JONESBOROUGH REPERTORY THEATRE

MBreauxsia Films and Too Much Drama 4 Yo Mama…An’ Yo Daddy! were proud to present the free screening of We There, a short film based on true stories of 9 kids growing up in the Bayview/Hunters Point district of San Francisco. Director Janna Browning was be present for Q&A. For more information, please visit the We There web site at www.wetheremovie.com.

A directorial collaboration between Jonesborough local and drama therapist Janna Browning, San Francisco drama therapist Rena Marie Jones, and San Francisco filmmakers Maria Breaux and Amal Kouttab, this story brings to light the three-dimensionality of those living "on the front line."

"Too Much Drama 4 Yo Mama...An’ Yo Daddy!" consists of nine African-American teens, all from Bayview/ Hunters Point. The group met for three hours each week all summer with group leaders, drama therapists Rena Marie Jones and Janna Browning. Together they shared, processed, and cataloged stories from their lives through drama therapy. In the end, the stories were organized, small details were changed, characters were created, and a new, collective story was created for the film. After learning about the film project, local filmmaker Maria Breaux of MBreauxsia Films chose to provide full financing, and working with Amal Kouttab of AmalDesigns, helped to create the kind of quality film that could tell the kids’ stories to the world.　

Some get out, some stay in, but all are affected.

It can be said that tragedy breeds not only great pain, but great creativity. In March 2007, 17-year-old Antwanisha Morgan was shot and killed by a bullet meant for the friend standing next to her. An entire Bayview Hunters Point community went into mourning. The members of Antwanisha’s drama therapy group, aptly titled "Too Much Drama 4 Yo Mama…An’ Yo Daddy!", were shocked, devastated, and angered.

The all-female group, "Too Much Drama 4 Yo Mama," had been meeting since September 2006. In January 2007, they were joined by several male participants, and the named was changed to "Too Much Drama 4 Yo Mama…An’ Yo Daddy!". After Antwanisha’s death, the focus dramatically shifted, and in just two weeks the group rewrote the performance they’d been working on for three months. Instead, they created a stage piece processing the death of their friend. The resulting show, performed at the Bayview Opera House, was dedicated to Antwanisha, and included skits of their memories of her, and monologues, raps, and dance performances expressing their grief.

Determined to create an additional work designed for the screen and inspired entirely by the real experiences faced by group members, "Too Much Drama" now presents its inaugural short, We There. The title has a two-fold meaning: Not only is it a response to a party invite, but it’s also a somber reminder: You may have heard and read about those living in a dangerous neighborhood "out there," but this is our day-to-day existence.

Based on real stories from the lives of the ensemble cast, We There explores what it’s like growing up in the Bayview Hunters Point district of San Francisco: Haishema talks about a trip to China, only to be doubted by Cornelius and T Money; Cornelius is whipped by his father after lying about sickness at school; three kids get chased by someone because they’re out of their ‘hood; Momo gets beaten by her mother after getting another call from school; and Chris shares concern over his grandmother’s diabetes. From petty thievery to gunshots heard at night, the stories inhabited by the characters all end in a culminating scene of violence and subsequent mourning, leading to tough choices faced by the main characters.

We There is dedicated to Antwanisha.

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