'rie Shontel - The Actress

Mama Juggs: On the Other End of the Phone - Tom Joyner Morning Show

2011-09-08T22:50:00.001-04:00

See 'rie Shontel AKA Anita Woodley talk about Mama Juggs,
from a room, doing the national radio interview with the TJMS, Tom
Joyner Morning Show's Jacque Reid. Truly behind the scenes :)

Hear the full interview with Jacque Reid here

This is it! Final Day of Mama Juggs in the FringeNYC Festival...

2011-08-24T10:59:00.001-04:00

CAn't believe that the 14 days in the FringeNYC is coming to an end today after the 7:00pm show...

On Stage at The Moth Event in New York

2011-08-18T11:37:00.069-04:00

Yes, I attended The Moth Storytelling event in New York at the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, in hopes of having my name pulled from a bag to tell a 5 minute story about "Betrayal." After waiting nearly 2 hours as a comedian cracked jokes between 10 storytellers, I was not chosen, But not all was lost. They allowed the 7 of us that remained to come on stage and share the first sentence from our story with the hundreds of audience members. This is the first 19 seconds of my story below.

When I finished, several folks walked up and wanted to hear the story, so I told them. Among those folks I met a NYU student named Martha, who just arrive in America a week earlier and was given an assignment by her teacher to interview a random person. She said I looked nice, so she asked me. Though she also told me that he was shy, Martha wasted no time offering assistance when she saw me cocking my wrist in various positions to take my own photo.

Martha Took this photo for me.

And the rest is history.

Here are photos of Martha and I chopping it up under the street lights in New York at 11:00pm.

"Oh, do I have a story to tell you Martha..."

"I walked around the entire block and handed out postcards to the snaking line..."

Then it started raining, but my afro absorbed it all and I pretty much stayed try..."

"Every time they reached in that bag and pulled a name out, I thought this is it... it's my name"

"But when it didn't happen, I thought in a minute I can get up there and say 1 line from my story..."

"I thought it better be good and meaty..."

So I went with this line to tease my story about betrayal... "I almost ruined my relationship with my Mama when I reacted like a white person, when my identity was stolen." And the audience lit up :) So did I :)

I hope Martha got a good grade on her first assignment.

Mama's Got a Brand New Bag & Show #2 Recap at FringeNYC

2011-08-16T12:06:00.027-04:00

Rolling my new suitcase with props to the Subway

HeeeeeeeeeeeeeY! I have a new suitcase that stands upright and all the wheels work. Very excited about this for my forearms and all the props. Being on the NYC subway system and pulling the bad down the streets was beginning to wear on a sista. You can see a photo of my new suitcase to the right. ----->

The 2nd Mama Juggs show in the 15th Annual New York International Fringe Festival was awesome! The audience laughed and cried with the characters as well. One audience member told me that she flew in from Los Angeles after hearing my interview about creating Mama Juggs on The Story with Dick Gordon Thursday! She made my show part of her vacation, wow.... I am flattered. This is the second show in a row that someone told me they flew in to see my show. At, the first show you may recall a lady flew in from Washington, DC after hearing the interview on her NPR station.

I am truly blessed!
Be well and Be You,
'rie

Pre-Show getting ready for stage

Mama Juggs FringeNYC- Tech Director Reveals the Key to our Great Lighting

2011-08-16T11:57:00.000-04:00

Ulric O'Flatherty, a New York based Technical Director and Lighting Designer since the 1980s, who's worked with Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett to name a few, is working on the Mama Juggs Show in the FringeNYC Aug 13-24, 2011! He makes the show visually sing every night and I wanted to know what he does on that board the he chose to ride manually, instead of punching cues.... LOVE HIS OLD SCHOOL TECHNIQUES!! Between eating Pizza, this is what Ulric had to say...

MAKING STRONGER CHOICES

2011-08-15T11:11:00.035-04:00

Many over the years have wondered, "Who Directed your Mama Juggs show? Who told you when to move, how to sound, etc?" Truly, I just down load the information from within my being. It seems as if the information was sitting right there just waiting for me to manifest. It also helps that I have a monster-ass-killer awesome work ethic that I learned from the strong women in my family, my dad who's an entrepreneur and ex-Marine, and the community of Oakland, California. I've also ran into some really cool people who've seen my show and gave me feedback. Also, my being a Producer for Radio/TV since 1998 sure helps me be my own Director with the ability to even cut material that I absolutely love! For all of that, Mama Juggs is the gem you all see today on tour at the New York International Fringe Festival. I am so proud of where this show has taken me thus far.

Be well & Be You,

'rie

Getting a "download" about my mama's song in the show.

Mama Juggs Teaser at FringeNYC Variety Power Hour

2011-08-14T10:58:00.001-04:00

My Rep Ken Terrell captured these last few minutes of my tease in the FringeNYC Variety Hour.

FringeCLUB is the late-night, after-show community of FringeNYC and is the place for artists and audience to quaff, laugh, mix, and mingle! Visit FringeCLUB at The Bowery Poetry Club every Friday and Saturday when you can enjoy the FringeCLUB VARIETY POWER HOUR -- a live, improvised variety show styled by FringeNYC's own fabulous Brothers LaGreca and House Band H2Awesome! featuring special guest stars. . . including some FringeNYC-lebrities!

Mama Juggs - Dressing Room Tour at Players Theater in NYC

2011-08-13T10:50:00.000-04:00

Mama Juggs - Moving it Until the Wheels Fall Off

2011-08-13T10:28:00.003-04:00

'rie Shontel with the Mama Juggs set

Resting after taking on a huge hill in Brooklyn, NY

Briefing about What's Happened so far building up to Opening Day!

2011-08-12T14:52:00.000-04:00

Day 2: Mama Juggs Human Postcard Delivery throughout Harlem & Brooklyn

2011-08-11T14:49:00.000-04:00

NYCFringe Tour: DAY 1 - I'M TRAVELING LIGHTER

2011-08-10T14:58:00.000-04:00

I never expected it to take this long to pack everything, but it did. Despite this being the least amount of props in the history of the Mama Juggs show. I have an idea why the packing took so much time. It was because I was very organized. I put each group of props in a bag that was labeled, including an itemized list of all the bags contents. I also limited the number of bras I packed to 6. That's a far cry from the usual 20 plus. When it was all said and done, My huge suitcase was only half full with props! I'd say it speaks to my growth as a performer. The past 6 shows changed my idea of what it takes to do a show. I no longer try to recreate grandma and my mama's living room on stage... it's costly and it's heavy. Instead, I am taking a journalist approach and saying hey, let the audience use their imaginations and don't give them everything. Because if this I am better for it actually and so is the show.

DAY 1 FringeNYC: What does Jimi Hendrix and Mama Juggs have in common?

2011-08-10T14:47:00.000-04:00

'rie Shontel's Head Stand Attempt #1 in Brooklyn, NY

2011-08-09T10:42:00.000-04:00

'rie Shontel's Head Stand Attempt #2 in Brooklyn, NY

2011-08-09T09:47:00.000-04:00

REHERSAL: 9 days Until the NY Mama Juggs Tour Begins

2011-08-01T09:46:00.000-04:00

Had a great rehearsal this morning. Fast walked for 45 minutes around the indoor gym track and sang 4 scenes of Mama Juggs... my two 10 minute breaks I will since the last 3 scenes.

Read Moments in the life of 'rie Shontel, The Performer

2011-06-25T10:35:00.000-04:00

Hey There!

I am very excited about evolving this page to share with you what's happening in my artistic life! You can still get updates on my current show Mama Juggs on a new website that I set up. Please note that my posts may not be everyday since my goal is to share those transformative moments that may help you along your life journey. So I'm ready to get my groove on and I am glad you've decided to join me :)

Let's work it out ...

Be Well and Be You!

'rie

Mama Juggs NEW Website!!

2011-06-25T09:41:00.000-04:00

Hello there,
Mama Juggs now has a website and you can go there for updates on the show and all things "Mama Juggs". The artist, 'rie Shontel, will begin to use this page to post journals about her work as an artist and the projects she is working on. Visit often for posts and enjoy!

Mama Juggs Interview

2011-06-25T09:40:00.001-04:00

MAMA JUGGS: Listen to ‘rie’s STORY

Anita Woodley and her one-woman play, “Mama Juggs.” The story revolves around Anita, her family members, and breasts. In the play, a teenaged Anita struggles with puberty. A grown-up Anita learns to breastfeed her son. Anita’s great-grandmother dispenses advice through song, and Anita’s mother, Mabel-Marie, is diagnosed with breast cancer. Anita has performed in Los Angeles and off-Broadway. Last weekend, she won the Grand Prize at the M.A.L.I. Women’s conference in Austin, Texas. Photo: Bud Rudesill. Music: Jesus is on the Main Line, Fred McDowell; Desert Eagle, Ratatat

2011-06-25T09:34:00.001-04:00

Mama Juggs Goes Off-Broadway… Again!

