Introducing The Streetfeet Women!
The Streetfeet Women, a culturally diverse company of writers and performers,was founded in Boston in 1982 by Mary McCullough and Elena Harap. Each author speaks in a powerful and distinct voice; together they create theatre celebrating the dignity and creativity with which ordinary women live their lives.
Streetfeet performs in places where women live and work-- libraries, community centers, colleges, churches, and conferences. In 1985, the Streetfeet Women traveled to Nairobi, Kenya, for the NGO (Non-Governmental Organizations) Forum of the United Nations Decade for Women Conference; in 1995 they attended the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Huairou, China, performing original theatre pieces at both conferences. The group has published journal accounts of their travels: MANY VOICES (1988) and THE ROAD TO BEIJING (1996).
The company's experiences at home and abroad have given the members a deeper understanding of their identity as Americans. In 1998 they compiled an anthology, LAUGHING IN THE KITCHEN, exploring this theme. The book received Honorable Mention from the Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Awards. Past productions have been "American Praise Song," reflecting Streetfeet's search for the heart and soul of America, and "Where Do You Put the Scale?" a cabaret piece about attitudes toward women's bodies, and "American Kaleidoscope," a collage of theatre pieces, music, and movement exploring racism and the diversity of American experience.
Streetfeet's work was recognized by the Boston Women's Fund in 1999 with their "Take a Stand" award.
Some Streetfeet Women’s Highlights
1981-1983
“Portraits of Sisters”
Allston, MA, Allston-Brighton Women’s Fair
Framingham, MA, Women’s Corrections Institution
1984-1987
“Many Voices”
Boston Area Community Centers; Libraries, Private Schools and Colleges,
State House, Boston, MA
1985
“Many Voices”
Nairobi, Kenya, Forum ‘85, UN Decade for Women Conference
1989- 1991
“Woman Vision Quest”
Cambridge, MA, Cambridge Blacksmith House
1992
“Tribute to Women’s Lives”
Somerville, MA, Boston Baked Theater, Putney, Vermont, Putney School, Parker Hill Library; Roxbury, MA
1993-1994
“Mothers, Maids, Daughters, and Healers”
Keene, NH, Wise Ones Conference, Boston, MA, Legends Alive! Series, Old South Meeting House, Greenfield, MA, Greenfield Community College, Springfield, VT, Springfield High School
1994
“Hermanas del Arco Iris/Sisters of the Rainbow”
Waltham, MA, Puerto Rican Studies Conference, Westin Hotel
1995-1998
“All in a Woman’s Family”
Huairou, China, NGO Forum, Fourth World Conference on Women
Oberlin, Ohio, Oberlin College, West Lafayette, IN, Purdue University, Women’s Quadrenninal Assembly, Boston, MA, National Diversity Conference, Putney, VT, International School for Training
1999
“American Praise Song”
Cambridge, MA, Lesley University, Cambridge Friends School, Malden, MA, Emanuel Baptist Church, Lyndonville, VT, Lyndonville State College,
Roxbury, MA, Parker Hill Library, North Conway, NH, Headstart Regional Conference
2000
“Where do you put the scale?”
Dorchester, MA, Mother Caroline’s Academy, Boston, MA, Bunker Hill Community College, Roxbury, MA, Parker Hill Library, Brattleboro, VT, Brattleboro Middle and High School
2001-2005
Dramatic Scenes and Monologues
Brattleboro, VT, Brattleboro Union High School, Cambridge, MA, Cambridge Friends School, Boston, MA, High School Journalists’ Education Conference, Boston, MA, UMass Boston, Boston, MA, Social Studies Conference
2006
“An American Kaleidoscope”
Plainfield, VT, Goddard College
2007
“Margins in the Center”
Jamaica Plain, MA, Connolly Library
Publications and Awards
1988 MANY VOICES: The Journal of a Women’s Touring Company
1996 ROAD TO BEJING: A Travel Album
1998 LAUGHING IN THE KITCHEN
1999 Boston, MA, Boston Women’s Fund “TAKE A STAND” Award
1999 Gustavus Myers Award, Honorable Mention - LAUGHING IN THE KITCHEN
2009 THE BONES WE CARRY
