Three celebrated Bay Area artists — a writer/choreographer, a director and an actor – have created a unique performance piece based on the book Dark Days and a Black Dog. Obie award winning actor Andrea Snow performs an intriguing, fully embodied “play/reading,” a new approach to bringing the written word to vivid life for an audience.

Dark Days and a Black Dog, both the book and the performance, is rooted in the experiences of a family over seven heart-wrenching, darkly comic years that will, for many, feel both shocking and breathtakingly recognizable.

The piece is directed by Jael Weisman, also an Obie award winner, whose work with legendary companies and productions has spanned almost fifty years. The book is by Emily Keeler, a four- time recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Individual Fellowship who has worked as a dancer, choreographer and writer in the Bay Area and New York..  https://www.darkdaysandablackdog.com/

Author Emily Keeler has been a dancer in San Francisco since 1974. She was a principal dancer for The Moving Company, Cliff Kuter’s New Dance Company, and Joe Goode Performance Group. She choreographed for numerous dance companies both ballet and contemporary including SF Dance Theater, Chrysalis, The Moving Company, DanceArt, Oakland Ballet, and Joffrey Dancers, and was a four time recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Choreographic Fellowship. She has been an educator and artist in residence in many schools, colleges, and other settings, and has served as a movement consultant to a wide variety of small and large opera, theater and circus companies including ACT, George Coates Performance Works, Magic Theater, StageGroup, Make-a-Circus, and The Pickle Family Circus. She has been the Artistic Director of San Francisco Arts Education Project, a 53 year old organization that connects mid-career artists with young people, since 1986. She began her writing studies at California College of the Arts and earned her MFA in Creative Writing at San Francisco State. Dark Days and a Black Dog is her second book. Her first is What is Fiction.

Director Jael Weisman is a founding member of the Dell’Arte Players Company of Northern California. He has received many awards for his directing with Dell’Arte, the San Francisco Mime Troupe and other groups. His production of the Dragon Lady’s Revenge for the Mime Troupe won an Obie award after its long run In New York City. He has collaborated on various projects with the Berkeley and Santa Cruz Symphony Orchestras, the San Diego Repertory Company, Human Nature, Carlo Mazzoni-Clementi, Joseph Chaikin and Robert Crumb. His production of Crumb’s Whiteman Meets Bigfoot was met with much critical acclaim. He has also worked with Brenda Wong Aoki and has staged the majority of her works, including 2 recordings that received INDIE Awards for Best Spoken Word (1990 & 1999). He is known for working collaboratively with actors, dancers and musicians in order to create original pieces for the stage. He often brings together artists from different traditions and backgrounds to create unique and diverse work. He currently is the director of Joyful Raven’s one-woman show Breed or Bust.

Actor Andrea Snow brings to the stage a long and diverse career. A principal actor with the San Francisco Mime Troupe for many years, she played the title role in the Obie award winning Dragon Lady’s Revenge. She clowned with the Pickle Family Circus, and was a frequent writer/director for Make*A*Circus. In addition to the Mime Troupe, she’s written and directed for a variety of theater companies, solo performers, and projects, including the award winning children’s TV series, You Can Choose. Andrea has taught acting, voice and musical theater creation. She is also a speech-language pathologist, addressing speech and voice issues in children and adults. She served as a speech therapist with the West Contra Costa USD’s Early Intervention Program