VOICES: a sacred sisterscape – our newest artistic project and campaign out of V-Day – premiered to sold-out crowds at the historic Apollo Theatre on 31 May while honoring special guest Anna Deavere Smith. Grammy nominated poet aja monet (“When The Poems Do What They Do”) was chosen by V (formerly Eve Ensler) to spearhead this audio experience of stories written by, narrated by and centering Black women across the diaspora. LeahAnn “Lafemmebear” Mitchell, a Grammy nominated producer, composed new music to accompany the audio play.
Today, VOICES is available for streaming across all digital platforms (ie Spotify, Apple Music & public libraries via Blackstone Publishing). V-Day will host an accompanying website featuring a solidarity toolkit as a guide for listeners as they experience VOICES.
At the premiere launch listening session, audience members were invited to sit in the reimagined Jonelle Procope Theater at The Apollo Stages where many of the usual theatre seats and stage were replaced with rugs, chairs, floor pillows and additional accessories. Attendees were given headphones and an eye mask to wear while listening to the audio play heard for the first time in the United States.
“When we listen to people, when we hear people, they become known to us. And it’s much harder to hate and it’s much harder to hurt when we hold people inside of us in the knowing and the hearing of them” – V (formerly Eve Ensler)
VOICES first launched in 2020 as monet began by inviting Black women to share their stories and participate in a call for their submissions. After receiving over 900 submissions, and two-years of gathering stories, collective study, and collaborating with Black women actors and musicians, a selection of poems was curated into a powerful audio play. An initial event for the piece was held in 2022 in Accra, Ghana where these stories were celebrated live at a joyous festival.
“This is a relatively new alternative and necessary approach, towards theatre, towards performances, towards our stories. We know we need to find new ways and get deeper into remembering what it is to be human, what it is to love, what it means to be transformed by each other, to learn from each other, to collaborate with each other, to strategize and work together. This is why listening became such a big part of this project. One of the most radical things we can do at this time is to listen, to compassionately listen and to be more involved in how we show up after we have listened.” – aja monet
VOICES is available for streaming across all digital platforms, including:
VISIT visforvoices.org for information
and to learn more about the project.
FOLLOW the journey on Instagram at @visforvoices and @vdayorg
