Speaking Her Truth #METOO, #TIMESUP
Kamakshi Hart and her director, Jessica Lynn Johnson, pose outside the Whitefire Theater where Hart will perform her one-woman show on February 5.
Source:Speaking Her Truth #METOO, #TIMESUP
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Kamakshi Hart has waited a long time to produce and perform her one-woman show, Wild At Hart: A Tale Of Trauma And Triumph.
On May 23, 2004, Kamakshi Hart was fulfilling the requirements of her Masters degree: the assignment was “to follow through on a heartfelt desire.”
“I was also working on a first version of my one-woman show and looking for a place to perform it,” she said. She auditioned and was selected to perform a show at Froggy’s as part of “Dabney Day,” a group that produced Women Artists events. “The show was standing room only and a standing ovation led to my resolve to continue on with the next level of sharing my story.”
As it often does, life intervened and the show became a “dream deferred.”
“About a year ago, I learned of a class that supported people in creating their own solo show,” said Hart. “It took me about five months to get to a class, a private session with the teacher, Jessica Lynn Johnson. Then I saw a performance of a solo show that both inspired and scared me.”
Solo theater, Hart notes, “is profoundly vulnerable, keenly human, cathartic and often hilarious. What scared me in that show was the level of detail of trauma, knowing that it was my path as well if I was going to tell my story, too.”
Johnson urged her to apply to The Whitefire Theatre’s Solofest 2018 where she would perform her show along with 49 other solo artists. “No, it was too soon,” she demurred.
“Then Facebook had one long post after another from women I knew and didn’t know sharing their #MeToo stories. I read them for days. As with the women who have created #TimesUp, the movement to call an end to the status quo of sexual harassment, I knew that my time was up. It was time to share my story beginning with childhood sexual trauma and on through the years. It was time to stand up and voice my voice that was silenced by shame and fear; time to reach out to women and men of all ages in the hope of inspiring real change from generations of violence; time to add my voice to help others understand how we got here so we can start to finally do it differently.
“My show is for mid-teens and up. If you are bringing your teen, please be with them and be prepared for a frank and open conversation with them about the subject matter,” she says. “It is so important for them to hear from you and have the space to talk.
On Monday, February 5, at 8 p.m., Hart’s Solo Show, Wild at Hart: A Tale of Trauma and Triumph, in Association with The Whitefire Theatre’s Solofest 2018, will premiere at the Whitefire Theater in Sherman Oaks followed by a Q&A discussion and reception. It is written and performed by Hart, directed by and developed with Jessica Lynn Johnson. Hart has also registered the show with the Hollywood Fringe Festival in June.
Tickets are $25. Purchase online at wildathart.brownpapertickets.com, or (800) 838-3006. This is an 85-seat theater.
The Whitefire Theatre is located at 13500 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA. For more information: whitefiretheatre.com.
Kamakshi Hart, M.A., Spiritual Psychology, Guide, Mentor, Counselor & Facilitator, serving all ages, relationships and life stages, counsel and mediation, personal, professional, equine and nature supported healing rites of passage, ceremony, retreats, mother-daughter (momsraisinggirls.com); (310) 455-9932; kamakshihart.com.
