2017 Oakland – workshop

The One Truthiness : Oakland

Produced by Ayodele Nzinga, PhD
Presented by Lower Bottom Playaz

December, 2017 @ The Flight Deck, Oakland, California

Oakland’s oldest North American African theater, Lower Bottom Playaz is one of the only theater companies in the world to have produced August Wilson’s entire Century Cycle in order.

Presented at The Flight Deck, Oakland’s only 100-person black-box theater.

Inspired by the piece, Oakland luminary Ayodele Nzinga, PhD (poet, playwright, director, producer, activist) invited “The One Truthiness” to be part of Lower Bottom Playaz’ 2018-2019 season with the express intention of shaping it into an ongoing series embedded in the unique community of Oakland — a community undergoing rapid change and confrontation of expectations between longstanding residents and new.

As a series, the project extends beyond a single performance or event. With each cycle, the conversation deepens. The text and images evolve to reflect current issues of local concern. It grows as the community changes. Returning audience members start to become familiar with each other, building community in person with the lights on.

Oakland is one of the most diverse communities in the United States and yet for all its famous “woke-ness,” it still struggles with race, power, and equity — with Black and White at the center. It has a rich history of creativity, innovation, fortitude, and conflict. It is where both the Black Panthers and #BlackLivesMatter began. It is also undergoing rapid change with new residents coming in enticed by the creative energy, but often unaware of Oakland's history or the scale of displacement of current residents. In 1980, Oakland was 47% black. By 2011, it was down to 23%.

This initial workshop production invited an audience of Oakland residents and leaders working in areas of social change, education, theater, dance, and community change-making.