In conjunction with Gay Games VII, nationally acclaimed slam poet Staceyann Chin will perform excerpts from her latest one-woman show, “Border/Clash: A Litany of Desires,” an autobiographical portrait of a woman evolving from a young girl struggling with abandonment and rejection and grappling with the misadventures of coming of age.She examines the wounds and rapture of adolescence, a political voice takes root and a sexual identity solidifies, all paralleling Chin’s own move from the Caribbean to New York City. Self-described as “an out poet and a political activist,” Chin has evolved her blunt and wistfully angry rants into their own art form, forming the basis of two highly acclaimed one-woman off-Broadway shows, “Hands Afire” and “Unspeakable Things,” presenting poetry workshops in London and Denmark, being the subject of the 2001 Danish film “Staceyann Chin,” and co-writing and performing in the Tony Award-winning “Russell Simmons Poetry Jam on Broadway.” This one-night only performance is a work-in-progress that was presented in an earlier incarnation in New York before arriving here in its current form for the Gay Games. (Dennis Polkow)
Staceyann Chin performs Thursday at 7pm at Chicago Cultural Center’s Cassidy Theater, 66 E. Randolph, (312) 744-6630.
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