MDC Koubek Center
YANKEE BAJAN TRAILER KOUBEK CENTER NOV 2023
Yankee Bajan by Linda Parris-Bailey
MDC's Koubek Center, in collaboration with Diaspora Vibe
Cultural Arts Incubator and Parris-Bailey Arts Inc., is proud to present Linda Parris-Bailey's
Yankee-Bajan at Lehman Theatre - MDC North Campus, November 3rd and 4 th . Directed by
Dahlak Brathwaite, Yankee-Bajan features an African-American and Barbadian cast (Bajan is the
familiar moniker for Barbadians) and features original and traditional Barbadian music by
composer/music director H. Stefan Walcott,
Set in the times of the previous administration, indelibly marked by the COVID pandemic and
the murder of George Floyd, Yankee Bajan is a play with music that explores the experience in
the United States of an African-American family with ancestral roots in Barbados. Hugh and
Keryl have two teenage children and are fed up with the violence and racism in the country.
Looking for a place with a Black majority and leadership, they try Atlanta, Georgia. But the
dangers of the day come home when their son Xavian is the victim of a racially motivated attack
after joining the "Black Lives Matter" Movement protests. For Hugh and Keryl, it's time to leave
the United States and try to settle in Barbados. But the pandemic complicates the move, and
then, once on the island, they must navigate cultural, economic, educational, and generational
challenges.
Through the live performance and musical references from Brooklyn to Barbados, Yankee Bajan
takes the audience along as the family dreams of a Bajan past and a Barbadian future.
"What has been going on in the U.S. regarding racial relations and even the COVID crisis has
impacted us all. I wanted to offer an opportunity to look at an experience outside the white
gaze, " says playwright Linda Parris-Bailey, whose grandfather and grandmother were
immigrants from Barbados. "I wanted to have this family explore that experience for people to
understand that we have options and choices, and none of the options we pursue will be
perfect. So the question becomes an examination of what's most important to you regarding
your family, your culture, and your purpose."
Music, both original songs written for the play and traditional Bajan music, is a vital part of the
play as a backdrop and connecting tissue.
"Well, looking over my career as a playwright, almost all of my work tends to be plays with
music, not musicals, but plays with music," notes Parris-Bailey. "I just think music is such an
important part of African and African-American culture — and it was a pleasure to work with
Stefan Walcott, who introduced me to the unique Barbadian music forms and the traditional
songs. And the cast is very well versed in the traditions of Barbados and the traditional dances,
some of which appear in the play."
WHAT: Yankee Bajan by Linda Parris-Bailey. A co-production of the Koubek Center, Diaspora
Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator, and Parris-Bailey Arts Inc.
WHEN: November 3rd and 4th at 8 p.m.
WHERE: Lehman Theatre -MDC North Campus 11380 NW 27th Ave Room 1315, Miami
Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator
Since its inception in 1996, Diaspora Vibe has functioned as a laboratory to promote, nurture,
and cultivate the vision and diverse talents of emerging artists from the Caribbean Diaspora and
other artists of color or from immigrant experiences.
Yankee Bajan, de Linda Parris-Bailey, es una obra con música que explora la experiencia de unos expatriados afroamericanos en Barbados, la tierra de sus orígenes familiares. "Bajan" es un término usado para referirse a los nativos o habitantes de Barbados. ¿Puede uno volver a casa a un lugar que nunca ha sido su hogar? ¿Florecerán los jóvenes de la familia al alcanzar la mayoría de edad como "bajanes", o su cultura "yanqui" será un problema con amigos y familiares? ¿Qué bagaje cultural y colonial se lleva a una experiencia así? En el proceso, Yankee Bajan examina las circunstancias en Estados Unidos que llevarían a una familia a considerar la posibilidad de convertirse en expatriados. A través de actuaciones en directo y referencias musicales de Brooklyn a Barbados, Yankee Bajan transporta al público a la sabiduría de los Héroes de Barbados, un selecto grupo que incluye a luchadores por la libertad, pioneros sindicales y defensores de los derechos humanos, la experiencia de expatriados y, finalmente, al retorno a una isla caribeña independiente.
