IMPORTANT: June 24 Performance Only - In light of today's Supreme Court decision, and to make space to honor the protest scheduled to happen at Philadelphia's City Hall at 6:30pm tonight, we have decided to start tonight's show at 8pm.
CLEOPATRA BOY is an original multi-media play that uses the history of Cleopatra to illustrate how women, POC, and LGBTQIA+ individuals in positions of power risk losing control of their own images and histories, resulting in false narratives and misrepresentations, in order for the current dominant paradigm to retain power and control. Part courtroom drama, part theatrical reclamation and celebration, this play explores justice in representation—in our past, present, and future. Using a Restorative Justice lens, we examine the harm caused by misrepresenting someone else’s story. By confronting a few of history’s towering, seemingly unimpeachable male writers, we remind the audience that we are all, in ways large and small, culpable in the patriarchy, but we needn't be complacent. Cleopatra Boy is provocative, but, as with all of AHOP's shows, it is also warm, funny, poetic, and silly in one moment, deadly serious in the next, and ultimately uplifting.
This production is part of TRADE SCHOOL: PHL+Detroit, a festival and exchange that celebrates the work of Philadelphia and Detroit performing artists, June 16-25, 2022.
Trade School is a program of The Philadelphia Thing. To learn more, please visit: philadelphiathing.org
COVID-19 Information: In order to keep our artists and audiences safe, please note you will be required to show proof of vaccination before entering the venue and you will be expected to wear a mask indoors at all times. Masking in outdoor venues is optional. All performers and Trade School staff have been vaccinated and boosted.