Our lives are filled with turning points,

difficulties and discoveries which – if artfully crafted – make for powerful personal tales.  Based on her life experiences, Haynes’ performance pieces take an intimate look at challenging issues. Universal: marriage, children, divorce.  Less common: personal race relations, criminal assault and the 2008 housing crisis.

Photo Credit: Doug McKechnie

A House Under Water

“You need to take this story to Washington D.C. while Congress is in session so they get the truth of what is really happening to us out here!”
East Oakland Resident
“While I was personally not affected by the housing crisis, your story evoked both sympathy and anger. With humor and insight, you took a very complicated issue bringing to life the horrors that so many other people faced. It serves as a lesson for all of us.”
Michele Lawrence , Former Superintendent, Berkeley Public Schools

The Stove is White

The Stove Is White – Crossing the Racial Divide

Written and Performed by Jeanne Haynes.  Directed by Raelle Myrick-Hodges

With the turbulent civil rights era as background, Haynes portrays a cast of unforgettable characters who touched her life, including New York City entertainers, her news editor in Jim Crow South, rioters in San Francisco, and her earnest young stepdaughter who, when Haynes becomes the only white person in their large black family, offers the comforting observation:  “But the stove is white!”  Featuring a sound tract of musical legends from Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra and more. 

Performance Dates:
November 19, 22, 23, 29 and December 1, 3

“To hear an exceptional performer like Jeanne share deep, private, real stories, well, history has been changed for me forever. As a white man, I wouldn’t have ever had the chance to experience this slice of history if I had not heard Jeanne’s life path. Her spoken tapestries have moved me to consider, not only the stories themselves, but the entire notation of how history is learned.”
Alton Wright, Principal, WrightBrands
“What a journey from the 50’s Americana era and the turbulent 60’s, right into the heart of the civil rights movement and how it changed America. We journey with Jeanne through interracial intimacies, love, children and blended families. My personal memories as a Black Woman intersect hers with emotions that transcend racial differences. I laugh, cry, fear, love, gasp for air and remember far more than I thought I knew about my own life story.”
Estrellita Hudson Redus, Co-Founder, Mills College Alumnae of Color Committee
“An invaluable piece of theater for our historical moment, as the nation continues its struggle between the races. With humility and honesty, Haynes explores her own prejudice while telling this affecting story with revealing courage and consummate storytelling skill that creates profound engagement between teller and audience.”
Tracy Haughton, Advisory Board, Marin Theatre Company

Original Theater Pieces

  • The Stove Is White

  • A House Under Water

  • Cats, Dogs and Divas: Birthstone

  • Talking to the Moon

  • A Bed for All Seasons

  • My Criminal and Me

  • Prince and the Revolution

  • My Mrs. Witte

Stage Venues

San Francisco Theater Festival

Bay Area Storytelling Festival

Brava! Women for the Arts Theater, San Francisco

The Marsh, San Francisco and Berkeley

The Moth, Berkeley

Julia Morgan Theater

City Solo

Noh Space at Theatre of  Yugen

Franciscan Playhouse Transformation Theater

Oberlin Dance Company Theater

Bay Area Telebrations

Tell It on Tuesday: Bay Area’s premiere storytelling/solo performance space