YOU GO, COWGIRL!
Neo-Political Cowgirls (NPC), an organization created for women in theater to help increase the female voice in the narrative of our society’s stories, will present their annual fundraiser, Andromeda’s Sisters: An Arts and Advocacy Forum, remotely via Zoom in two parts: One on Friday, August 14 celebrates, highlights and honors women story tellers of the theater, television and film with monologues written by female playwrights and performed by awesome actresses, including Blythe Danner; the Thursday, September 3 evening concerns social justice via the remote Andromeda’s Sisters’ Advocacy sessions.
This fundraiser is an opportunity for not-for-profit social justice organizations and leaders to speak about their work; for audiences to network and get engaged in advocacy and creative exploration; and for female-identifying playwrights and actors to be celebrated through their stage work. Tickets for Andromeda’s Sisters will be tiered, providing access to all. All funds raised will directly support the theater work and arts education outreach of The Neo-Political Cowgirls.
On August 14, 2020, the lineup will include playwright Lucy Boyle and her piece written especially for Blythe Danner in the role of Goody Garlick, a true historical figure tried as a witch in East Hampton, NY in the 1600s. Joy Behar contributes a brand-new monologue written especially for Catherine Curtin, about a woman who just found her husband cheating on her. Dipti Bramhandkar writes The Funeral for Florencia Lozano, who portrays Other Woman as she grieves the loss of her lover, and Brown Girl’s Guide To Self-Pleasure about a woman of a certain age who visits her local sex toy shop, performed by Laura Gomez.
The estate of the acclaimed poet June Jordan has granted NPC permission to have Ms. Jordan’s “A Poem About My Rights” read by Portia. Lynn Grossman contributes a new piece performed by Welker White from the perspective of the bitch in BITCH. Sarah Bierstock presents her new piece MAD (Mothers and Daughters) performed by Ellen Dolan, who portrays both mom and grandma and the harrowing dynamics of the relationships between them. Tanya Everett writes a new piece, One Thousand Miles, about the details from a relationship webinar about what truly makes a relationship last. Artist and writer Mia Funk will present a new work in which she marries movement to her written words and choreographer Vanessa Walters will share two pieces extracted from her ongoing epic project, RIPENING.
The September 3 event will focus on advocacy, presented in two acts. The first portion will be a conversation with Integrity First for America Executive Director Amy Spitalnick and attorney Roberta Kaplan about IFA’s landmark lawsuit against the two dozen neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and hate groups responsible for the August 2017 Charlottesville violence. (Kaplan also co-founded the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund and is an adjunct professor of law at Columbia University Law School.) Journalist Dahlia Lithwick will be moderating the conversation. During intermission attendees will have a chance to be in breakaway rooms and talk with invited guests of note.
The second portion will feature Kerry Kennedy, President of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, as she speaks about the organization’s tireless work pursuing equality and social justice at home and around the world. Recent work by the organization includes a partnership with activist and professional football player Colin Kaepernick to fight for criminal justice reform; extensive tracking and analysis to help eradicate the increasing “forcible disappearances” of citizens in Venezuela; and helping students learn about the right to health during a global pandemic in its Speak Truth To Power educational program. Following Kennedy’s comments, noted artists and performers will read from her powerful human rights book Speak Truth to Power.
