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At the New Roots Theatre Festival, BIPOC Voices Take Center Stage

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A Black man wearing white clothing does a handstand kick in the air while a Black women wearing a white dress plays a stringed instrument.
Tosh Harris Santiago, a.k.a. SeQuoiia, does capoeira while his mother Tania Santiago plays the berimbau. The duo co-direct and co-choreograph 'De Mangangá: An Afro-Brazilian Musical' for the New Roots Theatre Festival.  (Bekah Lynn)

When the third New Roots Theatre Festival kicks off on Nov. 10, it’ll be a family affair in more ways than one. The festival itself is a family reunion-style celebration of works coming out of local, BIPOC-led theater companies, which this year include Zaccho Dance Theatre, Campo Santo, Magic Theatre, AfroSolo and SF Recovery Theatre.

“We connect, we unite them, we put them in the same space, make them breathe the same air, and have to think about the perspectives of the characters and situations that everyone’s going through,” says Rodney Earl Jackson, Jr. Jackson is the festival’s founder, and also the co-founder and artistic director of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company. He adds that the festival seeks “to unearth those unique queer, BIPOC, intergenerational voices all under one roof.”

Two women dance facing a mirror in a dance studio while a man and a woman in the background look on.
Co-choreographers Tosh Harris Santiago, a.k.a. SeQuoiia, and Tania Santiago (both rear) watch as Nasha Harris Santiago (left) and another dancer rehearse ‘De Mangangá: An Afro-Brazilian Musical’ at the African American Art and Culture Complex in San Francisco. (Bekah Lynn)

Two of the intergenerational voices featured in this year’s festival are mother and son duo Tania Santiago and Tosh Harris Santiago, who co-direct and co-choreograph De Mangangá: An Afro-Brazilian Musical. The cast includes Tosh’s siblings, Nasha and Orion. Fusing moves from the Afro-Brazilian martial art capoeira, contemporary Afro-Brazilian dance and hip-hop, they tell the story of Besouro Mangangá, an early 20th century capoeira master who fought against oppression in Santo Amaro, Brazil — where Tania, a dance instructor at ODC, was born and raised.

“Expect a lot of fun, and a lot of new aspects to folklore movements and dance,” says Tosh, a.k.a. SeQuoiia, who graduated from Oakland School for the Arts and most recently performed as part of Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical at A.C.T. this summer.

Three people stand on stage, one woman looks at pages in a binder she's holding, one looks out in the distance and another hold his arms outstretched while reading from a binder he holds in his hand.
Actors Sarah Lee, Amanda Le Nguyen, and Faustino Cadiz III rehearse ‘Shidaiqu: A Partly-Historical Musical’ at the Brava Theater Center in San Francisco ahead of the show’s debut on Nov. 10 at the New Roots Theatre Festival. (Bekah Lynn)

Shidaiqu: A Partly-Historical Musical, meanwhile, was inspired by Shanghai in the 1920s, when a huge wealth gap, a new Communist Party and American jazz defined much of the city’s culture. Written by San Francisco playwright Jord Liu, Shidaiqu takes elements from that Shanghai history, as well as modern-day San Francisco to create a fictional world where characters explore themes of art and activism.

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Not every show at this year’s festival is a musical, mind you. But there is a common theme, says Jackson: “We’re tapping into perspectives of the universal conversation around who has access, who’s allowed to be a full human, and what does it mean to feel whole,” he says.

Also, joy. “I feel like often a lot of plays can be downers or [theatrical] experiences can be very, very introspective,” Jackson adds. “So the shows that we are producing … really have a full-rooted expression of joy that surrounds them… That’s why we want you to come out. To feel some joy with us.”

The New Roots Theatre Festival runs Nov. 10–12 at the Brava Theater Center in San Francisco. Tickets and more info here.

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