Reactivate OM MISSION!

Om Mission began as a project for About Face Theatre’s Kickback Festival during the Covid pandemic. Teams of artists were given access to The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures glass slide collection and the Johnson Publishing Company’s digital archives and library at the Stony Island Arts Bank. Zahra and I found inspiration from a glass slide of two women circus performers, and a disturbing Ebony Magazine article by drag performer Gladys Bentley entitled “I Am a Women Again”. We were also struck by the overall absence of queer representation in the Johnson Publishing collection and of women and Blacks in the glass slides. Omission.

Although initially intended as theatre pieces, the rise of pandemic restrictions quickly limited our resources to whatever we had at home that could produce a video (two laptops and a new iPhone) and the virtual support team and director. We did online research, convened a panel of Black lesbians, collected photos and recorded ourselves performing music and spoken word to create a short video entry of Om Mission (our mission of peace and representation) for the reinvented Kickback Video Festival. 

As the city reopened to in-person performances, Zahra and I were invited to represent About Face at Navy Pier’s Chicago Live! Celebration with a short multimedia presentation of Om Mission. The following year we did a longer staged reading of the work at the South Side Community Arts Center. Our expansion of the piece then included a tribute to Chicago activist Vernita Grey. 

Then in 2025 we were given the opportunity to expand Om Mission into a 90-minute stage production in a black box theatre for a nine-show run with full production support - an artistic challenge and a dream come true. With director Kezia Waters, we incorporated more personal narratives and poetry, a set, props, costumes, lighting and sound elements. 

Currently, we are shopping venues suitable for or adaptable to our production and hope to soon have a location and 2026 date for our reactivation of Om Mission. Because people continue to approach us with their stories, we would add options for story sharing after the performance, such as story booths/confessionals, story circles the following day and ongoing storytelling classes that we both offer in the city. Funds from this 3Arts campaign would augment costs of theater rental and the salaries of production staff and actors. 

Om Mission has become one of the most fulfilling artistic experiences I’ve had thus far. I get to play my favorite instruments (sitar, bass, mbira) in songs we wrote, without having to fit in anyone else's box/genre. We get to share our messages of peace and power, then hear stories from audience members who are moved by our work. It is especially gratifying to connect with and inspire so many young people with our show. It is joyful work that we'd love to do again and again.