Theater, race & politics intersect to promote healing at The Every 28 Hours Plays in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES - Oct. 6, 2016 - PRLog -- The Every 28 Hours Plays is a nationwide movement born out of the same catalyzing events that launched the Black Lives Matter movement in Ferguson and the sobering fact that #every28hours a person of color is killed by law enforcement. On Saturday, beginning at 1pm, Artists Against Oppression, Watts Village Theatre Company and other non-profit organizations present the Los Angeles engagement.  The engagement features readings of The Every 28 Hour Plays collection followed by public discourse. The readings and subsequent panel discussions will be free to the public.

Every 28 Hours Plays Los Angeles will commence at the Watts Labor Action Committee's Tell-It Theatre located at 10950 S. Central Ave Watts, CA 90059.   The plays will be presented in two sections, each section followed by panels lead by community activists and professionals to stimulate audience dialogue over this most timely and urgent issue.  The first panel 'What We See' focuses on events and personal experiences brought forth by the plays themselves.  The second panel 'What We Do' includes wellness professionals offering coping strategies for the chronic mental stress brought upon by continuous deaths.

"The potential for violence at the hands of police is neither new nor surprising, says Kila Kitu, co-producer of Every 28 Hours Los Angeles, "These acts have been happening for generations. However, knowing that fact and being confronted with it on a daily basis are two separate things. We have to practice self-care."

The L.A. Every 28 Hours engagement is produced by arts organizations like Artists Against Oppression, Black Women State of the Union, and Watts Village Theatre Company alongside more politically-minded nonprofits such as the Watts Labor Action Committee. These organizations join counterparts across America in fostering a national dialogue.

Every 28 Hours began at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival under the leadership of OSF Community Producer Claudia Alick (https://www.osfashland.org/artist-biographies/artistic-st...) and Dominic D'Andrea (producing artistic director of The One-Minute Play Festival). Theatres and playwrights across the country were connected to capture the history in the making of our current Civil Rights Movement.  The accumulation of playwrights, actors, producing entities and audience thus far have shown that the entire nation is rallying to confront an issue that doesn't affect the Black community alone.  As dialogue deepens and information is exchanged across communities, we seek workable solutions to an over-excessive police force is not only a concern for Black Americans but for all Americans.

America needs healing and E28LA is an important opportunity to bring together Angelenan diversity to express our collective concern about this nationwide epidemic and prayerfully take steps toward a remedy.

The Every 28 Hours Plays Los Angeles

October 15th, 2016 at 1pm and 4:30pm

Watts Village Labor Action Committee Phoenix Hall and Tell-It Theatre

10950 S. Central Ave., Watts, CA 90059

E28 LA is produced by Bruce Lemon, Jr. (Watts Village Theatre Co.), Juanita Chase-Lamont (Artists Against Oppression), Joshua Lamont (Artists Against Oppression), and Kila Kitu (Artists Against Oppression)