection. They wrote about the joy and pain that we experience in our personal homes, in our home towns and home countries. They wrote of the effort to maintain and create homes that nurture our truest selves. A portion of proceeds go to Moms4Housing. To support this wonderful cause, click through on the cover to the right, to purchase this book.
Very timely and moving piece of theatre.
The performance was riveting. It translated the situation that’s easy to distance from into a very human story, something I could have compassion for.
I’m glad to see 6th St embracing contemporary artists of color who are creating works that reflect the struggles of our times. Thanks for producing it.
Crawfish: We, the invisible…
A Workshop Performance benefitting
‘The Living Room’
by Gamal Abdel Chasten
directed by Marieke Gaboury
On-Demand: March 1-8, 2021
Live: February 26-28, 2021
6th Street Playhouse–Virtual Stage
featuring Gamal Abdel Chasten as Crawfish
THE SHOW
We see the homeless. Or do we?
In 50 minutes, Gamal Abdel Chasten’s one-man show uses poetry, spoken word and
haunting percussion, to shed light on one man’s journey from ‘home’ to ‘homelessness.
Gamal Abdel Chasten Bio
GAMAL CHASTEN, playwright and performer
Gamal is a playwright, actor, and composer. He is a co-founding member of Universes theater ensemble, originally based out of New York. In 2020 Chasten co-founded The Breath Project, a theatre-based organization whose mission is to work in partnership with theaters around the country to work toward dismantling systemic racism in American theatre.
Gamal’s theatrical writing credits include: The Last Word, God Took Away His Poem, The Black Mann Act Trail of Jack Johnson, The Wall Let Bygones Be, featured at the Humana Festival’s 2010 Ten Minute Play series, and currently in development Crawfish.
Co-writing Credits includeThe Ride (Universes) premiered at PS:122; Slanguage (Universes) premiered at New York Theatre Workshop; Ameriville (Universes) premiered at Actor’s Theatre of Louisville; Americus (Universes) premiered at Cincinnati Playhouse
Commissions include New York Theater Workshop, Slanguage 1999; Oregon Shakespeare Festivals, United States History Cycle 2008; Actors Theater of Louisville, Ameriville 2009; Cincinnati Playhouse, Americus 2019
Published Works include Writers Corp Teacher Anthology, publisher City Lights Books 2009; The Fire This Time: African American Plays For The 21st Century; Humana Festival: The Complete Plays, 2003, 2009, 2010.
thebreathproject2020@gmail.com thebreathproject2020.com
Marieke Gaboury Bio
MARIEKE GABOURY, director
As a Theatre Specialist for the City of Palo Alto, Marieke is delighted to be a part of the team that supports performing arts programs for youth in the Bay Area. A California native who has happily returned home, Marieke spent some years in New Orleans, where she was the Manager of Institutional Development for the New Orleans Ballet Association, as well as Managing Director of Southern Rep, one of the only professional theatre companies in Louisiana. Her move to New Orleans followed 13 years in New York City, where she was Producing Director of LAByrinth Theater Company, the ensemble-driven Off Broadway collective which developed and produced new work by both emerging and distinguished, award-winning theatre artists. Recent projects include directing productions of East of the Sun and West of the Moon and The Phantom Tollbooth for Palo Alto Children’s Theatre; serving as a project mentor for Stanford University’s Stem to Shtem Summer Internship program; and, in the Summer of 2020, Marieke also co-founded The Breath Project, an archive of original theatrical works created by BIPOC artists, in response to the murder of George Floyd, and the deaths of so many people of color at the hands of law enforcement in this country. As a playwright, her play Sunday Night was a finalist in a competition held by the Tennessee Williams Literary Festival.
While Crawfish is a fully staged performance, the play is still being developed. As such, the playwright is inviting you to share your impressions immediately after each performance in a 30-minute moderated discussion.
To participate, please click on the Zoom link for your date, right after the performance.
Media Gallery
Crawfish Audio Sample
Designated a Datebook Pick by San Francisco Chronicle theatre reviewer Lily Janiak, February 12, 2021
Read about the origins of The Breath Project in the Marin Independent Journal: “Greenbrae writer puts spotlight on racism with The Breath Project”
* Wrote and performed at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Actor’s Theater of Louisville, Cincinnati Playhouse, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and numerous other venues.
Click here to watch the Word on the Street interview with Gamal Adbel Chasten
COLOSSUS:HOME is an anthology that gives voice to Bay Area writers as they respond to the housing crisis. Over 70 writers and artists contributed work to this collection. They wrote about the joy and pain that we experience in our personal homes, in our home towns and home countries. They wrote of the effort to maintain and create homes that nurture our truest selves. A portion of proceeds go to Moms4Housing.
To support this wonderful cause, click through on the cover below, to purchase this book.