Tickets Go On Sale July 22nd!(click here to order)

THE PLAYERS THEATRE

115 MacDougal Street, New York, NY 10012

VIEW TRAILER FOR MAMA JUGGS

Neighborhood: Greenwich Village AKA West Village

Location: West side of MacDougal Street, between West 3rd Street & Minetta Lane.

Directions: Closest subway: A, B, C, D, E, F, Q to West 4th Street. Walk south on 6th Avenue to West 3rd Street, then east to MacDougal Street, then south to the theatre.
Click here to get subway route directions from Hopstop.com.
Stage Type: Proscenium
Accessibility: Air conditioned. Entrance to lobby is street level but there are several steps to reach the theatre.

The New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC) is the largest multi-arts festival in North America, with more than 200 companies from all over the world performing for 16 days in more than 20 venues showcasing 1200 incredible performances.

THE NATIONS LARGEST FRINGE FESTIVAL WANTS MAMA JUGGS!

2011-06-13T16:10:00.001-04:00

Mama Juggs has been accepted into the NYCFringe 2011,

to perform 5 shows

between August 12-28th.

MAMA JUGGS RETURNS to DURHAM-RALEIGH- CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA!

2011-06-01T08:36:00.001-04:00

Saturday, June 4th

2pm & 8pm
COMMON GROUND THEATRE -
$20-$50 (Sliding Scale Tickets)

4815B Hillsborough Rd -
Durham, NC 27705-2237
Info line only: (919) 384-7817

MAMA JUGGS ROAD TRIP Fundraiser!

2011-05-24T06:36:00.000-04:00

Mission Possible!

The Mama Juggs Show 2 Major City Road Trip...

* Funded by Artwork & fans of Mama Juggs!

Now through July 2010, we're teaming up with IndieGoGo.com to raise $5,000 to take Mama Juggs, an independently produced one-woman show, on a month-long fringe festival tour. This 10 show run will not be possible without funding from fans of the arts like you! With your support, I’ll be able to take the Mama Juggs show to New York, Chicago and hire the required support staff, so that the show's run is a success!

MAMA JUGGS TO CHICAGO!

2011-05-21T22:36:00.000-04:00

The one-woman theatrical show "Mama Juggs" was selected from a lottery of 358 applicants to play in Chicago's fringe festival. Hope you can come see her dazzle the crowd among 169 of her other peers this coming fall!

MAMA JUGGS TO AUSTIN, TEXAS!

2011-05-20T02:49:00.005-04:00

Mama Juggs is now an award winning show!
In Austin, Texas Mama Juggs was voted as the “Best Of the Best” at the
2011 M.A.L.I Women’s Film & Performance Arts Conference.

Thursday May 26th: Stompin’ Grounds @ 8:15pm

Friday May 27th: Lipstick 24 (inside stage) @ 10:15pm

Saturday May 28th: Long Center @ 5pm

Sunday May 29th: Stompin’ Grounds @ 8pm

'rie Shontel will perform her one-woman show Mama Juggs

for an audience of 2,000 women over 4 days.

FOR MORE INFO - Click here

The 100 Living Rooms Project! A Mama Juggs In-Home Theatre Experience

2011-04-26T07:21:00.001-04:00

"Book a show in your home and I'll donate 25%
to finding a Breast Cancer Cure!"

-'rie Shontel

Share the Mama Juggs Experience with your friends and family!

Check out the Trailer for Mama Juggs http://rieshontel.blogspot.com/p/trailer.html

Actress 'Rie Shontel is bringing her intimate, true one-woman show Mama Juggs into homes across the nation to raise breast cancer awareness.

'rie will donate 25% of the proceeds in her mama's memory to finding a Breast Cancer Cure. Her mother Mable Marie Pierece-Glenn died in 1998 from the disease.

*** EXCLUSIVE*** Behind the scenes footage of her mother living with breast cancer will be shown after the show.

See the setup of the 1st Living Room Project in San Pablo, CA-

For more details, Contact princessdragonpd[at]gmail.com

Meet 'rie Shontel's Mama Mable-Marie

2011-04-22T21:30:00.000-04:00

Mama Juggs to Off-Broadway - Brooklyn 4/22 & 23!

2011-04-22T13:38:00.000-04:00

The one-woman show

Mama Juggs will make its debut in New York!

Mama Juggs is a true, courageously gritty show about three women in the Oakland projects who bond and question cultural taboos about breasts through hilarious songs and unapologetic candor.

$20 - General - $15 - Seniors

For tickets and information,Contact Chris

631-299-8521 cvd1974 (at) gmail.com

The Paul Robeson Theatre

40 Greene Ave

Brooklyn, New York

'rie Shontel's Workshop at UNC-Chapel Hill!

2011-04-16T16:42:00.041-04:00

'rie Shontel is leading a workshop entitled, "Reinventing Yourself Interactive Discussion," for students at the University of North Carolina. 'rie shared how she reinvented herself after resigning at CNN and becoming a mama-bookseller-manager-actress-playwright of the one-woman show "Mama Juggs."

The workshop was part of the

Carolina Association of Black Journalists 20th Anniversary Celebration Weekend.

SEE the video "What does a Journalists Look Like?" that she created for the workshop.

TRAILER: Mama Juggs Show Short

2011-03-06T00:16:00.003-05:00

NEW RELEASE - POETRY BY 'Rie Shontel... Poem "My Hair"

2011-03-05T00:28:00.001-05:00

SEE 'Rie Shontel's on Soulful Beauty Website

(A Bronner Brothers hair Company affiliate)

VIEW FEATURE ARTICLE

"Mixed-media artist, and multi-award winning national journalist, 'rie Shontel brings it to us with "My Hair," a poem that pays homage to her afro and the belief that wearing natural hair makes you naturally beautiful. "Who am I," she asked. And as I began to listen to her flow I knew right then she must "somebody," but who? "Who am I... Who am I... Who do I be?," she continued... introducing herself in such a unique way, that by the end, I realized she knows exactly who she is, and now, so do I... she is: "All, but her hair."

Besides being an inspiring poet, ‘rie Shontel aka Anita Woodley -- an East Oakland native who earned her B.A. in Radio and Television from San Francisco State University, is also a producer for North Carolina Public Radio’s "The Story." Woodley, has received as number of awards including a Harry Chapin Radio Media Award, several National Association of Black Journalists Salute to Excellence Awards, and an Emmy with CNN."
- BY Soul Beauty

Subscribe to my channel http://www.youtube.com/user/rieshontel

MY GREAT GRANDMA CAPTURED ON FILM IN 1990, Apt #2

2011-02-28T12:31:00.005-05:00

This video is of my Great-Grandma Suga Babe who's featured in my one-woman show Mama Juggs. Enjoy the Cadence of her voice that I portray in the show! LOVE HER for the example.

Mama Juggs in the Redwood Forest!

2011-01-16T21:40:00.010-05:00

Thursday, February 24
&
Friday, Feb. 25
@ 8pm

in the Studio Theatre at HSU
**with a talk-back session after the show

Free to HSU and surrounding community !

'rie Shontel's one -woman show Mama Juggs is heading to Humboldt State University (HSU). 'rie is especially excited about performing at HSU because it's where she started her college education.

COME GREET 'RIE!

RECEPTION:
Thursday Feb. 24th 3-4pm
HSU, Squad Room of the Communications, Hs. 54

DISCUSSION ABOUT JOURNALISM & ART:
Friday, Feb 25 3-4 pm
HSU, Squad Room of the Communications, Hs. 54

See you there!

ORDER TODAY - Mama Juggs DVD!

2011-01-03T13:37:00.006-05:00

Order Securely Online Today!

DVD

Feature Length

The One-Woman Show Mama Juggs:
Three Generations Healing Negative Body Images

A courageously gritty show about three black women in the Oakland projects facing breast cancer, bra stuffing, and breast-feeding. They question cultural taboos through hilarious songs and unapologetic candor.

SEE TRAILER

$20
* plus S&H

Your Video Invite to Mama Juggs in Oakland 12/29 & 12/30!

2010-12-28T23:13:00.003-05:00

Your Invite to the Oakland Mama Juggs Shows 12/29 & 12/30! from rie Shontel on Vimeo.
Check out the trailer of “Mama Juggs” at http://rieshontel.blogspot.com/p/trailer.html

Hey there, I am the actress, writer, and producer of the one-woman show Mama Juggs: Three Generations Healing Negative Body Images!

Two nights in Oakland, on Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 29-30, 7:30 p.m., at the Black Dot Café, 1195 Pine St., West Oakland. Tickets are $20. Reserve your tickets for the Oakland show at Brown Paper Tickets, http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/136647, or by calling the 24/7 Ticket Hotline, 1-800-838-3006.

