photo by Vanessa Vargas

The Northampton Arts Council is proud to present Expatriate at Smith College on Otelia Cromwell Day. Join us at John M. Greene Hall on October 26, 2010 for a dynamic staged reading and concert of Expatriate. Written by Northampton Poet Laureate and Smith alum Lenelle Moïse (MFA '04), this critically-acclaimed two-woman play launched Off-Broadway in 2008. As Expatriate enters a new phase of developm ent for touring, the Pioneer Valley will catch a sneak peak of this “freshly imaginative” (New York Post) and uncompromising look at the complexities of fame, sexuality and artistry. Co-starring Moïse and Karla Mosley, Expatriate is a two-woman tour de force with all-vocal music, pulsing with “an abundance of heart and conviction" (NYTheater.com).

Earlier in April of this year, the Northampton Arts Council proudly announced their selection of Lenelle Moïse, poet, playwright and performance artist, as Poet Laureate of Northampton for 2010-2012. The Northampton Poet Laureate position is a two-year term during which the poet will be responsible for educating the public of the importance of poetry through activities of interest to the chosen poet.

This performance is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

For directions, visit Smith College's Directions page.

photo by Vanessa Vargas

SYNOPSIS

Achingly platonic soulmates Claudie (Lenelle Moïse) and Alphine (Karla Mosley) are unsung African-American musicians and longtime best-friends. Both wrestle with the addiction, abandonment and sexual trauma that run in their respective family histories. Diligent, dutiful, Julliard-trained composer Claudie may or may not be celibate while sparkly, indulgent Alphine has more natural star-potential and sex appeal than she knows what to do with. When the women flee to Europe to pursue their American dreams, the two forgo fruitless solo careers and join forces as the sultry singing duo Black Venus. Parisians dub them “the greatest act since Josephine Baker” and they quickly rise to fame and fortune. Tensions rise as Claudie finds sexual freedom, artistic sustenance and spiritual regeneration through her new life abroad while Alphine’s hunger for adoration from a celebrity-mad culture spins tragically out of control. Expatriate is an engaging and explosive exploration of friendship, sexual tension, love and survival, celebrating characters in the spirit of Nina Simone and Josephine Baker. With only a JamMan loop machine at their feet, two actors perform Lenelle Moïse’s haunting jazz-funk all-vocal compositions as they weave the story of singing group Black Venus's fantastic rise to fame.

Scene from Expatriate

photo by Vanessa Vargas

PRAISE

The New York Times says, “With all the theater out there, how inspiring it is to be reminded how invigorating an Off Broadway play can be with just two appealing performers, compelling music and a searching, intelligent script. Lenelle Moïse, a poet, playwright and performer, has written, composed and stars in Expatriate, a two-woman production...that delivers on all counts.”

Variety calls the show “compelling” and says “both thesps are sensational. Moïse’s calm soulfulness is an excellent counterpoint to Mosley’s raw-nerve energy.”

Go Magazine says, “Armed only with their phenomenal voices and a JamMan loop machine, Moïse and Mosley perform Expatriate’s electrifying original musical score...From the concrete jungle to the Paris elite, the characters’ mutual evolution is both seamless and textured. Moïse and Mosley play their finely-drawn roles with haunting passion and precision. From scene to scene, the arc of their relationship is beautifully and convincingly rendered in this refreshingly honest and deeply moving two-woman tour de force.”

Lenelle Moïse

photo by Vanessa Vargas

And Backstage says, “Lenelle Moïse’s music, created by a JamMan loop machine and a powerful voice singing evocative lyrics, has a beat that gets under your skin, fascinating rhythm, and a real theatrical power. It’s new.

BIOS

Lenelle Moïse (Playwright, "Claudie") is an award-winning poet, playwright, essayist, composer and nationally-touring performance artist. She creates intimate, fiery, politicized, texts about the intersection of race, class, gender, sexuality, spirituality, culture and resistance. Her hip-hop bred, jazz-infused delivery is at once conversational and polished. Fueled by the motto “Words rouse worlds,” she regularly presents interactive performances and workshops that empower diverse groups of people to creatively speak up and act for social change. Equipped with an MFA from Smith College, Moïse has been a guest artist at the United Nations, the Culture Project, the Louisiana Superdome, the Omega Institute and dozens of theatres, colleges and conferences across the United States and Canada. Curve Magazine calls her poetry CD Madivinez "piercing, covering territory both intimate and political...vivid and powerful." Her critically-acclaimed Off-Broadway play, Expatriate inspired her second CD The Expatriate Amplification Project, an all-vocal, poly-rhythmic, urban fusion of jazz, funk and soul. Moïse's writing is published in a number of anthologies, including Word Warriors: 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken Word Revolution, We Don't Need Another Wave: Dispatches from the Next Generation of Feminists and Brassage: An Anthology of Poems by Haitian Women. She is the 2010-2012 Poet Laureate of Northampton, MA and an avid ribbon-collector. For more information visit, www.lenellemoise.com

Karla Mosley ("Alphine") hails from Westchester, NY and is an NYU Graduate. Her favorite roles include: Film/TV: Guiding Light (CBS, final cast), Burn After Reading (Dir. by the Coen Bros.), Hi-5 (TLC, three Emmy Nominations), Gossip Girl (CW), Law and Order: Criminal Intent (NBC), The Knights of Prosperity (ABC), Redhook (Currently on Showtime). Theater: (NY) Expatriate, The Culture Project; Max and Ruby, Lucille Lortel; Drift, NYMF; Young Sistas, Vital Theater Company. (Regional) Sophosticated Ladies (with Maurice Hines), Arena Stage; Dreamgirls, TUTS; A Holiday for Hope, Bushnell Theater. (Concerts/Workshops) Runaways, Joe's Pub; Princesses with David Sippel; The Lion King Hong Kong with Lynn Taylor-Corbett; Finding Nemo with Bobby and Kristen Lopez (also featured on cast album); Invisible Life (original music by Sshford and Simpson). Karla has performed in jazz concerts with her cousin the late 'Doc' Cheatham and Dakota Staton. Karla is also on the International Board of Covenant House and she does awareness work with the National Eating Disorder Association. For more information, visit www.karlamosley.com

Karla Mosley

photo by Vanessa Vargas

Jaclyn Pryor (Moderator), is the Adjunct Assistant Professor of Theatre and Gender Studies at Hampshire College. She received her B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis and her M.A. from The University of Texas-Austin, where she is a candidate for a Ph.D. She has taught in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas and for the Free Minds Project, a humanities program affiliated with The University of Texas and Austin Community College. Her areas of specialty include the politics of race/gender/sexuality in performance, directing, devising, physical theatre, and theatre for social change. Her scholarship has been published in Theatre Topics, Theatre Journal, and Liminalities: A Journal of Performance Studies, among others, and her performance score appears in Experiments in a Jazz Aesthetic: Art, Activism, Academia and The Austin Project. Her directing work has been presented throughout the U.S., and she has received numerous grants and awards for her site-specific, community-engaged performances, including recognition from The City of Austin, First Night International, The Still Water Foundation, and Creative Capital.