**This performance/session was originally posted during the week of March 29th, 2021**
A RECORDING OF THE PECULIAR PATRIOT WAS MADE AVAILABLE TO SIPC4 ATTENDEES FOR VIEWING FROM MARCH 26TH - APRIL 9TH, 2021. CLICK HERE TO VIEW A TRAILER FOR THE SHOW.CLICK HERE TO VIEW A RECORDING OF THE LIVE Q&A(Recorded 4/2/21)
The Peculiar Patriot follows protagonist Betsy LaQuanda Ross, a self-proclaimed peculiar patriot, as she makes regular visits to penitentiaries to boost the morale of her incarcerated friends and family, and navigates love between barbed wire. As she shares neighborhood updates and gossip and reminisces about friends, Betsy delivers a clarion call about the mass incarceration crisis in this country, one that sees more than 2.5 million people behind bars and disproportionately affects people of color.
The play, gleaned from Peterson’s nearly two decades of experience working at Rikers Island in various capacities, including as a teaching artist, was developed beginning in 2003 with performances in more than 35 penitentiaries across the U.S.
The Peculiar Patriot brings together performance and social commentary in a masterful way. The play’s vivid depictions and captivating stories are not to be missed. Audience members will leave with a whole new perspective on mass incarceration and its impact on individuals and communities.
“With the rising climate of white supremacy, there couldn't be a more urgent time for
The Peculiar Patriot to wake the sleeping giants within our community and speak truth to dangerous power,” said Peterson, who was recently featured in Ava DuVernay’s Emmy award-winning documentary
13th.
ABOUT LIZA JESSIE PETERSON:Liza is an artivist; an actress, playwright, poet, author and youth advocate who has been steadfast in her commitment to incarcerated populations both professionally and artistically for over two decades. Her critically acclaimed one woman show,
The Peculiar Patriot, was nominated for a Drama Desk Award and was featured at the 2020 Democratic National Convention, and is now available on Audible. Her play was recently featured at The Pulitzer Center’s fall 2020 program and a documentary is currently in production about her performance at the notorious Angola Penitentiary where she performed the play in front of 700 inmates and was live streamed throughout the entire prison.
The Peculiar Patriot originally premiered at the National Black Theater in Harlem, followed by Arts Emerson (Boston) and Woolly Mammoth (D.C.).
The Peculiar Patriot received a generous grant from Agnes Gund’s prestigious Art for Justice Fund. During the early years of this play’s uncanny trajectory and true to her artivist nature, Liza performed
The Peculiar Patriot in 35 prisons across the country in a self-funded prison tour spanning the course of four years.
Liza is author of a memoir,
ALL DAY; A Year of Love and Survival Teaching Incarcerated Kids at Rikers Island (Hachette publishing). She was featured in Ava DuVernay’s Emmy award winning documentary,
The 13th, and was a consultant on Bill Moyers documentary
Rikers (PBS).
Also known for her exceptional poetic skills, Liza began her poetry career at the Nuyorican Poets Café and was a vital member of the enclave of notable poets that inspired Russell Simmons to bring spoken word to HBO where Liza appeared on two episodes of
Def Poetry.In addition to
The Peculiar Patriot Liza has written several other plays which received development support from
The Lark, Syracuse Stage, The McCarter Theater, Manhattan Theater Club, New York Theater Workshop, The Apollo and The Atlantic Theater.As an actress Liza appeared in several feature films:
Love the Hard Way (co-starring with Pam Grier and Adrien Brody) Spike Lee’s
Bamboozled, K. Shalini’s
A Drop of Life and Jamie Catto’s
What About Me. She can be seen in an upcoming webseries,
A Luv Tale, directed by Kay Oyegun.
Liza is currently writing a television series based on her book
ALL DAY, about her teaching experience at Rikers Island.
SistahGurls and the Squirrel is another play by Liza which is being adapted for television. Her short film,
MERLINA, which she wrote and stars in, won Best Experimental Short at New York Indie Shorts Award festival (
www.merlinaproject.com).
Visit her website at
www.lizajessiep.com.