Oakland Shows - 2 Shows LEFTon the Bay Area Tour - 12/29 & 12/30

2010-12-28T05:01:00.000-05:00

TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR OAKLAND

ONLINE http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/136647

BY DELIVERY, Call 510.695.9339

Feature Interview - Mama Juggs KPFA-FM 94.1 12/27/2010

2010-12-27T00:29:00.000-05:00

KPFA-FM 94.1 - Women's Magazine

(20 Minute Interview)

An exciting round table on women and work; Mama Juggs: 3 Generations of Healing Negative Body Images

Women's Magazine - December 27, 2010 at 1:00pm

Click to listen (or download)

Bay Area Tour - Mama Juggs Interview - Oakland * San Francisco

2010-12-21T04:39:00.000-05:00

Minister of Information JR speaks with actress-storyteller-writer Rie Shontel about her provocative one-woman show “Mama Juggs.” Now you have the opportunity to see this gifted sista, who has performed around the country and in Africa and now includes Blues legend Augusta Collins in the show. “Mama Juggs: Three Generations Healing Negative Body Image” will play Tuesday, Dec. 21, at Twin Space, 2111 Mission St., San Francisco, and on Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 29 and 30, at the Black Dot Cafe, 1195 Pine St., West Oakland.

'Mama Juggs' is back: An interview with Oakland playwright and actress Anita Woodley aka Rie Shontel

December 14, 2010

by Minister of Information JR

Rie Shontel

I met Anita Woodley, the woman who goes by the name of Rie Shontel on stage, when we were both organizing Black students in the ‘90s. Since then, she has taken experiences from her upbringing in East Oakland with the older women in her family and used her amalgamation of them to create a one-woman play called “Mama Juggs” that has been getting rave reviews all over the world. You have the opportunity to see this gifted and talented sista do her thing once again for a local audience after she has picked up a gang of worldly experience performing and re-writing and remixing her show to include local Oakland Blues legend Augusta Collins. Anita is definitely one of the talents from Oakland who you will be hearing about for many years …
M.O.I. JR: Can you tell us a little about your one-woman play? How did you formulate it, and what inspired you to do it?
Rie Shontel: The women in my family inspired “Mama Juggs.” My mother died at 47 years old from breast cancer in 1998, and then I lost my great-grandmother at 100 years old to natural causes in 2008. I missed them dearly and started brainstorming how to continue their legacy of laughter and strength with my 7-year-old son.
So, within just four hours, I sketched out a show highlighting our struggles as women growing up in East Oakland’s “Funk Town” area in the housing projects. I chose also to include the taboo language and conversations in the Black community about body image, especially breasts. I then split it up into scenes and started practicing the show every night for seven months because I wanted to represent the strong women of my family to the utmost high.
The end result was my one-woman show, “Mama Juggs: Three Generations Healing Negative Body Images.” The show has taken me wonderful places – to Cameroon in Africa, Los Angeles, Vermont, North Carolina, San Francisco and back to my hometown, Oakland, California. Check out the trailer of “Mama Juggs” at http://rieshontel.blogspot.com/p/trailer.html ^[2].
M.O.I. JR: I know that a while ago you performed it at the Black Dot Café. What is different about it now? How did you hook up with Bay Area Bluesman Augusta Lee Collins?
Rie Shontel: I was shown tremendous love when I performed at the Black Dot last year in June. This year’s version of the show is remixed with new stories about the characters’ lives and live guitar played by West Coast Blues Hall of Fame inductee Augusta Lee Collins and several new story additions.
I’m excited that the Bay Area will be the first to witness this remixed version of “Mama Juggs.” I randomly spoke with Augusta Lee Collins this summer on Facebook, after just seeing his photo. Since then, we’ve been communicating over Skype and rehearsing the concept of using music as lights in “Mama Juggs.”
M.O.I. JR: What does Augusta Lee Collins add to the production?
Rie Shontel: Pure melodic genius. I just had to collaborate with Augusta on my show because he represents the sound of Oakland that I grew up on. He’s been in the music industry more than 40 years and traveled the world.
He’s played with Frankie Beverly, and opened for Miles Davis – not to mention his technique as a live performer who is not afraid to bare his soul is what resonates with me most. For me to be moved by a performer they must lose themselves in their work. When I watched Augusta play, he took me there. In “Mama Juggs,” I have to bare it all or else everyone will know I am faking the funk. All of the stories in Mama Juggs are true, as are the stories in Augusta’s songs.
M.O.I. JR: What message do you hope people get from your play?
Rie Shontel: That there is strength gained through hard times and laughter to be had. I truly enjoyed my childhood with the women in my family. No matter what, we stuck together. Nowadays, with them not being on earth, I am compelled to keep what they taught me alive. Sometimes I admit they angered me with their strict rules, but I am better for it. I also hope that people take away that top-notch art comes from artists in the Bay Area who grew up in impoverished areas. Many times people do not believe that I am where I am in life when I mention that I grew up in “Funk Town.” And that is why I get a joy in representing what we all can do if we put our minds to it.

Rie Shontel in her one-woman show, "Mama Juggs"

M.O.I. JR: Who are some of the playwrights that you look up to? Why?
Rie Shontel: Ntozake Shange, Langston Hughes, Sonia Sanchez, Lorraine Hansberry, August Wilson and Charlane Woodard, to name a few. Their work represents cutting edge stories concerning our culture that were not told in the mainstream. They move me to push the envelope with my plays.
M.O.I. JR: What advice would you give young playwrights who are trying to get their feet wet?
Rie Shontel: Don’t wait for a “Big Break.” Create your own, first opportunity. Start practicing for friends or your pet in your living room. Then move to your backyard. Next rent a local theatre for a reading of your work and sell tickets to the event, so you can have a budget for fliers and future rentals.
Every time you perform, remix and/or revise your script to ensure it continues to grow. Also have someone film your show and make a trailer that lasts about 2-5 minutes. Send the trailer out to theaters that accept new work. These are all the steps I’ve taken and have experienced success. Basically, I lit my own fire and fanned it.
M.O.I. JR: What is the biggest obstacle that you have faced since you started performing your one-woman show?
Rie Shontel: The use of colorful, explicit language that I grew up hearing in “Funk Town.” Since my one-woman show is about real women in my family who persevered in poverty, I had to keep it real. My mama cursed like a sailor and never apologized for it. My great-grandma used the word “titty” when referring to all women’s breasts.
One surprising moment I experienced was when my show was stopped mid-performance because of the language. I was told that their group of educated African-American women did not appreciate my project experience or the “vulgar language” in the play.
While I was in the restroom removing my costume, many of the women spoke to me. One woman said, “Mama Juggs was too real and brought up too many issues from the past that are difficult for many Black women here to deal with.” That was the first and only time that happened. All of the other positive experiences have empowered me not to compromise my show.
M.O.I. JR: Where is your next performance?
Rie Shontel: San Francisco on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 7 p.m., at Twin Space, 2111 Mission St., San Francisco. Then for two nights in Oakland, on Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 29-30, 7:30 p.m., at the Black Dot Café, 1195 Pine St., West Oakland. Tickets are $20. Reserve your tickets for the Oakland show at Brown Paper Tickets, http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/136647, or by calling the 24/7 Ticket Hotline, 1-800-838-3006. In San Francisco, tickets are available at the door.
M.O.I. JR: How do people keep up with you online?
Rie Shontel: Visit my website at http://rieshontel.blogspot.com/ and Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/rie-shontel/95106818063 . Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/rieshontel or email me at rieshontel@gmail.com..
Email POCC Minister of Information JR, Bay View associate editor, at blockreportradio@gmail.com and visit www.blockreportradio.com .

Oakland - San Francisco Mama Juggs Shows 12/21, 29, 30th

2010-12-15T21:32:00.000-05:00

TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR OAKLAND

ONLINE http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/136647

BY DELIVERY, Call 510.695.9339

'rie Shontel Reading her poem "Eating My Words"

2010-11-14T20:07:00.004-05:00

'rie Shontel and a dozen other poets featured in the Anthology "The Sound of Poets Cooking" gathered at Flyleaf Bookstore in Durham, NC to share their work.

'rie read her poem from page 101 entitled, "Eating My Words." View her reading below....

'rie Shontel reading her poem "Eating My Words" 11-13-2010 from rie Shontel on Vimeo.

Behind The Scenes in Vermont- Mama Juggs

2010-10-20T00:11:00.000-04:00

Check out this behind the scenes tour of the Mama Juggs Show in Warren, Vermont. It was held in a large barn.

NEW RELEASE - Website about 'rie Shontel's Trip to Africa!

2010-10-17T21:25:00.009-04:00

Tikar Descendent: My First Encounter in the Rainforest with my Ancestral Tribe

VISIT
http://tikarcameroon.blogspot.com/

The website featuring details of

'rie's trip to Africa this summer to meet her ancestral tribe!

