Poster art by Max B

LOUD: New Orleans Queer Youth Theater (The Pursuit of Justice, Thinking Out LOUD) return to bring you Paris is Missing at the Samuel DuBois Cook Theater at Dillard University on May 19th and 20th at 8 pm. In their new one-of-a-kind live show, LOUD’s youth ensemble sharply blends theatre, drag, performances, comedy and stories of resistance to paint a picture of the true lives of queer youth in New Orleans. Tickets are $10 kids & $20 adults and general admission. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Paris is Missing tells the story of a community of young people that comes together in solidarity to find their friend, a transgender performer named Paris. Seeing that the systems that are supposed to support them fail them in their time of need, Paris’ friends decide to set out and do their own detective work. LOUD'S in-your-face performing combines hysterical insights, outspoken views, outrageous mouths and powerful stories of self realization. Paris is Missing serves hilarious diatribes on the state of queer culture and theater while burning with all the raucous energy of youth.

LOUD is one of the only organization serving queer and trans youth in New Orleans, and the only organization providing queer and trans youth a yearly opportunity to create performance work by their community and for their community. We are an ensemble of outspoken, unapologetic queer and trans youth committed to anti-racism and intersectional movement building through devised theater. LOUD is guided by four core values: solidarity, undoing racism, devised theater and youth leadership. We produce one show a year that is developed through a rigorous, youth-led ensemble process, highlighting themes such as police violence, intersectional identity, combating injustice and building solidarity.

With all of the joy we’ve found in our work, we cannot ignore the challenges members of our communities face and the need to stand in solidarity with them. The 2017 murders of Chyna Gibson, Ciara McElveen, and Jaquarrius Holland, all New Orleans locals, and all other trans women of color in Louisiana, have brought the intersections of transmisogyny and racism to the center of our work. Paris is Missing is the LOUD ensemble’s exploration of the roots of this intersection, and its celebration of the communities that resist it. We hope this piece will serve as a reminder to uplift the voices of those most affected and give us some ideas on how to work towards justice for all of us.

For more information and tickets, visit us at www.loudnola.org, at Instagram at @loudtheater, or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/loudtheater