Mr. Joy Neighborhood Tour Announced!

The Mr. Joy Neighborhood tour is here! Starring me! 

ArtsEmerson and the Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Racial Equity present Mr. Joy: The Neighborhood Tour, a series of free theatre performances in four neighborhoods of Boston of Daniel Beaty’s Mr. Joy, a play that explores issues of race and class in America to help us find our common humanity.

PLAY SYNOPSIS

What happened to Mr. Joy? A Harlem community is shaken when Mr. Joy, a Chinese immigrant whose shoe repair shop has been a neighborhood pillar for decades, is the victim of an attack. Through the lens of Mr. Joy's customers, from the bubbly eleven-year-old Clarissa (who captured everyone's heart in Daniel Beaty's Emergency) to the sincere and savvy “gangsta granny” Bessie, we learn the profound yet unassuming impact the shop owner has had on each of their lives. Playwright and ArtsEmerson Artist-in-Residence Daniel Beaty (Breath & Imagination, Emergency) returns with another moving reflection on transforming pain into power, this time through the virtuosic performance.... A poignant, funny and stirring solo piece, Mr. Joy invites us to consider how we respond to violence as individuals and as a community, and the power of the invisible ties that bind us all.

HISTORY OF MR. JOY

Mr. Joy was originally produced by ArtsEmerson in the Emerson Paramount Center in October of 2015. The play’s themes of ‘transforming pain into power’ – a signature concept of playwright Daniel Beaty – strongly resonated with Boston audiences both through sold-out performances and provocative post-show conversations. The experience of the play became a catalyst to begin important discussions on race, class and community, and ArtsEmerson felt an urgency to continue them by touring the production throughout the neighborhoods of Boston.

For more information about the show, to reserve tickets, etc visit the website here

Hope to see you in the audience in April! 

Till next time, 

Dobs