WWU to Host ‘Hip Hop Theatre Weekend’ April 15-16

Western Washington University’s Department of Theatre and Dance will present two contemporary hip hop theatre artists April 15 and 16 at 7:30 p.m. in the Old Main Theatre.

Tickets are only $4 and are available at the WWU Box Office at (360) 650-6146.

On Friday, April 15, New York City-based actor Brian Quijada will perform excerpts from his one-man show “Where Did We Sit on the Bus?”  Fresh off his month-long premiere at Chicago’s Teatro Vista, Quijada uses dance, sampling, spoken word, beats, and numerous instruments to explore his Latino heritage. His performance attempts to answer the question, “Where do I fit in as a Latino millennial growing up in America?”

On Saturday, April 16 Denver-based actor, rapper, and playwright Idris Goodwin will perform “Action Words: Hip Hop, Spoken Word, and Short Plays by Idris.”  Goodwin will be joined on stage by Quijada and WWU students.

Goodwin is the recipient of Oregon Shakespeare Fesitval’s American History Cycle Commission and InterAct Theater’s 20/20 Award. He has been a writer in residence at The Eugene O'Neil Playwrights Center, Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor Program, The Lark Playwriting Center and New Harmony Project. An accomplished Hip Hop poet, his albums include “Break Beat Poems” and “Rhyming While Black.” Goodwin has been featured on HBO, Sesame Street and Discovery Channel, and is the author of the pushcart nominated essay collection “These Are the Breaks” (Write Bloody, 2011). He co-hosts and contributes to “Critical Karaoke,” a radio show and podcast about music and culture. He teaches performance writing and Hip Hop aesthetics at Colorado College.

More information about the performers is available at cfpa.wwu.edu/theatredance.