Arts & Entertainment
On the move
Local LGBT sports teams host a flurry of fall activities
From left, Brooke Darlington, Eliza Yoder and Brian Jones at the second annual United Night Out. (Photo by Kevin Majoros)
About 500 people from the LGBT community attended the second annual United Night Out event on Sept. 21 at RFK Stadium as the D.C. United ended up in a 2-2 tie with Chivas USA.
The event was hosted by the Federal Triangles Soccer Club and was part of the Night Out series presented by Team D.C. The D.C. Different Drummers performed before the game and the national anthem was sung by Justin Richey of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington.
Members of SMYAL and other groups were also included in the pre-game flag unveiling. After the game, D.C. United players Clyde Simms and Josh Wolff, donated their game jerseys to two United Night Out raffle winners. Simms and Wolff are featured in the “It Gets Better” video put out by D.C. United. They are the first Major League Soccer team to support the anti-bullying campaign. The video was recently broadcast on the cable sports channel, Comcast SportsNet. For more information on the event and to view the video, go to unitednightout.com.
All the fall LGBT sports leagues have kicked off their season play, but there’s always an opportunity to submit your name to a substitute player list. Among the teams offering a sub list are the Capital Area Rainbowlers Association, League of Women Bowlers and the Capital Tennis Association.
There are plenty of LGBT sports groups offering individual participation for the coming months. The D.C. IceBreakers will be hosting a skate and social at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex on Oct. 16 at 8:15 p.m. The cost to skate is $8 and skate rental is $3. All skill levels are welcome. After skating, the group heads to a local pub for a social hour. Details are at dcicebreakers.com.
Ski-Bums have announced their 2012 event offerings for skiing and snowboarding. Upcoming trips include Salt Lake City, Beaver Creek, Sun Valley, Killington and more. Information on membership is at ski-bums.org.
Charm City Volleyball is hosting Wednesday social play at the Mt. Royal Recreation Center in Baltimore every week from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Teams are formed by 7 p.m. and all skill levels are welcome. Cost is $3 per session. They also host Sunday competitive and scrimmage play/clinics at the Volleyball House in Elkridge, Md., every week from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cost is $7 per session and North American Gay Volleyball Association teams are welcome to play. More information is at volleybaltimore.org.
The Adventuring Outdoors Group will be hiking Sunday at Difficult Run in Great Falls, Va. The hike will start from the parking lot on Old Georgetown Pike and head along the cascades of Difficult Run as it flows toward the Potomac. Then they’ll head upstream past the old George Washington canal ruins to lunch at one of the overlooks at Great Falls near the Visitors Center. After lunch they will continue back through the abandoned Potomac River channels via Old Carriage road and Swamp Trail. Total length of the hike is about 5 miles with an elevation gain of 250 feet. Bring lunch, beverages, bug spray around $5 for trip and transportation fees. The group will meet by the station attendant’s kiosk inside the Rosslyn Metro Station. The group can be found online at adventuring.org.
Rainbow Climbing D.C. can usually be found at the local rock climbing venues on Tuesday and Thursday nights and sometimes on weekends. Check out their Facebook page under Rainbow Climbing to see if they will be at Earth Treks in Rockville or Sportrock in Alexandria.
The D.C. Front Runners, celebrating their 30th anniversary this year, continue with their Tuesday and Thursday evening runs along with their Saturday and Sunday morning runs. The group meets at 23rd and P Streets except for Tuesdays when they meet at Union Station. The runners also host walks at the same locations on Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings. Times are listed at dcfrontrunners.org.
Team DC, the umbrella organization for LGBTQ-friendly sports teams and leagues in the D.C. area, held its annual Night of Champions Awards Gala on Saturday, April 20 at the Hilton National Mall. The organization gave out scholarships to area LGBTQ student athletes as well as awards to the Different Drummers, Kelly Laczko of Duplex Diner, Stacy Smith of the Edmund Burke School, Bryan Frank of Triout, JC Adams of DCG Basketball and the DC Gay Flag Football League.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The 2024 National Cannabis Festival was held at the Fields at RFK Stadium on April 19-20.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Covering the @NatlCannaFest at RFK Stadium for @WashBlade . Stop by the LGBTQ+ booth and pick up a paper if you are here. pic.twitter.com/is7hnsaPns
— Michael Patrick Key (@MichaelKeyWB) April 20, 2024
Theater
‘Amm(i)gone’ explores family, queerness, and faith
A ‘fully autobiographical’ work from out artist Adil Mansoor
‘Amm(i)gone’
