Suffragists onstage, Veterans Day at ACES, and more to do this weekend

Now that the 2018 midterms are over, maybe Philly can breathe a little easier this weekend. Here are some happenings you might enjoy.

Intercultural Journeys (which consistently presents excellent programming from world-class artists) is back with There Is a Portal ($10-$25), scripted and performed by writer, activist, and storyteller Kayhan Irani. The show is coming to Christ Church Neighborhood House (a venue accessible by elevator) on Friday at 7:30pm.

You might remember Irani from the internationally touring We’ve Come Undone, which shared stories of Arab, South Asian, and Muslim-American women after 9/11. She’s an Emmy-Award-winning writer; a Theater of the Oppressed trainer who’s worked all over the U.S. and in Afghanistan, India, and Iraq; and one of 10 U.S. artists President Obama named as 2016 White House Champions of Change.

There Is a Portal (directed by Rania Lee Khalil with video art by Gazelle Samizay) is a humorous, interactive show combining live performance and video projection. It bridges Irani’s memories from the Iranian Revolution, her upbringing in New York City, and family stories about migration. She calls the show “a reconciliation project” in which she comes to terms with herself, her history and heritage, and “the ways in which I was complicit with the forces of oppression and violence.” She hopes audience members get new perspective on their own needs for reconciliation, whether they’re carrying hurt, have caused hurt, or both.

Buy tickets in advance online to save $5, and arrive early to catch a 7pm discussion with India-born, Philly-based poet and visual artist Sham-e-Ali Nayeem, who grew up in the U.K. and U.S. She’s a former public-interest lawyer with a passion for economic justice for survivors of family and partner abuse.

Get yourself to the Women’s Mobile Museum

On Saturday afternoon, if you haven’t checked out the Women’s Mobile Museum, the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center residency exhibition now open in Point Breeze for its second iteration, what are you waiting for? It’s open from noon to 4pm on Saturdays. (Here’s the WNWN preview of this local women’s collective, helmed by renowned South African photographer and activist Zanele Muholi.)

The show, featuring dynamic, tightly curated photographic and multimedia offerings from an extremely diverse range of Philly women (many without previous professional photography experience) is an eye-opening, evocative, challenging, and intimate experience. It’s wheelchair-friendly and also offers a range of accessible elements, like personal audio statements from the artists, Braille signage, and tactile objects so all comers can experience the mood and textures of the photos. The Women’s Mobile Museum is currently open at Dixon House (1920 S. 20th Street) through November 17. It’s free to enter.

Votes for Women Theatre Project

Saturday night at 8pm and Sunday afternoon at 3pm, there’s another theatrical event in Germantown that may feel particularly timely the weekend after an election that brings a historic number of women into Congress: Beacon Theatre Productions pairs staged readings of two plays for its Votes for Women Theatre Project, at the Second Baptist Church of Germantown.

The Trial of Susan B. Anthony, by longtime Inquirer writer and author Mary Walton, follows the famous suffragist as she faces arrest and conviction for voting illegally in 1872 New York, long before white women could cast ballots (people of color, despite being on the front lines of American civil rights battles, would wait even longer for their right to vote). Gigi McGraw’s Letters to Aunt Hattie is based on the real-life correspondence between 19th-century African-American abolitionist and suffragist Harriet Forten Purvis and her niece, Charlotte. Philly actors Jen Jaynes and Ciera Gardner read the roles of Anthony and Purvis. Pay-what-you-wish tickets are available online.

Veterans Day at ACES

On Sunday afternoon, celebrate Veterans Day at Germantown’s nonprofit ACES Museum, which promotes the multicultural history of black and minority WWII veterans and their families. The museum site, on Germantown Avenue east of Vernon Park, is home to Parker Hall, a functioning USO for black veterans and their families (ACES is also a City of Philadelphia-certified Veteran Service Organization).

This 16th annual Veterans Day celebration runs from noon to 7pm, with food and entertainment, a heated tent, and special honors for veterans and their families at 2pm, 4pm, and 6pm. You can also check out a special exhibit on loan from the Pentagon (through December 26) featuring black World War II recipients of the Medal of Honor.