"STILL WORKIN" New Stage Play reading

You’re Invited: New Works Stage Reading
STILL WORKIN’

Join us for a developmental staged reading of STILL WORKIN’, a brand-new Afrofuturistic Juneteenth play written and directed by Dr. Austin Dean Ashford as part of The American Calendar Cycle.

It’s the year 2045. Reparations have finally been granted to descendants of enslaved Black Americans, but in one Southern Black community, many people still haven’t claimed their freedom. Some don’t believe it’s real. Others don’t know how to stop surviving long enough to live. As AI systems, data centers, and automated technology quietly reshape the world around them, a neighborhood cookout turns into a spiritual, political, and deeply personal reckoning about labor, memory, belief, and what freedom actually costs.

Blending sharp humor, live music, cultural commentary, and Afrofuturist imagination, STILL WORKIN’ explores the tension between Artificial Intelligence and Ancestral Intelligence in a world where systems can measure your productivity, but not your humanity. Through smart grills, disappearing resources, reparations debates, porch philosophy, and the wisdom of community elders, the play asks: What happens when freedom finally arrives… but the system still requires you to prove you deserve it?

This is a full ensemble staged reading — a live workshop performance where the script is still being shaped. Your presence matters: your laughter, your reactions, and your feedback help strengthen the next draft.

What to Expect

• Full ensemble staged reading
• Run time: approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes
• Brief intermission
• Talkback with the cast + creative team following the reading
• Drinks + light refreshments available (arrive early or right on time)

If you love bold new theatre, Afrofuturism, satire, live music, and stories that mix comedy with something deeply human underneath — this night is for you.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher Flanner House Arts; Stage Academy