Thorough May 12
Woolly Mammoth Theatre
641 D St., N.W.
$60-$70
Woollymammoth.net
“Fully and utterly autobiographical.” That’s how Adil Mansoor describes “Amm(i)gone,” his one-man work currently playing at Woolly Mammoth Theatre.
Both created and performed by out artist Mansoor, it’s his story about inviting his Pakistani mother to translate Sophocles’s Greek tragedy “Antigone” into Urdu. Throughout the journey, there’s an exploration of family, queerness, and faith,as well as references to teachings from the Quran, and audio conversations with his Muslim mother.
Mansoor, 38, grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and is now based in Pittsburgh where he’s a busy theater maker. He’s also the founding member of Pittsburgh’s Hatch Arts Collective and the former artistic director of Dreams of Hope, an LGBTQ youth arts organization.
WASHINGTON BLADE: What spurred you to create “Amm(i)gone”?
ADIL MANSOOR: I was reading a translation of “Antigone” a few years back and found myself emotionally overwhelmed. A Theban princess buries her brother knowing it will cost her, her own life. It’s about a person for whom all aspirations are in the afterlife. And what does that do to the living when all of your hopes and dreams have to be reserved for the afterlife?
I found grant funding to pay my mom to do the translation. I wanted to engage in learning. I wanted to share theater but especially this ancient tragedy. My mother appreciated the characters were struggling between loving one another and their beliefs.
BLADE: Are you more director than actor?
MANSOOR: I’m primarily a director with an MFA in directing from Carnegie Mellon. I wrote, directed, and performed in this show, and had been working on it for four years. I’ve done different versions including Zoom. Woolly’s is a new production with the same team who’ve been involved since the beginning.
I love solo performance. I’ve produced and now teach solo performance and believe in its power. And I definitely lean toward “performance” and I haven’t “acted” since I was in college. I feel good on stage. I was a tour guide and do a lot of public speaking. I enjoy the attention.
BLADE: Describe your mom.
MANSOOR: My mom is a wonderfully devout Muslim, single mother, social worker who discovered my queerness on Google. And she prays for me.
She and I are similar, the way we look at things, the way we laugh. But different too. And those are among the questions I ask in this show. Our relationship is both beautiful and complicated.
BLADE: So, you weren’t exactly hiding your sexuality?
MANSOOR: In my mid-20s, I took time to talk with friends about our being queer with relation to our careers. My sexuality is essential to the work. As the artistic director at Dreams of Hope, part of the work was to model what it means to be public. If I’m in a room with queer and trans teenagers, part of what I’m doing is modeling queer adulthood. The way they see me in the world is part of what I’m putting out there. And I want that to be expansive and full.
So much of my work involves fundraising and being a face in schools. Being out is about making safe space for queer young folks.
BLADE: Have you encountered much Islamophobia?
MANSOOR: When 9/11 happened, I was a sophomore in high school, so yes. I faced a lot then and now. I’ve been egged on the street in the last four months. I see it in the classroom. It shows up in all sorts of ways.
BLADE: What prompted you to lead your creative life in Pittsburgh?
MANSOOR: I’ve been here for 14 years. I breathe with ease in Pittsburgh. The hills and the valleys and the rust of the city do something to me. It’s beautiful, it’ affordable, and there is support for local artists. There’s a lot of opportunity.
Still, the plan was to move to New York in September of 2020 but that was cancelled. Then the pandemic showed me that I could live in Pittsburgh and still have a nationally viable career.
BLADE: What are you trying to achieve with “Amm(i)gone”?
MANSOOR: What I’m sharing in the show is so very specific but I hear people from other backgrounds say I totally see my mom in that. My partner is Catholic and we share so much in relation to this.
I hope the work is embracing the fullness of queerness and how means so many things. And I hope the show makes audiences want to call their parents or squeeze their partners.
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