Enjoy!

I am now the first African-American of Tikar Descent to return to the rain forest and
reunite with the N'Ditam village since enslavement.

Photos of me dancing with the Pygmy's during my naming ceremony on June 27, 2010!

I call this dance that I made up, "Capturing The Ancestor Ghost.:"

I was working moves you cannot learn in any African Dance class for real!

Myself, Princess Bekang, being protected by a Tikar Warrior.

The Chief named me a Princess Bekang of the N'Ditam Village.
It means Boomerang to go and to come back.

VIDEO ESSAY - 'rie' Account of a Surgery in the Rainforest

2010-10-17T20:25:00.005-04:00

REVIEW-MAMA JUGGS: The Valley Reporter

2010-08-28T11:10:00.003-04:00

Thursday, August 12, 2010

MAMA JUGGS OPENING AT PHANTOM THEATER
By
Janet Hubbard

photo by: Stan Chambers Jr.

‘Rie Shontel, AKA Anita Woodley, whose one-woman show—“Mama Juggs: Three Generations Healing Negative Body Images”—opens at Phantom Theater in Warren on August 12th , grew up in the projects in Oakland, California in the 1980s during the drug wars. The neighborhood she grew up in was so dangerous that her mother made her go to bed at 4:30 p.m. The precocious little girl, who was raised and nurtured in a matriarchal community comprised of her mother, aunts and great-grandmother, began to read early at age one and started teaching other kids when she was seven. This was a child who was going to go somewhere.

Immediately after graduating from San Francisco State, she was hired as an associate producer at CNN; following 9/11 she left CNN and was on her way up the ladder at Barnes & Noble when she applied for a job as producer of the nationally-syndicated show, The Story, and was hired by Dick Gordon. After working fifty hours a week enterprising stories, interviewing potential storytellers, and then producing those stories, she found herself one night entertaining a group of friends with a song her great-grandmother made up called “Titty Milk-Titty Jugg.” (‘Rie Shontel, now in her 30s, recalled her grandmother accusing her of having inferior breasts as a teen because most African-American women in their family had big breasts.) Cultural issues around breasts cropped up again after ‘rie Shontel had a son in 2003, and later when her mother died of breast cancer, and the subject of breasts became universal.

In 2009 when she was again entertaining a group of friends with her mother and great-grandmother’s “characters,” one of them suggested she write a play. She went home and the next day she wrote “Mama Juggs” in four hours. For the next several months, she rehearsed and revised the script beginning at three in the morning. Once she had it down, she performed for friends who found themselves laughing and crying at the same time. (The men were as affected as the women, and that has remained true throughout her tour.) Next she rented a theater and performed for 65 people, and received a long standing ovation. This has been true of the more than forty performances she has given, including one for her family in Oakland where her Aunt Alvernice exclaimed, “Your mama came down and jumped into the show!”

‘Rie Shontel seamlessly segues in and out of the roles of three generations of black women—her great-grandmother, her mother and herself as a teen and as a nursing mother. One male playgoer in Chapel Hill said that if anyone wanted an authentic glimpse into black culture, this was the show to see. What the playwright wants is for her audiences to feel some degree of healing in any form. Just to make sure, before each show she walks around the theater, touching every seat and corner to spread her intention around.

A recent study suggested that people born into wealth are naturally free and entitled. Producer Anita Woodley takes nothing for granted, though it seems she was born with a sense of optimism and prodigious energy. She has won several radio awards for her work on The Story, and quickly acknowledges the hundreds of people on The Story who have inspired her own work, including her art, which Dick Gordon has displayed in the WUNC studio. When I was on the show last April with an indigent artist I had discovered in my hometown, Ray Matthews, Woodley sat at the computer with tears slipping down her cheeks. Both she and Gordon attended an opening exhibit of Matthews in Chapel Hill. They are genuine in their caring for others. Never one to let dreams fade, Woodley has just returned from Cameroon, where she had another name bestowed on her, “Bekang,” which means boomerang. She went to find her maternal roots before enslavement, and it turned out to be a moment of discovery that is already budding in her mind as a new play.

Mama Juggs opens Thursday, August 12th and runs through Saturday, August 14th. Tickets can be ordered by calling Phantom Theater, 496-5997, and leaving a message, or by going to www.phantomtheater.info.

REVIEW- MAMA JUGGS: The Barre Montpelier Times Argus

2010-08-28T11:01:00.003-04:00

‘Mama Juggs': On black women and their bodies

By Janet Hubbard
Arts Correspondent - Published: August 6, 2010
VIEW ARTICLE ONLINE - CLICK HERE

Actress 'rie Shontel, aka Anita Woodley (producer of the nationally syndicated radio show “The Story with Dick Gordon”), is coming to the Phantom Theater in Warren to present her one-woman show, “Mama Juggs: Three Generations Healing Negative Body Images.”

Without leaving the stage, Shontel acts out three generations of women in her family: her grandmother, who died at age 100; her mother, who died of breast cancer at age 47; and two versions of herself, one as a teenager and the other as a nursing mother. It is as if she incarnates her mother and grandmother, so effortlessly does she switch between them.

In her 30s now, Woodley began life in a housing project in Oakland, Calif., the only daughter between two sons, all with different fathers. She rarely saw the sunshine because her mother was so worried about the dangers around them.

“We had to be in bed by 4:30,” Woodley said. “It was torture to hear everybody playing outside.”

But today she appreciates her mother's protection.

“There were a lot of parents addicted to crack-cocaine,” she said. “I grew up in the drug wars.”

Woodley recalls her first acting gig, playing Rosa Parks when she was in kindergarten.

“I was always entertaining,” she said.

Though her mother, Mable Glenn, was self-conscious about her own lack of education, and mispronounced words on a regular basis, she wanted her little girl to be educated.

Woodley said her greatest influence was her great-grandmother, who lived alone, and whose days were filled with quilting, raising “huge, fat” worms, pressing hair, making jelly and cakes, and maintaining a big garden. The kids were sent out on the street to pick up cans, which they could turn in for cash. They were poor, there was no question about it, but Woodley doesn't recall going hungry.

“She did that for years.”

Woodley only saw her father every three to five years because he was on the road constantly as a truck driver.

“All I had was a truck-driving certificate and a picture of him,” she said. “He was full of promises. He would tell me he was coming and I'd sit on the stairs and wait, sometimes for 10 to 12 hours.”

Woodley and her mother's boyfriend, Bobby Joe Murphy, developed a close bond. He was there throughout her high school years, and showed up at all her award ceremonies.

“He'd go to Goodwill and get clothes so he'd look all right,” Woodley said. “My Mama would be home cooking.” (Woodley's favorites were butterbeans with grape jelly and German chocolate cake.)

“Mama didn't think she was smart enough to attend awards ceremonies,” especially after Woodley graduated from San Francisco State University.

Woodley first performed “Mama Juggs” in her living room in front of her husband Alassane and her two godparents. She sang a song, “Titty Juggs,” which was what her grandmother called women's breasts. (Recently, a group of black women was offended by the term, but she reminded them that this is her history – and their history – that is meant to be embraced.)

At a social gathering in 2009, Woodley did a takeoff on the “Titty Milksong” and everyone howled laughing. A friend suggested she write a play. Though Woodley was at first resistant, she said that her mind started “jogging.” The next day she wrote “Mama Juggs” in four hours.

“It felt like I was downloading my past,” she said, “listening to the women around me talk.”

Woodley started waking up at three in the morning in order to revise the play and when she did a reading of it her friends were moved to laughter and tears. She rented a theater and presented the play. Sixty people showed up and gave her a “one-minute-30-second” standing ovation.

Woodley performed for her family in Oakland on June 26, 2009, and her Aunt Vernice said, “Your mama came down and jumped into the show!” There was no better validation.

There is no question that Woodley's years producing the nationally syndicated show, “The Story,” helped her form her own story. For that program she has to “keep all her senses open, and be alert on all levels,” as she listens to others' stories. She just took a trip to Cameroon to find her roots, and since her return she said that she has grown very quiet.

“I learned 46 words in three weeks,” she said. “Now I am so quiet I'm getting on my own nerves.”

Woodley isn't worried; she says that some part of her is absorbing the past months of performing and travel. Besides, she has at least five plays tumbling around in her mind.

Woodley's boss, Dick Gordon, said, “No one gets standing ovations for every show! This is something special!”

What is the magic?

“I set an intention,” she said. “All I know is what I was taught on my own spiritual journey – go for the heart and the feeling. I set the intention that people who are troubled are touched, and that they experience healing.”

Then she gave away her secret:

“Before the show I go under the seats. I touch that place. Something will happen, and people will feel.”

