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Maya Angelou has returned to Stamps, Arkansas and the now-abandoned general store where she grew up and came of age. While inside, the room conjures memories, and she reminisces out loud the events and lessons learned on her tumultuous, painful, beautiful, and extraordinary journey into womanhood.

Adapted by award-winning playwright Idris Goodwin and directed by Khalia Davis, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings weaves unaltered prose directly from Angelou’s groundbreaking and controversial book and introduces a new generation to this American literary icon.

New York City Children’s Theater is proud to present Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Birds Sings. As a theater, we believe that Ms. Angelou’s story belongs onstage, a story of resilience and one woman’s journey to find her voice.

To truthfully present Ms. Angelou’s work to the fullest, we have chosen to address material and thematic elements we have not in the past. To best serve our community, we have partnered with mental health professionals to determine the following content warning:

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings contains material that may be harmful or triggering to some audiences. The performance contains verbalized child sexual violence, verbalized sexual violence, racism and racist slurs, and violent imagery, which may be activating to some viewers and is inappropriate for young children. Viewer discretion is strongly advised.