Not Your Mama's Bus Tour (continued)

 

Not Your Mama's Bus Tour is a joint project organized by Anthony Oliver (Streetwise) and Paula Mathieu (Streetwise Work Empowerment Center) in collaboration with the Neighborhood Writing Alliance (publishers of the Journal of Ordinary Thought) under the direction of Bertolt Gunster of Theater Mandarijn of Utrecht, Holland.

Michael Ibrahem sings in what was the Maxwell Street Market.

Mathieu, a doctoral student in Language, Literacy and Rhetoric at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has directed the Streetwise Writers Group since 1998. The group, comprised of approximately 15 members, meets every Wednesday. Their work has appeared in Streetwise, the Journal of Ordinary Thought, and a forthcoming book on institution-based writing groups, By Any Other Name. All but a few of members of the Writers Group are involved as writers, performers and production technicians in Not Your Mama's Bus Tour.

In May of this year, Theater Mandarijn visited Chicago from Holland with their production of Why is Johan Homeless? During their stay, Charles Lee of the Streetwise Writers Group gave the troupe a tour of the city as he knows it.

Gunster was inspired by Charles' unique insights and began thinking about a performance-based tour. He discussed the idea with Mathieu while she drove him to the airport for his flight back to Holland.

"I thought, 'Something should be happening before I get in this plane,'" he recalls. The deal was clinched when Mathieu approached the Streetwise Writers Group with the proposal. Gunster explained, "When Paula told the idea to the Writers Group, one woman burst into tears and said, 'This is a wonderful idea!'"