VERMONT'S -PHANTOM THEATRE FESTIVAL - August 12, 13, 14th

2010-08-02T07:34:00.007-04:00

Thursday - Saturday August 12, 13 & 14

Mama Juggs

See Trailers for Mama Juggs

'Rie Shontel channels three generations of women through the lens of their... well, jugs.

A courageous and outrageous performance, Shontel runs the gamut from pubescent bra stuffing to breast feeding and breast cancer.

Woven throughout are the songs of a century old grandmother, Suga Babe.
NOTE: Explicit language, 75 minute show.

READ THE VERMONT NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

AWARD WINNER... AGAIN!

2010-07-30T10:38:00.012-04:00

'Rie Shontel is the WINNER of her 4th

National Association of Black Journalists Award

for the 3rd consecutive year!

HEAR THE AWARD-WINNING SHOW "THINKING BIG"

http://thestory.org/archiv

e/the_story_803_Thinking_B

ig.mp3/view

NEWLY PUBLISHED POEM, "Eating My Words" by 'rie Shontel

2010-07-28T07:53:00.000-04:00

NEWLY
PUBLISHED POEM

Listen to 'rie Shontel's poem, "Eating My Words," on WCOM 103.5-FM's Carrboro The Book Beat show.

Fast-forward to 42:56

to hear the host reading 'rie's poem.

CLICK & HEAR "Eating My Words"

"Eating My Words" recounts

'rie's exploration as a young child with explicit language. The poem is published in a 2010 Anthology called The Sound of Poets Cooking.

NEW MAMA JUGGS TRAILERS

2010-07-27T23:10:00.002-04:00

Short version

Long Version

MAMA JUGGS GOES TO CAMEROON, AFRICA June 21-July 7, 2010

2010-06-07T10:44:00.003-04:00

Mission Completion!

Thanks to everyone who supported my dream to visit my family's tribe in Cameroon, Africa! Your support and my artistry combined assisted me in raising the needed funds within less than 6 months. I plan to take many photos and share my experience in a new play called, "Mama Juggs Goes to Africa," in the future. While in Cameroon I will share the show with 6 neighboring tribes and also present the show at the University of Yaounde.

Be well NOW!
'rie

May 29, & June 5 - Raleigh, NC - Mama Juggs

2010-04-20T16:40:00.007-04:00

Loclife Store

7317 Louisburg Road

Raleigh, NC

(919) 424-7446

http://www.locstyle.com/

Sat.
May 29 & June 5

5:00 p.m.

$30

Very Limited Seating
Door tickets available until sold out

"In Cameroon, Africa this summer, I'll reconnect with my family’s ancestral tribe and perform Mama Juggs. Proceeds will help improve our Tikar tribe’s access to healthcare and education-in addition supporting my journey to meet my tribe.” - ‘rie

MAMA JUGGS MERCHANDISE BY ‘RIE WILL BE SOLD

BUY TICKETS ONLINE- CLICK HERE

PHONE 24/7 Ticket Hotline: 1-800-838-3006

The provocative one-woman show "Mama Juggs" courageously focuses on Black female body awareness through three women from the Oakland Projects. Through hilarious songs, and unapologetic, gritty candor the women face breast cancer, later puberty bra stuffing, and the frustrations of breast feeding.

MAMA JUGGS IN L.A. THIS MAY!!

2010-04-19T10:13:00.005-04:00

The one-woman show

"Mama Juggs: Three Generations Healing Negative Body Images"

Los Angeles, CA!

FanaticSalon

3815 Sawtelle Blvd.

Culver City, CA 90203

http://www.fanaticsalontheater.com/

SEE MAMA JUGGS TRAILER HERE

Click here for tickets

The one-woman show, "Mama Juggs: Three Generations Healing Negative Body Images" is set in an Oakland, California public housing living room. 'rie Shontel channels three African-American women, ages 17-100, from her own family who grapple with female body awareness. Witness them conquer low self-esteem through song, laughter, and unapologetic candor. Her courageously gritty performance shows how each character deals with breast cancer, late puberty bra stuffing, and the frustrations of breast feeding. The show is woven together with original a'capella breast feeding songs passed down from 'rie's great-grandmother named Suga Babe.

READ THE REVIEW

Fri. May 14

8 pm

Sat. May 15
8 pm

Sun. May 16
2 pm
8 pm

24/7 Ticket Hotline: 1-800-838-3006

photo by StanChambersjr.com

Sliding Scale $20-35

Reservations $50

CLICK - BUY TICKETS

'rie's Live Radio Interview - "The State of Things"

2010-03-16T21:07:00.011-04:00

"The State of Things"

North Carolina Public Radio

Hear 'rie Shontel (AKA Anita Woodley) interview with "The State of Things Frank Stasio" as she talks about her one-woman show "Mama Juggs." 'rie will also talk about her much-anticipated journey in July to meet her family's ancestral tirbe in Cameroon.

(Frank Stasio - Host of WUNC's The State of Things)

LISTEN TO THE LIVE TAPING
(click here)

Anita Woodley likes to put on a show. When she’s not producing WUNC's nationally syndicated radio program, "The Story," she’s a performer. For her one-woman stage show called "Mama Juggs," she transforms into four characters, including her mother and her great-grandmother. The production shares Woodley's experience growing up around strong, female role models and challenges audience members to think about their relationship with their bodies. Woodley’s next performance will be a fundraiser to help her travel to Africa to meet her distant relatives and perform the show for the Tikar people of Cameroon. Woodley talks with host Frank Stasio about how she was influenced by the women in her family and the thrill of sharing her craft with family she hasn't met yet.

REVIEW: Triangle Arts & Entertainment Magazine

2010-03-15T11:00:00.006-04:00

‘rie Shontel Pulls Off One Woman Show

Posted by Susie Potter

VIEW ARTICLE - CLICK HERE

A one woman show can be a very tough thing to pull off, but not if it’s done well. This is the case in ‘rie Shontel’s presentation of Mama Juggs: Three Generations Healing Negative Body Images. This show has Shontel portraying three very different women – feisty seventeen year old Anita, a maternal (but still spirited) 27 year old Anita, her 100 year old great-grandma Suga Babe, and Mama Mable-Ree who is struggling with the trials of breast cancer and her ensuing death.

While it may seem difficult to envision one young woman portraying three women in various stages of life without a single costume change, Shontel manages to do so in a way that is almost magical. One could hear a hush of utter amazement fall over the audience the first time Shontel morphed from the lovable, outspoken Suga Babe to the equally outspoken Anita. Her voice and demeanor changed enough from character to character that the audience did not have time to grow bored or to get confused about which character she was supposed to be.

The show’s simple lighting was also quite impressive. The entire story is set in an Oakland, California housing project living room, and there are no set changes – only soft changes in lighting to signify scene breaks. While these are small and unobtrusive, they are exactly what the show needs to signify changes in mood or to highlight important moments without being too dramatic.
In fact, Mama Juggs actually comes off as quite light for a show that deals with breast cancer, late puberty, old age, and the trials and joys of breast feeding. While Shontel easily could have made this into a preachy show about feminism, she chooses to surprise the audience by making this show more about life and all its wonderful and difficult moments, making this a story that will appeal to just about anyone.

Not only did Shontel make sure that the story had something for everyone, she included just about everyone in the show – literally. She brought several audience members up onstage to interact with the characters. At one moment, Mama Mable Ree asks an onstage audience member if her character “deserves to die.” This is a pretty gutsy move on Shontel’s part, given that the audience member could say just about anything, but one expects Shontel could hold her own no matter what might have been said, especially if she learned from a woman like Suga Babe.

The show debuted at the lovely and rustic Common Ground Theatre in Durham, NC on Friday, February 5 with encore performances on Friday, March 19 and Saturday, March 29. The proceeds from it went to support Hope International for Tikar People (http://www.hitip.org) , and to help Shontel perform her show among the members of her ancestral tribe in Cameroon, Africa. She also has plans to perform in Los Angeles, California, so one can be sure this is not the last that will be heard of Mama Juggs.

###

A side note from Princess Dragon Productions

*** SPECIAL THANKS TO PAUL PALIYENKO-

FOR THE EXPERT STAGE LIGHTING AND ENGINEERING OF THE MAMA JUGGS SHOW IN DURHAM, N.C.

O 'rie GINAL ART WORK FOR SELL

2010-03-15T10:49:00.010-04:00

O 'rie GINAL ARTWORK FOR SELL

'rie Shontel's original mixed-media artwork!
princessdragonpd(at)gmail.com

#1
Lawd Haf Mursay
$450

#2 Pie in Da Sky

$395

#3 It Is What It Is.
$375
rotates

#4 Code of Silence

$280

#5 Lean on Back

$325

MAMA JUGGS IN DURHAM, NC!

