Time of Change

Time of Change (2021), was a site-specific, multi-media, roving performance hosted on the streets of San Francisco’s storied Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. This production was co-directed by OYSTERKNIFE, Melecio Estrella (BANDALOOP) and Joe Goode (Joe Goode Performance Group). Each director created their own section of the show with a unique cast, narrative and route, culminating in a final performance at the historic Doolan-Larsen house. For OYSTERKNIFE’s section of the show, we used original music, poetry, dance, ritual, video projection, and recorded interviews with San Francisco residents and icons to examine the untold Black history of the Haight. Excavating the memories of what used to be a majority Black neighborhood, before the hippies’ eventual arrival, we explored themes of loss, nostalgia, gentrification, socio-political turmoil, and radical creativity that defined the city’s 1960s counterculture era. Interviews included conversations with Danny Glover, Rhodessa Jones, Amara Tabor-Smith, Felirene Bongolon, Andrew Pollack, and many others. In addition to OYSTERKNIFE, our cast featured performances by Clarissa Dyas, Jarrel Phillips, and Levi Maxwell.

All photos taken by Chani Bockwinkel.

To learn more about Time of Change, and to see our full list of collaborators, check out the Press section of my website.