2 RAPPERS 2 PLAYS

2 RAPPERS 2 PLAYS is a production of two one-act plays written by Hip Hop artists Miki Vale (And We Danced) and Queen Kandi Cole (Game Night), performed back to back with a musical performance intermission by Miki and Queen Kandi Cole. 

This work has been presented at The Chrysalis: Monarch Center for the Arts. Produced by SoulKiss Theater in collaboration with the CoLAB program of the Old Globe Arts Engagement Department. 

And We Danced

And We Danced explores the life and legacy of Ruth Ellis, a pioneering Black, openly queer LGBTQIA activist whose Detroit, Michigan home served as a social hub and safe space for Black gay women and men in the 1930s and 40s. 

The creative process centered lived testimony as source material. Through oral history interviews with friends connected to Ruth Ellis, Miki gathered stories that illuminated not only Ellis’s political legacy, but the emotional and relational worlds that surrounded her - particularly expressions of joy, humor, care, and resilience.

These narratives became the foundation for original music composed specifically for the project, guided by the concept of joy as resistance: an artistic and political framework that treats celebration, pleasure, and embodiment as essential forms of survival and cultural memory.

2 RAPPERS 2 PLAYS starring Alyce Smith-Cooper, Brittany Allen, Kevane La'Marr Coleman, Winnie Beasley, Zakiyyah Saleem, Eboni Harvey, Geoffrey Geissinger, Julia Giolzetti, Kendrick Dial, Maria Boncza and Winnie Beasley. Directed by Kimberly King. Photos and video by Aryka Randall.