2010-03-09T11:01:00.003-05:00

AT-A-GLANCE:

Mama Juggs
March 19 & 20 at 8pm
March 20 at 2pm

Mama Juggs: Three Generations Healing Negative Body Images
Written and performed by ‘rie Shontel, Mama Juggs is a powerful monologue in four parts about female body awareness. Each character-- Teen Anita (age 17), Maternal Anita (age 27), Mable-Marie (age 47); and Suga Babe, (age 100) - will transport the audience into an intimate view of a woman’s body image. Collectively, they face breast cancer, late puberty, old age, and breast feeding in their Oakland Housing Project living room. Throughout the show ‘rie sings original acapella breast-feeding songs passed down from her great-grandmother Suga Babe. This compelling show portrays how cultural taboos led to discovering identity and hope in her family.

Proceeds will support improving Cameroon's Tikar tribe’s access to healthcare/education and 'rie's travel in July 2010 to meet her tribe for the first-time.

SEE TRAILER - Click Here

Tickets by phone: 800-838-3006

News & Observer Article about "Mama Juggs"

2010-02-26T10:59:00.027-05:00

1-woman play has 3 lives of its own

BY STANLEY B. CHAMBERS JR.,STAFF WRITER 2/27/2010

Anita Woodley is using three generations of breasts to travel back to her roots. It is a journey that has already taken her to an undiscovered part of herself.

Her one-woman show, "Mama Juggs: Three Generations Healing Negative Body Images," is about her mother, great-grandmother and herself as they deal with puberty, breast cancer and breast feeding while on a path toward conquering low self-esteem.

Proceeds from the play will support her trip to Cameroon, Africa, where she will perform the play in front of the Tikar people, her family's ancestral tribe.

Woodley, 34, never thought all of this would come out of one song. But one person thought she had the potential to do more.

A vision expands

It was a renaissance type of party. Artists, intellectuals and the like gathering inside a Pittsboro home in January 2009 to perform and wax poetic.

Woodley, invited by a friend, brought a piece of paper from a box of her great-grandmother's things. The words were for a breast-feeding song she used to sing.

Woodley sat on a stool in the middle of the living room and sang in her great-grandmother's elderly voice. She followed the song with a one-woman dialogue, playing the older woman and herself as a young mother.

"And they started dying laughing," she said.

Bud Rudesill, a Pittsboro artist, was impressed. Having done set design for community theaters in Montana, he wanted to build a stage in his backyard for performances such as what he envisioned for Woodley.

So he asked her to expound on her skit. The next morning she wrote an entire play in four hours.

"I'm told that's not normal, but I don't get how that's not normal if I did it," she said.

The pair met a few days later. The play surprised Rudesill, who was just looking for a skit. Woodley also told a few friends about the play, who told their friends, and so on.

The idea quickly became too big for Rudesill's backyard.

"I'm very pleased with myself that I encouraged her to do that but also very pleased with her that she had what it took to develop this," he said. "And that means inspiration, courage and drive to put it together and get it on stage."

"That seed is all it took to get her mind working and broaden her perspective. This little vision that I had, when I put it into her head, just expanded a hundred fold."

Art as therapy

Character placement. Audience reaction. Plot development. Performing on stage alone.

These things were new and interesting to Woodley. When she was growing up in the projects of Oakland, Calif., her older brother was the actor. She, as a young child, would interview her mother and perform in a few church plays.

It's funny how things work out. She became an award-winning radio journalist and currently produces for North Carolina Public Radio.

She did a first reading of her play in March in front of her husband, 4-year-old son, and Rudesill and his wife.

They loved it.

"It felt absolutely amazing," she said. "I was like, I could do anything. I was still in shock over how I sung this one song and was thinking about my great-grandmother and how I was missing her. She was here with me because I was really channeling her, and they got it."

A few months later, a co-worker introduced her to Issa Nypahaga, who runs Hope International for Tikar People, a nonprofit aimed at providing resources to the Tikar tribe in Cameroon.

In 2008, Woodley, through DNA testing, discovered her family came from the Tikar tribe.

She e-mailed Nypahaga about the play in November. He invited her to perform in front of the tribe.

"I'm proud to know her because she came from a very difficult experience as a woman, because her mother passed away very young and she has seen generations of women in her family struggling with the history of "mind body," he said via e-mail from Paris.

"Now she's putting that in the show and makes fun of it," he said. "I think is great. That's how Anita cures herself, through art therapy. This is how art should be."

Wherever it takes her

It was a cold, rainy night on February 5.

Cliché? Maybe. But it was really cold and rainy when Woodley performed her play at the Common Ground Theatre on Hillsborough Road that night.

She did the show for the first time in June, and then in front of her family in Oakland a few days later.

About 10 people braved the winter weather to watch her seemlessly shift between her mother, great-grandmother and herself as a teenager, then as a young mother. She wore a black bodysuit so viewers could better see the transformations.

Until Nypahaga's invitation, she thought it would be a one-time thing, Woodley said. She's still surprised by the popularity of her show.

"I'm going to ride this pony until it kicks me off," she said. "And it's demanding me to do it. Every time I put the play down there's another opportunity to perform."

IF YOU GO

Woodley's next performances are Friday, March 19, at 8 p.m. and Saturday, March 20, at 2 and 8 p.m. at the Common Ground Theatre, 4815-B Hillsborough Road, Durham. Tickets are $25; $20 for students and seniors 55 and older. Call 800-838-3006 to purchase tickets. For more information, go to rieshontel.blogspot.com/

'rie's KHSU-FM Interview "Through the Eyes of Sista's"

2010-02-14T19:12:00.016-05:00

**Audio coming!

'rie Shontel appeared on KHSU-FM's program,
"Through the Eyes of Sistas" with host Lorna Bryant.
She shared the characters from her one-woman show "Mama Juggs."

MAMA JUGGS DURHAM, NC 2/5/10 PERFORMANCE!

2010-02-05T00:19:00.048-05:00

Despite the icy rain, the show went on!

Thanks to everyone who braved the weather and attended the first of 4 performances by 'rie Shontel. All funds raised will assist 'rie's reconnection with her family's ancestral tribe in Cameroon, Africa this summer. Remaining shows are Friday, 3/19 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, 3/20 at 2 p.m. & 8 p.m. Tickets are available at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/93433

The photos were taken by Stan B. Chambers Jr.

NEW SKIT! "The Dream Recipe"

2010-01-19T11:33:00.001-05:00

On January 19, 2009, 'rie Shontel performed for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration assembly at Shepard International Baccalaureate Magnet Middle School in Durham, NC. During the new original skit,"The Dream Recipe," students and staff witnessed 'rie switch between her Great-Grandmother and teen-aged characters sharing little known facts about Dr. King's youth. The audience of 450 also heard spoken work and songs that encouraged them to create their own dreams by gaining experience, courage, passion, friendship and creativity. Next month, 'rie will produce and direct her original stage play "The Great Dream Turned Nightmare" with 12 Shepard students for Black History Month.

Learn more about Sheperd Middle
*Photo Credit: Bud Rudesill

'rie - Triangle Arts & Enterainment Magazine

2010-01-08T11:30:00.010-05:00

(Click below to read page)

DNA, DRAMATIC ART TAKE ACTOR FROM CAROLINA TO CAMEROON

Press Release - Mama Juggs 2/5; 3/19; 3/20

2010-01-01T10:19:00.001-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 15, 2010

CONTACT: PD Productions
pdproductions76@gmail.com

DNA, Dramatic Art Takes Actress from Carolina to Cameroon

Durham, N.C. - Actress/playwright ‘rie Shontel AKA Anita Woodley performs her provocative one-woman show “Mama Juggs,” a powerful performance that challenges black female body awareness in the housing projects of Oakland, California. The shows are a prelude to her much-anticipated July tribal reunion and performance in Cameroon, Africa.

But first she will take to the stage in Durham, N.C, performing “Mama Juggs: Three Generations Healing Negative Body Images,” March 19 at 8 p.m. and March 20 at 2 p.m. & 8 p.m.- Common Ground Theatre, 4815B Hillsborough Road, Durham, 919-698-3870. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the door or by calling 800-838-3006.

'rie Shontel’s courageously gritty performance in Mama Juggs draws on the generations of powerful matriarchs that influenced her upbringing. ‘rie artfully transitions between deep complex characters to show how song, laughter and candor can heal.

‘rie (nickname of the performer’s mother) pulsates between the stress of a breast cancer diagnosis; the embarrassment of stuffing her bra; and the frustration of breast-feeding. A’capella breast-feeding songs passed down from ‘rie’s great-grandmother are included in the performance.

Together, ‘rie’s three characters will heal their negative self images by boldly questioning cultural taboos in the black community.

In July ‘rie Shontel will exchange these folk tales and share Mama Juggs with her family’s ancestral tribe in Cameroon’s tropical rainforest. Through maternal DNA testing, ‘rie family’s roots were traced to the Tikar people.

