The Bertha 3.0 Project
Donation protected
My play Bertha Van Ation 3.0 (Birth of a Nation 3 point oh) will be workshopped in New York City this May.
The workshop will culminate in a staged reading at Ripley-Grier Studios on May 20th & 21st. The performance will feature members of Wolfe Pack, a growing interdisciplinary artist collective, and the Juilliard+ Ensemble, students and alumni of The Juilliard School.
Bertha Van Ation 3.0 follows three siblings en route to The Promised Land ("land of almond milk, healthcare & honey"). The siblings use recycled myths, parables, and trap beats to navigate their way to freedom.
Bertha 3.0 acts as an allegory that explores and exposes American capitalism and migration. The music of Janelle Monáe, Kanye West & Sam Sparro underscore the episodic play series and set the tone for the Afrofuturistic tall tale.
The workshop will culminate in a staged reading at Ripley-Grier Studios on May 20th & 21st. The performance will feature members of Wolfe Pack, a growing interdisciplinary artist collective, and the Juilliard+ Ensemble, students and alumni of The Juilliard School.
Bertha Van Ation 3.0 follows three siblings en route to The Promised Land ("land of almond milk, healthcare & honey"). The siblings use recycled myths, parables, and trap beats to navigate their way to freedom.
Bertha 3.0 acts as an allegory that explores and exposes American capitalism and migration. The music of Janelle Monáe, Kanye West & Sam Sparro underscore the episodic play series and set the tone for the Afrofuturistic tall tale.
Bertha 3.0 is the first installment within a series entitled The Nostalgia Cycle. This 5 part interstellar play series, focuses on marginalized groups, people of color, and other unheard demographics; pushing their trials, triumphs, and tribulations into frame.
With this project & The Nostalgia Cycle, I intend to create saturated depictions of the human condition to serve as an escape, a reflection, and a source of solace, like Hip-Hop music did back in the day and what it still does now. "It was all a dream" after all.
Contributions to the Bertha Van Ation Project will fund the venue rental and will compensate the performers and creative team members.
With your support, all of the artists involved will be provided a stipend which will help foot the cost of transportation and expenses in New York.
No contributions are too small. All contributions and support are greatly appreciated.
If you are unable to donate today, sharing this campaign is free and also goes a long way.
Thank you for your time and support!
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Excerpt from BERTHA VAN ATION 3.0:
(After being touched by an angel, Mary Jane has an awakening Underground: a factory line in Mars)
MARY JANE:
Once upon a time, a new king come up and he say, "If war breaks out, the Children will join our enemies; diabetes, and illiteracy. They’ll fight against us and take the country.” So-so-so-so the king and his people treated the Children badly. Kill the boys. Let the girls live. Well some. What's her name? Right, you know this part, you saw Roots, you saw Zoot Suit. I know you saw the 10 o’clock news. You Buzz fed it? Right?
So the king and his peeps became afraid of the Children. That's what they call us, the Children, though most not even kids. Just treated like um. King was so afraid of our growing populous. Fearful of their-our-y’all seasoned chicken and 808s & heartbreak dances. So they made the Children work hard. They made us work very very hard. You know this part, you saw Prince of Egypt, you saw Oscars, you saw the name of the cashier on your receipt. Right?!
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More on the PLAYWRIGHT:
Mario (Marion Wolfe IV) is a writer, performance artist, and theatre manager from central Florida.
Mario’s plays – Bus 74, Click Fate, Bertha 3.0, The Perfect Resolution – have been read and performed at Victory Gardens, Redtwist Theatre, The Arc, Studio@620, DePaul University, and Juilliard.
Following his Apprenticeship at The Juilliard School, Mario will be joining the management team of Born for This, the new Broadway-bound BeBe Winans musical. praise
Mario is a graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University. https://bit.ly/2rce8KW
Mario grew up performing as Kirk Franklin at Yvonne C. Reed Christian School, dressing up as Super Mario in the John Hopkins Middle talent show, and doing the most while reading stories at Starling School and Day Care Center. Thanks to the help and support of his family (blood related and not), Mario has been able to see his childhood dreams come true. thank you fam
With this project & The Nostalgia Cycle, I intend to create saturated depictions of the human condition to serve as an escape, a reflection, and a source of solace, like Hip-Hop music did back in the day and what it still does now. "It was all a dream" after all.
Contributions to the Bertha Van Ation Project will fund the venue rental and will compensate the performers and creative team members.
With your support, all of the artists involved will be provided a stipend which will help foot the cost of transportation and expenses in New York.
No contributions are too small. All contributions and support are greatly appreciated.
If you are unable to donate today, sharing this campaign is free and also goes a long way.
Thank you for your time and support!
---
Excerpt from BERTHA VAN ATION 3.0:
(After being touched by an angel, Mary Jane has an awakening Underground: a factory line in Mars)
MARY JANE:
Once upon a time, a new king come up and he say, "If war breaks out, the Children will join our enemies; diabetes, and illiteracy. They’ll fight against us and take the country.” So-so-so-so the king and his people treated the Children badly. Kill the boys. Let the girls live. Well some. What's her name? Right, you know this part, you saw Roots, you saw Zoot Suit. I know you saw the 10 o’clock news. You Buzz fed it? Right?
So the king and his peeps became afraid of the Children. That's what they call us, the Children, though most not even kids. Just treated like um. King was so afraid of our growing populous. Fearful of their-our-y’all seasoned chicken and 808s & heartbreak dances. So they made the Children work hard. They made us work very very hard. You know this part, you saw Prince of Egypt, you saw Oscars, you saw the name of the cashier on your receipt. Right?!
---
More on the PLAYWRIGHT:
Mario (Marion Wolfe IV) is a writer, performance artist, and theatre manager from central Florida.
Mario’s plays – Bus 74, Click Fate, Bertha 3.0, The Perfect Resolution – have been read and performed at Victory Gardens, Redtwist Theatre, The Arc, Studio@620, DePaul University, and Juilliard.
Following his Apprenticeship at The Juilliard School, Mario will be joining the management team of Born for This, the new Broadway-bound BeBe Winans musical. praise
Mario is a graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University. https://bit.ly/2rce8KW
Mario grew up performing as Kirk Franklin at Yvonne C. Reed Christian School, dressing up as Super Mario in the John Hopkins Middle talent show, and doing the most while reading stories at Starling School and Day Care Center. Thanks to the help and support of his family (blood related and not), Mario has been able to see his childhood dreams come true. thank you fam
Organizer
Mario Wolfe
Organizer
St. Petersburg, FL