9-1-1 What’s Your Emergency? The Verdict

Are 9-1-1 calls against black and brown people hate crimes? The verdict of “Guilty” or “Not Guilty” rests in the hands of the jurors.

On the eve of the court’s decision the doors open into the bedrooms of the prosecutors, defendants, key witnesses, BBQ Becky and Permit Patty. What happens behind closed doors in matters of race can no longer be hidden when everybody’s dirty laundry is exposed.

Written and directed by Bay Area playwright Jovelyn Richards and starring a cast of local actors, this new play is based on real life 9-1-1 calls.

9-1-1 What’s Your Emergency? premiered as a one-act play at La Peña Cultural Center in 2018 as an artistic response to the local 9-1-1 calls that made BBQ Becky and Permit Patty infamous on a national level. Act one examined how the 9-1-1 call is rooted in “micro-aggression”, yet can have irreparable consequences to communities of color.

We are so pleased to be presenting a groundbreaking second act, “The Verdict”, premiering April 26-27, 2019, which further examines the intersection of structural racism and personal psychological narratives that propel the calls.