Bathroom Graffiti Queen Celebrates 20 years

Event Date: 
Thursday, 16 March 2023 - 2:00pm
Event Venue: 
Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts, The UWI Mona Campus
Bathroom Graffiti Queen Celebrates 20 years

Join The University Players for a Reading of Bathroom Graffiti Queen on March 16, 2023 at 2pm in the theatre of the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts. This avant-garde piece was written 20 years ago by award winning Poet, Novelist, Performance Artist and Educator, Professor Opal Palmer Adisa.

Bathroom Graffiti Queen was first done in 2003 at the AfroSolo Theatre in San Francisco where it was directed and produced by Professor Palmer Adisa. Since then, the play has been performed across many countries including Oakland, California (USA),  Dorsch Centre - St. Croix (2011), New York (USA), UWI, Cave Hill - Barbados (2018) and Puerto Rico. It was also published in Professor Palmer Adisa's 2006 Collection entitled Four-Headed Woman.

Notably, the play is set at UC Berkeley Campus. It was prompted as a result of  the writings in the bathroom by students at UC Berkeley.  The writings were  primarily done by women who spoke of their experience with abortion, rape, masturbation etc. There was a constant dialogue taking place in the bathroom as people would write and others would respond to what was written. As homelessness increased, several women, including those who were mentally challenged, would go to the bathroom to "wash-up". Consequently, the issue of homelessness was taken into consideration when the play was written.

Even though today less writing is being done in the bathroom, the issues raised in Bathroom Graffiti Queen are still relevant as they are often perceived as taboo. This deprivation of a safe space for women to share openly and bask in their vulnerability is what informs the play. The aforementioned is thus written in the language and context of the bathroom - a safe space.

In summary, Professor Palmer Adisa hopes that what individuals will take away from the play is the fact that, here you have an emotionally abused woman who is grieving and students who are experiencing all kinds of issues relating to school and their bodies - the bathroom provides a space where they can anonymously share their experiences without fear of ridicule.

The staging of this Reading of Bathroom Graffiti Queen is directed by Professor Palmer Adisa and the cast includes UWI Educator and Actress - Shawna-Kae Burns as well as UWI students - Jahmiela Nunes, Adriel Palmer and Staisha Campbell.

Audience: 
General Public
Staff
Student