A Taste of Saved Messages

Savor an elevated chef-catered dinner and a first taste of Saved Messages, a funny, heartfelt new play. Proceeds fund free therapy. A Taste of Saved Messages is an evening of good food, good company, and a story told for the first time in North Carolina. Saved Messages is a new one-woman play by Carlita Victoria, founder of Darkness RISING Project. Through humor, vulnerability, recorded voices, and phones from different eras, it follows one woman through a mental health crisis and the voices that kept her here. It’s funny. It’s honest. And it might just make you call your mom. This is a performance workshop, which means you’re seeing the show while it’s still being built. You’ll be one of the first audiences to experience it, and your reactions will help shape what it becomes on its way to the stage. Performed by: Carlita Victoria* Direction by: Donathan Walters* AEA Stage Manager: Kelsey Nicole Jenkins* *Denotes member of Actors Equity Association Follow: @savedmessagesshow Your evening includes: • A Chef-catered dinner curated by Taste of BLK • A pre-show reception with drinks • A performance workshop of Saved Messages • A post-show talkback with the artists This is a fundraiser for Darkness RISING. Every ticket supports free therapy, reentry support, and wellness programs for our community. 🗓️ Saturday, November 28, 2026 Reception: 6pm Dinner: 7pm Performance: 8pm 📍 NorthStar Church for the Arts, 220 W. Geer St. Durham, NC Content note: Saved Messages explores mental health crises, suicidal ideation, and the ways Black communities navigate crisis response and care. The show weaves humor, vulnerability, and moments of joy throughout these heavier themes. HOSTED BY: Darkness RISING, an arts and mental health 501(c)3 nonprofit. We provide free community wellness workshops, REBUILD, Find Me a Therapist, a Black Mental Health Resource Packet, a Black Mental Health Provider Database, inspirational cover songs, visual albums, and live concerts created by Black Broadway and theatre professionals, many who have experienced a mental health condition. Darkness RISING reimagines and provides safe and equitable mental health resources, addresses issues which directly affect the Black community and other marginalized communities, connect community members to resources, and erase the stigma. Our resources, events and services empower the Black community, communities of color, the formerly incarcerated community, LGBTQIA individuals, those with lived mental health challenges, and those at the intersection of these communities. Please consider giving a donation to help us continue our work and our free community events and programs. ⭐️DONATE: bit.ly/DRPGives Disclaimer: Please be advised that photography and videography will be conducted at the event for promotional and documentation purposes.