45 mins
As a little girl Charisse Brown would scoot across the floor on her belly to listen to the family stories told behind closed doors. Today, as an adult, she’s made a career of listening and holding the stories of others.
Charisse is a professional actor and a teaching artist. When she was 50 she started graduate school and became a drama therapist. She currently works with youth who are detained in the criminal justice system. They are children in trouble, children who have witnessed and experienced violence, children who have been neglected and deprived.
They are children whose stories often go unheard, and never told.
But Charisse hears them all. She keeps them inside of her heart and alive on her tongue. She has learned how to create safe spaces for the children to share what they know. She is currently helping them create a time capsule to capture their lived experiences and unmet dreams. The time capsule will hold the fragments of history that may otherwise be overlooked and misunderstood.
Some people are born to be artists. Some artists are chosen to bear truths most of us prefer to take distance from. Some artists are then moved to share with the rest of us and help us evolve. Charisse Brown is overflowing with stories, and lots of feelings. She will be performing a one-woman show as soon as our theaters reopen.
We can’t wait to sit in her audience to witness her wisdom and share some of her burden.
Bring it on, Charisse. We will listen.
Charisse’s Email – charbrow7@gmail.com
