The Rose Garden: Green Room &

Rose: You Are Who You Eat

by John Jarboe

CulturalDC is excited to announce

The Rose Garden: Green Room

by John Jarboe

JUNE 8 – JULY 28, 2024 - FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Opening Celebration June 8, 4-7 PM

CULTURALDC’S MOBILE ART GALLERY

 7TH AND D ST NW (IN FRONT OF OYAMEL)

*Closed Juneteenth & July 4th

Gallery Hours:

June: Wednesday - Saturday 12-7, Sunday 12-6, Closed Juneteenth (June 19th)

July: Wednesday - Sunday 12-5, Closed July 4th

Closed from 3-3:30 PM for lunch 

In collaboration with The DC Center for the LGBTQ+ Community, CulturalDC invites you to visit Rose’s Closet and other installations inside Woolly Mammoth’s main lobby. Rose’s Closet is an inclusive and free clothing exchange where you are invited to take a gender and leave a gender. The Woolly Mammoth installations by CulturalDC include videos from the production and a cozy space for writing letters to your gender. Open at Woolly Mammoth until June 23rd. 

The Rose Garden: Green Room is an immersive exhibition filled with video, music, and sentimental items to connect the visitors to the light-hearted memory of John’s consumed twin, Rose.

Dear You,   

Have you ever been told that you ate your twin in the womb?  

That’s what my aunt told me when I came out as trans.  

It gave me a lot to digest.  

My twin’s name would have been Rose, and this exhibition is dedicated to her. 

Explore, sing-a-long, rest, and relax here for as long as you like.  

This is only one piece of The Rose Project, a garden of videos and performances I grew especially for You, my fellow trans folx, queerdos, and genderful ones, and for our guardians and caretakers. 

I hope this space feeds and nourishes You or, at the very least, leaves you chewing on some tasty puns. 

Love,  

John and Rose 

Music by John Jarboe and Pax Ressler, Video design by Christopher Ash 

Presented by Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in association with CulturalDC and The Washington Blade:

Rose: You Are Who You Eat

by John Jarboe

JUNE 5 – JUNE 23, 2024

Directed by MK Toumanen 

A concert experience exploring gender queerness and queer ancestry through the metaphor of cannibalism.

Rose: You Are Who You Eat is part of the rolling world premiere with FringeArts and La MaMa ETC. From a Commission by Works & Process at the Guggenheim. Presented in association with Woolly Mammoth and The Bearded Ladies Cabaret.

A TRUE STORY OF GENDER FEASTING, SET TO MUSIC

JOHN WELCOMES YOU INTO A FEAST OF GENDER THROUGH SONG, STORYTELLING, AND A FULL PLATE OF WORDPLAY. 

Rose: You Are Who You Eat was first presented by CulturalDC in 2022. Rose is inspired by a true story about gender queerness and queer ancestry portrayed through the metaphor of cannibalism. Rose is a shrine of music, image, objects, and text brought together by a team of queer artists, including composers and musicians, to tell the legend of John and Rose. Including composers and musicians Emily Bate, Daniel de Jesús, Pax Ressler, and Be Steadwell with director Mary Tuomanen. Jarboe, the founding artistic director of the Bearded Ladies Cabaret, explores this tale through musical styles ranging from art songs to 1980s pop ballads, elaborate floral-inspired costumes made by Rebecca Kanach, and intimate storytelling.   

John Jarboe

John Jarboe (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist: director, singer, writer, filmmaker, and host serving you revolution, herstory, queer community making, and a whole lot of glitter.  

She is the founding Artistic Director of The Bearded Ladies Cabaret, the largest queer performance organization in Philadelphia, recently known for hosting an international cabaret festival called Late Night Snacks, as well as making a mobile stage out of a 15-foot box truck called The Beardmobile. The Beardmobile toured for the first time in Washington, D.C., in October 2021 with support from CulturalDC. Jarboe has directed and written original work performed at La Mama ETC, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Joe’s Pub, Opera Philadelphia, The Wilma Theater, Guggenheim’s Works & Process, and Lincoln Center’s American Songbook Series. As a director, Jarboe has directed and helped create shows for Cookie Diorio, the legendary mezzo Stephanie Blythe, and countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo. As a writer and performer, Jarboe has toured Paris, Poland, and New Zealand. She recently opened her first art exhibition The Rose Garden on view through September at The Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia of which Green Room is part.

Follow her @johnjarbeaux  

We are excited to celebrate ROSE: YOU ARE WHO YOU EAT with our friends at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.

Presenting a Drag Pride Fundraiser: THORNS

Hosted by Vagenesis and featuring performances by Hennessy and Tula.

Special guest appearances from:

Miss Michigan, 2024 Miss Adams Morgan Pageant Contestant, Dawn Huggins

2024 Miss Adams Morgan Pageant Hostess, Bunny B

Former Miss Puerto Rico, 2016 Miss Adams Morgan Pageant Queen, Juana Seymour

Interested in Sponsoring future events? Contact us here.

CulturalDC Sounds: John Jarboe