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KICKBACK

Conceived & directed by Mikael Burke

Streaming Dec 12 – Jan 12, 2021,
Select performances extended through Aug 31, 2021

Videos & Media Special Events Other Artists

About The Show

KICKBACK is an online festival of original plays and performances that highlights the intersection of queerness and Blackness in all its beauty and glory. When just being alive and living your best life is an act of rebellion, it’s time to turn up the music and make some noise! About Face Theatre has commissioned a cohort of Black LGBTQ+ artists to create new works in conversation with Rebuild Foundation’s extensive collection of African-American art and cultural artifacts. This bold online performance series will be an unapologetic celebration of Black lives now and through the ages.

This project serves as part of Rebuild Foundation’s year-long initiative to raise awareness and provide resources and sanctuary for marginalized communities impacted by the HIV/AIDS crisis, made possible by funding that Rebuild received from the 2018 (RED) Auction.

Educational Opportunities

Interested in using KICKBACK video and materials in your lessons or curriculum? Contact Artistic Director Megan Carney for more information.

Lead Production Sponsors

Logo: Rebuild FoundationLogo: IL Humanities

Explore KICKBACK

Introduction

By AFT Artistic Associate Director Mikael Burke

Welcome to KICKBACK, a celebration of queer Black lives!

About Rebuild Foundation & the Stony Island Arts Bank

Rebuild’s mission is to make art accessible by demonstrating the impact of innovative, ambitious, and entrepreneurial arts and cultural initiatives.

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Pangea

By Dionne Addai

Using poetry, music, and movement, this piece discusses the history and legacy of colonization, the ancient struggle for civil rights, and the conundrum of black kings and queens.

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OM Mission

By ShaZah (Shanta Nurullah and Zahra Baker)

An exploration of Black lesbians from the Harlem Renaissance to present day Chicago, culminating in a vision for our future.

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“Do Black Lives Matter?”

By Ben F. Locke

An introduction to an upcoming feature-length documentary that asks the question, “Do Black Lives Matter?” The film asks Black people from the often-ignored places of Chicago if they think Black Lives Matter, if their life matters, what do they want to be remembered for, etc. to get a sense of our own perspective on our lives.

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What We See

By Kirsten Baity, Keyonna Jackson & Cori Wash

A series of short pieces exploring and exposing the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of growing up Black and queer in the USA.

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Frankie & Labi Saved Us

By Robert Cornelius & Paul Oakley Stovall

An artist suffers PTSD due to the current pandemic, and finally seeks help to sort out the feelings that are resurfacing. A play about mental health and survival, swimming in an unfamiliar milieu, black men seeking therapy… from black male therapists.

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LITANY | Pt. IV | EBONY

by Jenn Freeman

Take a voyage with artist Jenn Freeman | Po’Chop onto the historical pages of Ebony Magazine. Set to a soundscape created by Chicago’s DJ Dapper, EBONY is a playful celebration of Black unity and power.

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Black Woman on Purpose

By Michael Turrentine

What starts out as a normal weekly family zoom call between a Grandmother, a Mother, and Her Daughter morphs into a beautiful coming out moment and a spoken shared word that is outward to the audience/watchers.

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See Us as We Are

By Vic Wynter

Even in moments of our erasure we still find a way to show up and influence culture in so many different ways. What a better way to tell that story than through the conduit of Frankie Knuckles, a queer house music icon. Through movement I wanted to tell the story of the space we are given historically contrasts the full lives we live and the space we deserve to take up.

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john 11:35 [fo(r) all de lazurus(is)]

By avery r. young

A 3-part sermon of service addressing the erasure of varied blk bodies (specifically trans-bodies) in the age of #BLKLIVESMATTER. Through narrative, scripture, poetry, movement and sound, a dirge that desires the power of resuscitation for the names that make the front page news and names that have not.

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Events

KICKBACK Happy Hour #4

Thursday, April 22, 2021

Join director Mikael Burke and artist Dionne Addai for a conversation around the creation and themes the KICKBACK performance “Pangea.”

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KICKBACK Happy Hour #3

Saturday, February 20, 2021

How can Black and LGBTQ artists embrace the power of our voices and take agency in telling our own stories to prevent being erased? And how can we find support, healing, and therapy through queer community-building and House music?

Join multi-disciplinary artist Sojourner Zenobia, director Mikael Burke, and artist Vic Wynter for a conversation around these topics and the KICKBACK performance “See Us As We Are.”

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KICKBACK Happy Hour #2

Saturday, January 9, 2021

How have gay Black men been erased and diminished by other groups in the greater fight for rights and social acceptance? How has that affected our mental health? And have we participated in our own undoing?

Join Artistic Associate Sheldon Brown as he leads a conversation with KICKBACK director Mikael Burke and artists Robert Cornelius and Paul Oakley Stovall around their piece “Frankie & Labi saved Us.” The Chicago Reader called the performance “a touching historical timeline rendered through keen personal memories of what it meant to be young, queer, and Black in Chicago.”

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KICKBACK Happy Hour

Friday, December 18, 2020

How have Black Lesbians been made invisible, overlooked or omitted? How does supporting Black Lesbians create an environment that is safe and inclusive for all?

Join KICKBACK director Mikael Burke, Pride Action Tank (PAT) Executive Director Kim Hunt, and featured artists ShaZah for a special event discussing their piece, “OM Mission.” This new work from the KICKBACK festival pays tribute to the loud and out blues women of the Harlem Renaissance and contemporary Black Lesbians from Chicago.

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Additional Artists

Crew

Production Stage Manager Logan Boyd Jones
Production Assistant Nathaniel Thomas
Video Post Production Timmy Samuel, Starbelly Studios

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