HHTF On-Tour

IN Spite of Everything
Written and performed by
The Suicide Kings

Directed by Marc bamuthi joseph

Lighting Design by Sarah Sidman

Sound design and music by sam bass

Produced By

Hip-Hop Theater Festival On Tour

HHTF On Tour and In Spite of Everything are represented by

Lisa Booth & Deirdre Valente, Lisa Booth Management, Inc.,

145 West 45th St. NY, NY 10036; 212-921-2114; Email:artslbmi@msn.com

The story begins the day after a high school shooting. Three poetry teachers are interrogated, calling their backgrounds and teaching methods into question. Mixing fact and fiction, The Suicide Kings document their unlikely escape from the precipice of their lives to the public school system while investigating the systemic factors that contribute to the deluge of high school violence, and most importantly, survival through art. Featuring the Bay Area's most dynamic spoken word collective, In Spite Of Everything pushes the boundaries of Hip-Hop theater with this compassionate, raw and electrifying journey.

In Spite of Everything was originally commissioned by Youth Speaks/The Living Word Project and DiverseWorks and has received significant funding the Zellerbach Family Foundation, the city of Oakland, and the Creation Fund Commission from the National Performance Network.

The Suicide Kings are a spoken word power house comprised of Geoff Trenchard, Jamie DeWolf, and Rupert Estanislao. Collectively, they are known for their explosive live performances combining gritty punk rock theatrics, a cappella Hip-Hop and vaudeville comedy into what the SF Chronicle has described as a “high octane mix of the profane and the profound.” The Kings also facilitate workshops and host slams for the inmates in San Quentin Penitentiary and create feature length performances with at risk youth. Their hard-hitting work has been featured on two seasons of Russell Simmons’ HBO Def Poetry Jam, UPN, 60 Minutes and radio stations from the Mid-West to the Phillipines. The Suicide Kings are widely renowned for their dedication to their craft and breath-taking live shows that redefine spoken word, comedy and Hip Hop theater which prompted Stanford Radio to call them “the tattooed knuckles under the velvet glove of American poetry.”

UPCOMING PERFORMANCES:

Saturday, April 26, 2008, 7.30p
Museum of Contemporary Art - Chicago, IL
with Louder than a Bomb 2008 finalists and Yuri Lane

For more information, go to www.mcachicago.org.

Stayed tuned for more information on performances in: