DR. G’s BINGO EXTRAVAGANZA
Presented by Oregon Shakespeare Festival, July 2022
“I identify as a Bingo Queen. That’s when I’m my best self.”—Dr. Geneva Craig
Our Initiation into The Dr. G. Fan Club
“Oh yes, I love Geneva,” is the typical response we get when asking around about Dr. G; nurses, baristas, city officials, community organizers, young AfroSkoutz, Alaskan resort owners—they all light up with the mere mention of her name.
Nancy Quinn, a longtime healthcare colleague of Dr. G: My first encounter with Geneva was on a telephone call. The sound of her voice, its timbre and cadence, struck me. Something about it inspires loyalty and engenders trust; I doubt I am alone in that sentiment. I have had the privilege of hearing that voice whisper encouragement, express understanding, provide guidance and all those things many others cherish about her. I have also been privy to listen to her when that brilliant mind starts strategizing and when she is putting on her dramatic flair. I have heard her voice when there was a sternness and seriousness behind it—I swear it could make a grown man cower in his boots. My favorite memories of listening to Geneva are from times that had nothing to do with work at all: moments of full-on belly laughter, listening to stories from the past, the pride when she introduces family, the giddiness over desserts and Frappuccinos, and always words of love.
We first met Dr. G in January, 2021 through a digital commission by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The initial idea was to spend a year getting to know elders in Southern Oregon, then create a digital performance of sorts based on what we discovered about them. This is how we’ve always worked as a performance group: meet strangers, dig through their sock drawers, take them on dates, follow them to work, make their mother’s recipes—then make perforative experiences based on getting to know them, just for them, as gifts. That’s looked like a number of things in the past, from a makeshift musical rendition of Moana using plywood, a spray bottle, and an electric fan to honor a chaplain’s imagined sense of freedom; to a head massage for a cultural Bay Area icon on a couch behind a barn.
When Covid-19 hit, we moved our practice online with the rest of the world. Drawing on Rowena’s work with elders living with dementia and their caregivers, we launched Artists & Elders at the top of the pandemic to connect folk across so many divides as we sheltered-in-place, pairing nearly 80 artists and elders online to create digital performances and inspire new forms of distant socializing. Through OSF, we met D.L. Richadson, an equity specialist with the Medford School District and Black Southern Oregon Alliance. He recommended Dr. G as an elder. As a longtime member of the Dr. G Fan Club, he sang her praises as a force of nature, a nurse, a leader in the Black community, and a social performer with range.
We met with Dr. G over Zoom, for a few hours every month, from 2021-22 and learned so many things, in the way we all learn new things in our deep hangouts with friends and family, charged with the curiosity and pleasure that underscores getting to know somebody for the very first time. We learned big and painful things, like how she’d tactically layer clothes to protect herself from being police beatings while marching with MLK in Selma and her incredible resilience in becoming a registered nurse through a deeply racist medical system. We learned small things, too, like her favorite breakfast of Cheerios mixed with maple syrup, her love of Jason Mamoa as Aquaman, and how she used to be able to drop, roll, and draw out two six-shooters like Annie Oakley.
Above all, as raised in so many of our conversations and written into almost every family newsletter she’s produced since 1991, we learned she’s The Bingo Queen: “Now, all I want out of life is casino style bingo. I want the hoopla, glitter, large airy halls, comfortable hotel rooms, excellent dining, and big dollar pay-outs. I am ready for some serious playing—we should have joy in our lives and that list is the peak of my Joy List”…and so we decided to make a live show to bring that joy to the stage. Dr. G’s Bingo Extravaganza is our joyous gift to Dr. G, her community, and you.
We spent this last year connecting with Dr. G’s friends, family, and colleagues whose stories and experiences of her animate this show. For example, we worked with the AfroSkoutz (a Black youth group organized by BASE), to create ornaments that adorn both our digital and physical Christmas trees. In working with these young folk, we were struck by the powerful intergenerational bridges that Dr. G builds between leaders in the community. Our show is an actual bingo game infused with theatrical acts informed, to the very last detail, by the real and fantastic things we’ve discovered about her along the way; those complex and often hilarious things that make Dr. G who she is. Our goal was to create an experience that Dr. G would love—a joyful celebration of bingo (she is the queen afterall), her wild adventures, and the gathering of communities that swell around her. She brings people together wherever she goes; she walks into a room, hugs you as a stranger, and instantly you are under her spell. We hope that through this bingo event, you feel the force of Dr. G’s work, life and care.
For our digital commission, we created a website where you can learn more about our process and all things Dr. G related. It’s the official Dr. G Fan Club in the shape of a scrolling Christmas tree, inspired by her practice of keeping Christmas up at home longer than anyone we know. Now, as theaters open up, and we imagine the future of what live social practice and performance looks like at this stage in the pandemic, we’re beyond excited to see you play for prizes and laughs at our Dr. G’s Bingo Extravaganza this July.
Dr. Geneva Craig is a registered nurse and holds a Ph.D. in Nursing from Walden University. She serves on AARP Oregon’s Executive Council (Emeritus). She is the past Chair of the AARP Diversity Advisory Council and the recipient of the AARP 2019 Andrus Award for Community Service Oregon. Dr. Craig worked at Johns Hopkins Health Care Center as a Nurse Analyst before moving to the Rogue Valley. She held the position of Clinical Program Coordinator of the Inpatient Rehabilitation Center at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center from 2010-2019. Her current role is Nurse Clinician at Asante APP Employee Health. Born in Selma, Alabama, Dr. Craig participated in the Selma Civil Rights marches that resulted in her being jailed multiple times. She also participated in the infamous “Bloody Sunday” march from Selma to Montgomery.
Dr. G. Fan Club
Based on Dr. Geneva Craig’s love of Christmas, we created a digital X-Mas tree with links to trivia, history, and accolades that celebrate her life. Discover her adventures in nursing, her crush on Jason Momoa’s Aquaman, her favorite breakfast items, and her unshakeable commitment to civil rights across the US and beyond. The ornaments were designed by the AfroSkoutz, a youth project by BASE.