‘rie Shontel is working as the African-American representative for the non-profit Hope International for Tikar People (HITIP) http://www.hitip.org . Proceeds from the show will support HITIP as well as assist in her journey to Cameroon.

For more information, visit: http://rieshontel.blogspot.com/. View a Trailer for Mama Juggs on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU_WQndEReM.

ABOUT ‘RIE SHONTEL
‘rie Shontel AKA Anita Woodley is a mixed-media artist, and a multi-award winning national journalist. An East Oakland, C.A. native, Woodley earned her B.A. in Radio and Television from San Francisco State University. A producer for North Carolina Public Radio’s The Story, Woodley, has received as number of awards including a Harry Chapin Radio Media Award, several National Association of Black Journalists Salute to Excellence Awards, and an Emmy with CNN for 9/11 coverage.

"Mama Juggs" Characters played by 'rie Shontel

2009-12-10T01:21:00.002-05:00

Great-grandma Suga
100 years old

Teen Anita
17 years old

Mama Mable- Ree
47 years old

Maternal Anita
27 years old

Follow 'rie Blog Posts on Trip to Africa

2009-12-09T02:37:00.001-05:00

http://mamajuggs.blogspot.com

RIE SHONTEL - MASTER OF CEREMONY

2009-10-24T23:08:00.000-04:00

2009 Pittsboro Street Fair

WATCH AWARDS CEREMONY

VIEW MORE PHOTOS

Rie Shontel was invited to be the Master of Ceremony and congratulate the children artists
in Pittsboro, North Carolina with awards!

LEARN MORE ABOUT

PITTSBORO'S KINETIC SCULPTURE PARADE

Saturday, October 24, 2009

11:15 a.m.

Kiwanis Club Building

309 Credle St, Pittsboro, NC, 27312

READ - Oakland Tribune Newspaper Article

2009-10-06T10:19:00.020-04:00

Oakland native takes on family, womanhood in one-woman show
By Angela Woodall
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 10/05/2009 09:10:01 PM PDT
Updated: 10/06/2009 08:13:18 PM PDT

Oakland native Rie Shontel took the ups and downs of growing up poor and female in a housing project and turned it into a one-woman show that opens for one night tonight at the Marsh theater in San Francisco.
In the show, "Mama Juggs: Three Generations Healing Fractured Images," Shontel portrays herself, her mother and matriarchal great-grandmother moving through womanhood at different stages — late puberty, breast-feeding, old age and breast cancer.
The scenes take place in a living room decorated with mementos from the apartment where she grew up on 13th Avenue and East 17th Street.
From that childhood sprang the origins of "Mama Juggs," a show in the tradition of performance pieces that challenge taboos around women's bodies such as "The Vagina Monologues."
But the focus of "Mama Juggs" is on growing up with women who influenced Shontel's image of her body and womanhood in positive and negative ways.
"They were never afraid to say what was on their mind," said Shontel, 33, who now lives with her husband and son in Chapel Hill, N.C. She is an award-winning producer for National Public Radio. (Her real name is Anita Shontel Woodley.)
"Mama Juggs" allows her to be at once reverent and rebellious toward the strong-willed, blunt females.
She switches from the Southern-inflected speech and songs of her elderly great-grandmother to the faster-talking flatter tones of her single mother, and back to her own voice to capture their interactions.
Shontel said she uses the voices and songs to convey the message, "You are OK the way you are," without "dumbing down or prettying up" loving and painful family experiences shared by many people. "We all have a story in us," she said.
"This play started with a lot of pain," Shontel said. "You feel the fear, you feel the love."
If you go

What: "Mama Juggs: Three Generations Healing Fractured Images"

When: 7:30 tonight

Where: Marsh theater, 1062 Valencia St., San Francisco.

Tickets: $10 to $15

DETAILS: For tickets, go to www.themarsh.org or call 415-641-0235. For more about "Mama Juggs," go to www.rieshontel.blogspot.com.

SEE TRAILER FOR MAMA JUGGS

LISTEN - Rie's Radio Interview About "Mama Juggs"

2009-09-30T10:25:00.013-04:00

Rie Shontel was featured on the Wanda's Picks show to promote her upcoming one night only performance of "Mama Juggs" at The Marsh Theater in San Francisco, CA. Listen in as Wanda Sabir get's the scoop on Rie's childhood in Oakland, California.

(Starts after Opening Song)

LISTEN!! Click here

The Wanda Picks show is a black arts and culture site. We will be exploring the African Diaspora via the writing, performance, both musical and theatrical (film and stage), as well as the visual arts of Africans in the Diaspora and those influenced by these aesthetic forms of expression. I am interested in the political and social ramifications of art on society, specifically movements supported by these artists and their forebearers. It is my claim that the artists are the true revolutionaries, their work honest and filled with raw unedited passion. They are our true heroes. Ashay!

2008 Harry Chapin Media Awards Ceremony in NY!

2009-09-22T10:20:00.005-04:00

Click HERE to see photos and hear the interview!

Rie Shontel(under her full name Anita Shontel Woodley) received the 2008 Harry Chapin Media Award for Radio

October 7th-- MAMA JUGGS IN SAN FRANCISCO!

2009-09-22T09:33:00.012-04:00

The Marsh Rising Series

presents

the one-woman show

MAMA JUGGS

Performed, written and directed by

RIE SHONTEL

SEE TRAILER for "MAMA JUGGS"

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

7:30PM

Photo Credit: Sheila Bolt-Rudesill

THE MARSH, 1062 Valencia, San Francisco

In this one-woman show, three women face late puberty, breast-feeding, old age - and breast cancer - in their Oakland Housing Project living room. Rie Shontel delivers an intimate view of these women through song and laughter. Rie Shontel translated her family’s stories of struggle and hope into the one woman show, “Mama Juggs”.

2009 National Association of Black Journalist Awards Ceremony in Florida!

2009-08-08T09:47:00.005-04:00

Click HERE and listen to the interview

Rie Shontel(under her full name Anita Shontel Woodley) received the
2009 SAlute to Excellence Award in the category of Network Radio - Public Affairs: Interview/Discussion!

READ ARTICLE: Drama, drama, drama: an interview with thespian Rie Shontel

2009-07-21T13:43:00.012-04:00

Click HERE to view the San Francisco's Bay View Newspaper interview with Rie Shontel

July 18, 2009

Drama, drama, drama: an interview with thespian Rie Shontel

by Minister of Information JR

Drama has been a valuable art form to the Black experience in Amerikkka since before slavery. It was one of the ways that we maintained our history, although huge segments of the population couldn’t read or aren’t reading. I have only been to a few theatrical plays, but I love cinema, with some of the best dramatized movies to me being “dead presidents,” “Brown Sugar” and “Juice.”

I think that living in the low income Black community and speaking with expression goes hand and hand. Then, if you add youngstas mimicking the old folks, dramatization is an instinctual homegrown art form in the ghetto. The artist who goes by the name of Rie Shontel is one of few I’ve seen who has been able to capture this ghetto art form and put it on the stage, and she is currently in the process of making a career out of it. Check her out as she talks about her one-woman play, “Mama Juggs,” and her life as a thespian.

M.O.I. JR: Can you tell us about how you got into doing drama?

Rie Shontel: It all started in the living room of our East Oakland, California, housing apartment project on 13th Avenue in an area called “Funktown.” My mama would wake me in the middle of the night to entertain her friends while they played spades and drank Hennessey in the living room. I loved to pretend I was my mama hiding the colored television moments before the housing authority’s annual inspection. I also liked to pretend I was Whoopi Goldberg in “The Color Purple,” in the scene where she tried to stab Mister (Danny Glover).

My mama and her friends would belly laugh at my portrayals and then my mama would say, “All right, now. Take yo’ ass back to bed. You got school tomorrow!” I lived to bring laughter to people who were otherwise crying about living in poverty. I learned to tell their stories and we all laughed about how insane life was in our community.

I began living vicariously though their street-life experiences and embraced it as an opportunity to bypass many of the realities life in the projects presented. You know, many people in my community put me on their backs so that I could be the “one” to get out the projects. And for that I am forever grateful.

M.O.I. JR: What is the name and purpose behind your one-woman play? How did you come up with it?

Rie Shontel: My one-woman play is called “Mama Juggs: Three Generations Healing Fractured Images.” The purpose of this play is to celebrate how women in my family dealt with womanhood through their breasts. I play four characters: My great-grandma at 100, myself at 17, my mama at 47, and myself as a new mama at 27. Through them, I transport the audience into an intimate view of how the women in my family faced body image through late puberty, breast cancer, old age and breast-feeding.

I was inspired to write and perform “Mama Juggs” by my late great-grandma Suga. She would make up original, a cappella songs about everything-I-was-doing-wrong while breastfeeding. That mess used to drive me crazy, but I decided to write them down as part of my family’s history. A few years later, I sang the song she called “Titty Milk, Titty Juggs” at the Poetic Grove at the Eastmont Mall and it was a hit.

