THE H STREET ORAL HISTORY FESTIVAL
MARCH 16-17 2024
The multi-year arc of Mosaic’s H Street Oral History Project, spearheaded by the Andrew W. Mellon Playwright-in-Residence Psalmayene 24, culminates with the H Street Oral History Project Festival. Using Washington, DC’s H Street corridor as a source of inspiration and preservation, local playwrights Dane Figueroa Edidi, Gethsemane Herron-Coward, and James J. Johnson have written new plays inspired by interviews with residents past and present. Staged readings of these new works will be the focal point of the festival, which will also include music and food, H Street neighborhood walking tours led by Justice Walks, and panel discussions curated in collaboration with the DC History Center.
The H Street Oral History Project is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, Eugene M. Lang Foundation, Humanities DC, Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs and Mosaic Partners Circle Advocates Debbie Goldman and Craig Pascal.
All tickets for the H Street Oral History Project Festival are free!
MEDIA FROM THE H STREET ORAL HISTORY PROJECT FESTIVAL
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Saturday 3/16
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Justice Walks Walking Tour of H Street Corridor
1:00-3:00 p.m.: Reading of Central Time by James J. Johnson followed by a talk-back in the Lang Theatre/Atlas
Featuring Yvonne Paretzky, Sabrina Lynn Sawyer, Billie Krishawn, Tamieka Chavis, Gaelyn Smith, John Floyd, DeJeanette Horne, Chris Stinson, Mishy Jacobson, and Dina Soltan
3:30-4:30 p.m.: Psalmayene 24 and Jane Lang In Conversation in the Lang Theatre/Atlas on Redeveloping the Atlas and the Growth of the Arts on H Street
Head to Mozzeria for 25% off dinner with your digital ticket
6:00-7:00p.m.: Tabling from local businesses Hiraya and Lords of Lulu
7:00-9:00 p.m.: Reading of Smoke by Dane Figueroa Edidi followed by a talk-back in the Lang Theatre/Atlas
Featuring Dane Figueroa Edidi, Denise Diggs, Travis Brown, Joe Marshall, Chris Stinson, and Alina Collins Maldonado
Sunday 3/17
1:00-1:45 p.m.: DC History Center Panel Discussion about the Past, Present and Future of the H Street Corridor in the Lang Theatre/Atlas
Moderated by DC History Center Executive Director Laura Hagood with Courtland Milloy (Washington Post), Kyla Sommers (When the Smoke Cleared), and dramaturg Jordan Ealey
2:00-3:00p.m.: Tabling from local businesses Paste and Rind and Lords of Lulu
3:00-5:30 p.m.: Reading of George on H by Gethsemane Herron-Coward followed by talk-back in Lang Theatre/Atlas (ASL Interpreted)
Featuring John Floyd, Nkiruka Akunwafor, Jefferson A. Russell, Billie Krishawn, Lorenzo Miguel and Charles Franklin IV
Closing Toast in The Atlas Lobby
All readings will be followed by a brief talkback with the artists
All tickets for the H Street Oral History Project Festival are free!
PLAYWRIGHTS
ABOUT DC HISTORY CENTER
Established in 1894 and located at the Carnegie Library in Downtown, the DC History Center is a community-supported nonprofit organization, which deepens understanding of our city’s past to connect, empower, and inspire. It collects, interprets, and shares the history of our nation's capital through research and scholarship, adult programs, youth education, and exhibits. We seek to do this work as a welcoming and inclusive community that fosters curiosity and nurtures civic engagement to strengthen the District for all. For more information visit dchistory.org.
ABOUT JUSTICE WALKS
We LOVE Washington DC. Its people, its culture and its history. We want you to love it too. But not just in terms of facts or figures— but to meet people, hear their stories and better understand new perspectives. Our walks offer insight on both historical and current justice realities, placing neighborhoods and people in a larger context. When we better understand our context, we know better how to be a good neighbor. We long to equip people to be good neighbors, whether you’re new to town and wondering where you find yourself in the midst of the gentrification landscape— or you’ve been here for awhile. We believe a tour can do all that— engage, inspire, connect and develop us to be the neighbors and visitors we’d all hope to be.
ARE YOU A CURRENT OR FORMER H STREET RESIDENT?
DID YOU EXPERIENCE THE DC PROTESTS IN 2020 or 1968?
DC protest In summer 2020, inspired by the murder of George Floyd
protest in 1968 following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
The H Street Oral History Project is an ambitious, multi-year venture in partnership with DC Public Libraries and with support from the National Endowment of the Arts to chronicle the H Street Corridor. Three DC playwrights—with support from one dramaturg—will interview past and current residents of the H Street neighborhood and create three brand new full-length plays and three monologues surrounding the history and enduring legacy of the neighborhood.
The interviews will focus on the protests in 1968 following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and the summer 2020 protests ignited by the murder of George Floyd. This work will culminate in spring 2024 through a three-day festival at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, where all three plays will premiere as staged readings. The Festival will be a celebration of one of DC's most enduring neighborhoods, and all interviews and plays will be archived in the DC Public Library oral history collections.