commemorate the 20th anniversary of HurricanE Katrina, Ashé Cultural Arts Center brings Swimming Upstream: The Katrina Monologues to the Mahalia Jackson Theater

Swimming Upstream: The Katrina Monologues will be returning August 29-30, 2025 during the K20 Week of Service. Join us to recount women’s post-Katrina and Rita stories of survival through word, movement.

Originally produced by Carol Bebelle and playwright V (formerly Eve Ensler) in partnership with V-Day and the Ashé Cultural Arts Center, Swimming Upstream was first performed at the Superdome in 2008 to honor the women of New Orleans and the Gulf South post Katrina, in a celebration that also marked the 10th anniversary of V-Day. Co-written by a collective of women artists and activists from New Orleans (Carol Bebelle, Troi Bechet, Reverend Lois Dejean, Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes, Anne-Liese Juge Fox, Adella Gautier, Briceshanay Gresham, Herreast Harrison, Karen Kaia Livers, Tommye Myrick, Cherice Harrison Nelson, Kathy Randels, Dollie Rivas, Dina Roudeze, Karel Sloane-Boekbinder, and Carol Sutton), the work uplifts voices too often left out of mainstream recovery narratives—voices that not only endured the storm but helped shape the city's post-disaster renaissance.

Swimming Upstream is co-directed by New Orleans theater legend, Tommye Myrick, and internationally acclaimed author and activist V. The ensemble includes cultural icons and community leaders including Troi Bechet and Sekyiwa Shakur; revered performers like Joanna Hale and Jennifer Pagan; and community voices such as Monique Domingue, Simone Immanuel, Australia James, and Karel Sloane-Boekbinder.