AfroSolo Arts Festival 32 presents GO SOAR!
AfroSolo Theatre Company presents the 32nd Annual AfroSolo Arts Festival, with the theme GO SOAR! The theme is an admonition to strive beyond one’s expectations. The Festival takes place Friday, October 31, 2025, at 7:00 pm, Saturday, November 1, 2025, at 7:00 pm, and Sunday, November 2, 2025, at 3:00 pm at the Potrero Stage, 1695 18th Street in San Francisco. 415-771-2376.
“These are very exciting yet challenging times in which we live. We are using the Festival to inspire and encourage each of us to prevail over the difficult times we find ourselves in to strive towards excellence,” said AfroSolo’s artistic/executive director.
AfroSolo Arts Festival 32 – GO SOAR!
Friday, October 31, 2025, 7:00 pm
Saturday, November 1, 2025, 7:00 pm
Sunday, November 2, 2025. 3:00 pm
Where: Potrero Stage
1695 18th Street, San Francisco, CA 94107
Tickets: bit.ly/AfroSoloGoSoar2
$15 – $35. No one turned away for the lack of funds
Featuring:
James Cagney, poet, is A Cave Canem fellow. Cagney is the award-winning author of “Black Steel Magnolias In The Hour Of Chaos Theory” (Black Lawrence Press, 2023) and “MARTIAN: The Saint Of Loneliness” (Nomadic Press, 2022). His third collection, “Ghetto Koans: A Personal Archive”, is published by Black Lawrence Press. He was born, raised, and currently resides in Oakland, CA. Visit his website JamesCagneyPoet.com.
J. (Albert) Jackson will read My First Love, a short story about the first time he felt loved. He created the story in the “Writing and Theater Workshop” at the Dr. George W. Davis Senior Center’s Intergenerational Program in San Francisco. Jackson writes autobiographically about himself, his family, and growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Additionally, Jackson is an award-winning and critically acclaimed mixed-media artist. His works are exhibited in homes and cultural institutions throughout the USA and abroad. Jackson has lived in San Francisco for the past 50 years.
Augustene Phillips, writer, will read her short story, Speak To Me Plain. Phillips writes a provocative story based on Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 Super Bowl halftime performance. In the story, Phillips uses Black history, humor, and intergenerational colloquialisms to communicate. Phillips is a widow, mother, and grandmother, and enjoys life as a senior citizen. She attends church regularly and sings in two choirs. She is also an avid cyclist, swimmer, bowler, and golfer. She loves gardening, reading, being with friends, and helping others. She is retired and lives in SF. Her book, The Road I Traveled, will be published this Fall.
Darlene Roberts, poet, will read Jazz Can Talk, a searing testimony of the resilience, beauty, and faith of her people and their quest for humanity. Roberts is a playwright and the founder of Fillmore Jazz Ambassadors. She worked as a scheduler for three San Francisco mayors and the San Francisco Black Fire Fighters’ Commissioner. She was president of International Black Riders and Artists, Inc., and Junior Black Writers, and served as an artist program coordinator at Bayview Opera House and Potrero Hill Neighborhood House. She has conducted children’s programs for the San Francisco Public Library, “Nourishing the Seed”, “Romancing the Muse” (writers with disabilities), and How to Cook A Poem, a literary cookbook workshop for kids to learn how to write and recite poetry.
Unique Derique is a San Francisco Bay Area-based performer known for his unique blend of physical comedy, juggling, and hambone body percussion. He is a beloved institution who started in Berkeley and performed with the Pickle Family Circus. Beyond clowning, McGee is also a Trauma-Informed Wellness Consultant, Drama Therapist, and Mindfulness Coach, bringing his skills to support educators and students. Whether in a park, Harlem’s storied Apollo Theatre, or collaborating with Bobby McFerrin or The Temptations, the Unique Derique earns gales of laughter with his wildly imaginative performance.