2024 NYC Tour InfoSaturday, March 9: SOMOS Conference 2024, Albany - this performance is only open to conference attendees.
Friday, March 15, 6:00 - 8:00 pm: Pace University, Westchester Campus (861 Bedford Road, Pleasantville, NY, 10570)
Saturday, March 16, 2:00 - 4:00pm: Terraza 7 (40-19 Gleane St, Queens, NY 11373)
Tuesday, March 19, 6:00 - 8:00pm: The People's Forum (320 W 37th St, New York, NY 10018)
Waterwell is proud to present Do Not Tell Them I am a Prince, a poignant exploration of the harrowing realities of U.S. immigrant detention.
In Nigeria, a gay man named Edafe finds himself trapped in the suffocating grip of violent persecution and makes the painful decision to flee his homeland. He arrives at JFK airport hoping to find refuge, but ends up confined within the walls of an ICE detention center. Struggling to reconcile his shattered expectations, Edafe's story is a poignant exploration of the harrowing realities of U.S. immigration detention.
In the Spring of 2023, Waterwell begun a collaboration with the Dignity Not Detention Coalition. The Coalition asked us to create a piece of theater that could anchor their upcoming Town Hall Meetings about the Dignity Not Detention Act, a bill in the State Legislature that would end ICE detention in New York State. You can read more about the bill here. Lee Sunday Evans, Waterwell's Artistic Director, commissioned Edafe Okporo to write a 15-minute play about his experience which premiered at a DND Town Hall in June 2023 at the Bronx Music Heritage Center. Now, this project is touring NYS!
You can come see this special performance that tells the real-life story of a Nigerian asylum seeker who was held in immigration detention for almost 6 months - a poignant exploration of the harrowing realities of U.S. immigration detention that can be part of igniting our collective movement to end it in New York State.
The performance will be followed by a Town Hall discussion with directly impacted people and organizers talking about how we can build power to pass the Dignity Not Detention Act.
WRITTEN BY:
Edafe Okporo 2024 NYC Tour Performances
Performed By:
Amara James AjaDirected By:
NJ AgwunaJune 2023 Performance
Performed By:
Gbenga AkinnagbeDIRECTED BY:
Raz Golden