Tune in this Saturday, September 19th at 2:00 PM CT on our YouTube page for the premiere of the 2020 restaging of Swimming Upstream!

This year’s production features Adella Gautier, Karen Kaia Livers, Mae Chapman, Karel Sloane-Boekbinder, Anne-Liese Juge Fox, and Sunni Patterson with a special appearance from our CEO, Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes.

Swimming Upstream is a powerful theatrical production that tells the raw and soulful stories of women who lived through Hurricanes Rita and Katrina with grace, rage, and great resiliency, punctuated by a flair for storytelling, humor, and music that comes from being New Orleanian. Originally created by Vagina Monologues playwright V (formerly Eve Ensler) in partnership with V-Day and the Ashé Cultural Arts Center, Swimming Upstream was penned by 16 women from New Orleans and the Gulf region, as they recounted their post-Katrina stories of survival in word and song.

The writers include Carol Bebelle, Troi Bechet, Reverend Lois Dejean, Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes, Anne-Liese Juge Fox, Adella Gautier, Briceshanay Gresham, Herreast Harrison, Karen-Kaia Livers, Tommye Myrick, Charice Harrison Nelson, Kathy Randels, Dollie Rivas, Dina Roudeze, Karel Sloane-Boekbinder, and Carol Sutton. Swimming Upstream premiered in April 2008 at V-Day's "V To The Tenth" celebration and has enjoyed sold-out shows in Atlanta, New Orleans, and the Apollo Theater in New York City. #AsheNOLA #SwimmingUpstream #Katrina15