Brooklyn's Irondale Center presents the On Women Festival in April and May, a mini-festival celebrating the experiences of women and featuring three different shows over the course of two weeks.
The lineup includes The Franca Rame Project, a show made up of pieces originally written by playwright-activist Franca Rame and Dario Fo at the height of the second feminist wave. From farce to tragedy, Rame and Fo’s texts address sexual politics, financial and psychological dependence, motherhood, prostitution, abortion, and abuse, among other feminist talking points.
Performed by five female and non-binary identifying people in English, with selected passages in French, Spanish, Arabic, and Chinese, The Franca Rame Project features a company made up of M. Bazeed, Cynthia LaCruz, Laura Lassy Townsend, Niki Morrissette, and Yu Ling Wu. Zishan Ugurlu directs.
The festival will also feature George Brant’s Grounded (previously seen at The Public starring Anne Hathaway). Cindy Rosenthal directs Maya Carter (Period Sisters) in the acclaimed solo play about a drone pilot navigating a new phase of life.
Rounding out On Women Festival is Both Sides Now: The Music of Joni Mitchell in celebration of the singer-songwriter's 75th birthday and the 50th anniversary of Woodstock. Both Sides Now is conceived by singer and pianist Hannah Reimann (with David Yaffe) and performed by Reimann, with Michele Temple on guitar and backing vocals, and direction by Austin Pendleton.