When I sang the song again at an artist gathering in North Carolina, one of the artists suggested I turn it into a play. The next day, I wrote the entire play in four hours flat. I then practiced it for six months for performances in Durham, North Carolina, and Oakland, California.

This all started because of the impression my great-grandma’s songs had on me.

M.O.I. JR: I understand that you are a college graduate. Has your degree helped you in your creative endeavors?

Rie Shontel: Yes, most definitely. I graduated from San Francisco State with a degree in broadcast and electronic communications with an emphasis on radio and television. It has enhanced my ability to take the knowledge I learned from observing elders, pimps, single mothers and drug addicts and apply it to the field of journalism.

In my career, Bay Area journalists such as Pam Moore and Belva Davis, to name a few, have mentored me. They taught me to be fearless in my creative pursuits and to believe I could rise above any circumstances. Several months after graduating magna cum laude from SFSU, I got a job at CNN-Atlanta as an associate producer.

M.O.I. JR: What has the response been among young Black women specifically and the public in general?

Rie Shontel: The feedback from young Black women has been tremendously positive. When I told them I was singing original songs by my 100-year-old great-grandma they responded, “I’m there, girlfriend!” And another sista said, “Hearing your mom talk about having breast cancer made me go home, take off my t-shirt, get in the mirror and rub my breasts looking for lumps, girl! Thank you.”

Generally, people say “Mama Juggs” taught them new facts about breast health and body image. Men who watched the play say they did not know they could get breast cancer. In the play, grandma talks about talk show host Montel Williams having a double mastectomy as a teenager.

M.O.I. JR: Where are you taking your drama skills? What is your goal as a thespian?

Rie Shontel: Because of the growing interest in “Mama Juggs,” my goal as a thespian is to perform the play in as many communities and venues as I can. Eventually, I wish to perform for breast cancer survivors, both men and women, worldwide.

M.O.I. JR: What are some of your favorite Black plays? Who are some of your favorite actors and actresses?

Rie Shontel: My love of Black plays started when I found a copy of Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” while digging through a pile of dumped clothes in West Oakland. While attending Oakland Technical High School, I was introduced to August Wilson’s play “Fences” by my drama teacher, Mr. Hamner.

I am also moved by these three one-person plays: “Pretty Fire” by Charlayne Woodard; “Sometimes I Cry” by Sheryl Lee Ralph; and “A Tribute to Martin Luther King” by Barry Scott. Some my favorite actors and performers include Don Cheadle, Whoopi Goldberg, Denzel Washington, Jill Scott, Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry and Samuel L. Jackson.  

M.O.I. JR: How can people get a glimpse of your work online? How can people get in touch with you?

Rie Shontel: The best way to reach me is through email at rieshontel@gmail.com.You can also check out my creative work online on my blog, http://rieshontel.blogspot.com/, Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/rieshontel, MySpace, http://www.myspace.com/rieshontel, and Twitter, http://twitter.com/rieshontel.

Sunday July 12, 2009 - MusiCoal Summer Series An Evening of Music, Dance and Theater

2009-07-02T14:52:00.007-04:00

Rie Shontel performs a monologue
from her one-woman play

"Mama Juggs"!!

Rie Shontel and a variety of other Triangle performers will grace this event.
Rie will provide a powerful voice to teenager Anita's struggle with late puberty in the Oakland, CA projects. This pulsating, intimate view also includes an original a'capella song that celebrates her body image and yours.

Meymandi Theater at the Murphey School
Burning Coal Theater
Sunday July 12, 7 pm
$10, at door
224 Polk Street, Raleigh, NC

Directions:
http://www.burningcoal.org/venue-murphey.html

For more information:
919-810-2863 or 919-834-4001
email: haikusongs@gmail.com
http://www.haikusongs.com/calendar.html

KPFA-FM Radio interview in Berkeley, CA

2009-06-27T13:28:00.009-04:00

Immediately following my performance in West Oakland, the Legendary Black Dot Cafe owner Marcel Diallo made a call to KPFA-FM. He told the host of "Sideshow Radio named The Minister of Information JR, how much he enjoyed the show and JR invited me to be a guest on his program at 12:42 a.m. (PST). We had a blast!!!

(Apologies... Audio of Interview on KPFA no longer available)

Learn more about "The Sideshow" program on KPFA
http://www.myspace.com/sideshowradio

Learn more about The Black Dot Cafe & Black New World Venues
http://www.blacknewworld.com/

"Mama Juggs" West Oakland, California

2009-06-26T12:49:00.010-04:00

"Mama Juggs": Three Generations Healing Fractured Images

DATE: Friday, June 26, 2009
TIME: 7:30 p.m. doors open
TICKETS: $10.00 at the door
LOCATION: The Legendary Black Dot Cafe
1195 Pine Street, Oakland, CA 94607

HELP SUPPORT THE BLACK NEW WORLD'S LOCAL EFFORTS!!
http://blacknewworld.com/

This one-woman show written and performed by 'Rie Shontel, is set in the living room of an Oakland, California housing project. Each character, ages 17, 27, 47 and 100, will transport the audience into an intimate view of their body image. These women face late puberty, breast cancer, old age and breast feeding. "Mama Juggs" features original, acapella breast feeding songs by 'Rie Shontel's Great-Grandmother Suga.

POETRY by 'Rie Shontel

2009-06-23T19:25:00.009-04:00

Click this link to play songs now!!
http://www.myspace.com/rieshontel

SONGS FEATURED:
- My Hair
- Silent Screams
- Sis' Sanctuary
- Under His Wings
- My Mama
- Matter

Mama Juggs Playbill

2009-06-14T11:11:00.000-04:00

DEBUT !! -- "Mama Juggs" 6/20/2009 - Durham, North Carolina

2009-05-19T01:23:00.021-04:00

“Hearing your mom's character talk about having breast cancer made me go home, take off my t-shirt, get in the mirror and rub my breasts looking for lumps, girl... Thank you!”
-NC Audience Member

Mama Juggs: Three Generations Healing Fractured Images

DATE: Saturday, June 20, 2009

TIME: 8:00 p.m.

**NO LATE SEATING! PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY!

TICKETS: $10.00, no reservations.

LOCATION:Common Ground Theatre

4815B Hillsborough Road

Durham, NC 27705

More Info 919-698-3870

Email: rieshontel@gmail.com

'Rie Shontel Rehearsing Characters for "Mama Juggs"

2009-05-19T01:20:00.003-04:00

Various photos of 'Rie Shontel rehearsing the four different character in her one-woman show"Mama Juggs"
Photos by : Ahmed Faddam

"Pink Slips" Mixed-Media Art by 'Rie Shontel

2009-04-19T02:27:00.001-04:00

People are losing their jobs faster than I can keep track. I created this work after learning that a few of my friends were being laid off on the same day. They did nothing wrong and were pretty much told, "It's a sign of the times... good luck. Oh and here's your pink slip!"

Coming Spring 2010!

"Incest - It is, What it is, but I Love you!" Mixed-Media art by Rie Shontel

2009-02-02T01:20:00.002-05:00

This art project by 'Rie Shontel is called, "It is, What It Is... Love You".

The piece rotates to showcases how a brave child breaks the silence about sexual abuse in their family.

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell Ma'am" Mixed-Media Art by 'Rie Shontel

2008-05-01T11:20:00.000-04:00

This piece tells the story of a female solider who was raped in the military by a fellow officer. After 18 years of being silent, she shared the entire story and I created this.

The stick on the bottom reads:
"When G.I Joe rapes G.I. Jane their silence screams for justice.."

The flag clinched in the mouth reads: "Don't Ask"
The flag stuffed in her private part says: "Don't Tell"

"AmeriKKKan Pie" Mixed-Media Art by 'Rie Shontel

2008-05-01T11:15:00.000-04:00

I based this project on a conversation I had with a mother of 2 who was squatting in an abandoned foreclosed home. She was days away from being evicted and living in their car again.

"Lean on Back Off in There" Mixed-Media Art by Rie Shontel

2008-02-02T01:20:00.000-05:00

In this piece, 'Rie captures herself grieving her loss. Material used are beads, moss, sunflower seeds, photographs, cotton and acrylic paints on canvas.

"Lean on Back Off in There" Mixed-Media Art by Rie Shontel
is a piece dedicaated to her Great-grandmother who passed away in 2008.

"Lawd Haf Mursay" Mixed-Media Art by 'Rie Shontel

2008-02-01T11:21:00.001-05:00

Coming Soon!

Creating this piece was my first time using acrylics, synthetic hair, buttons and bead on a canvas. This is a portrait of my great-grandmother Suga Babe. I made after I attended her funeral. I miss you grandma! That my girl!