Held in the open amphitheatre at Herbert Von King Park, Moore presented her socio-political multi-disciplinary play to an audience of Brooklynites on July 21-22 -- despite the steady northeastern rain.
Fusing documentary, poetry, dance and song, Moore's use of multimedia was intriguing and complex - as was the subject matter - yet, certainly very New York avant garde.
Moore's content itself covered various issues such as racism, feminism, spirituality and color identification.
While the ambitious integration of so many social issues was admirable, the show was most definitely contemplative bordering on confusing.
Making references to the Bible, Moore pointed out the scarcity of female figures of power and how the female gender is disregarded in the Lord's Prayer. She challenged the audience to think about what they thought happened to the title of "mother," since we always pray in the name of the "Father" and the "Son."
In the documentary that played in the background, various responses to what people thought the nationality of God would be if he had one were presented. The myriad of responses varied from 'American' to 'no nationality' to 'there is no God,' which was a response from an atheist.
The most memorable part of the show was the musical rendition, "There You Go," a poem written by Moore. It was a witty and pensive song that spoke to the immense love a mother feels for her offspring. The song was dedicated to her two and a half year old.
A Detroit native, Jessica Care Moore is an African American poet.
She first won acclaim as the first poet to ever win the nationally televised Showtime at the Apollo competition 5 times in a row. That same year, she was filmed for the documentary SlamNation.
The film followed her and the 1996 Nuyorican Poetry Slam Team (Saul Williams, Beau Sia and Mums da Schemer) as they competed at the 1996 National Poetry Slam.
For more information on free, community theater in New York City during the summer, visit www.cityparksfoundation.org
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