2023
Festival-in-Residence
The Women Have Something to Say
May 12-14, 2023
Concept and Direction: Nicole Kenley-Miller
Composer: Madeline Styskal
Dramaturg: Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton
"The Women Have Something to Say" presents the stories of female-identifying artists on the journey to find their voices, told through monologues and song texts written by the women themselves. The stories range in topic from sexism in the classical music industry, racism, age-ism, body image, silencing of women, to motherhood. Developed as a concert version in Houston, TX, this updated iteration will feature dancers, actors, and the original monologues will be woven into a theatrical narrative. The synergy of a living woman’s story being portrayed by other women speaks to the simultaneously distinctive and communal experience of women throughout time.
CAST (in order of appearance):
Jessica Blau, librettist/mezzo-soprano; Cynthia Clayton, librettist/soprano; Mary-Angela Granberry, actor/dancer; Gracie Ibemere, librettist/bassist; Shannon Hesse, librettist/pianist; Ingrid Gerling, librettist/violinist; Tali Morgulis, librettist/pianist; Marianna Morgulis, actor; Lisa Vickers, librettist/soprano; Sydney Anderson, librettist/soprano; Gwen Alfred, librettist/soprano; Newsha Farahani, librettist/actor/visual artist; Isabelle Ganz, librettist/mezzo-soprano; Laura Dearman, Choreographer/Dancer; Uila Marx (they/them), Dancer; Manatsu Tanaka (they/them), Dancer; Nicole Kenley-Miller, librettist/mezzo-soprano
CREATIVE TEAM:
Nicole Kenley-Miller, Conceiver/Director/Workshop Facilitator
Sydney Anderson, Executive Producer/Assistant Director
Madeline Styskal, Composer
Laura Dearman, Choreographer
Janine Dworin, Graphic Designer
Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, Dramaturg/Workshop Facilitator
Julian Wild, Director of Production/Technical Director
Location:
Nancy Manocherian's the cell theatre
338 West 23rd St. (between 8th and 9th Avenues)
New York, NY
Words of the Prophets
April 21-23, 2023
Written by: Vayl Larkin
Directed by: JNK Enzo
This new play by Vayl Larkin tells the stories of five homeless characters as they go about their lives. An enby subsistence sex worker who is privately an avid reader and writer. A soldier, home with PTSD from a tragic wartime experience. Skater kids, making their own way in their own way. A woman who used to be an astrophysicist, who now wanders through her schizophrenia, colliding at times with the world. A busker, watching, observing, and most importantly, Seeing each of these people, their nuance, their complexity, and their fundamental humanity. Brought to life through silent body performers, narration verging on the poetic, and creative ASL interpretation, grounded in facts and real-world experience, this piece seeks to educate empathy above all.
This workshop presentation seeks to be fully accessible to D/deaf and hard of hearing, and Blind audiences. The theatre is also wheelchair-accessible.
Cast:
Julian Wild, Narrator Voice/Body
Dickie Hearts, Narrator ASL
Norm Mattox, Storyteller Voice/Body
Alberto Medero, Storyteller ASL
JNK Enzo, Graffiti Body
Justin B. Withers, Broadside Body
DeMarco Sleeper, Ballet Body
Mary-Angela Granberry, Trompe-l'œil Body
Sydney Anderson, soprano
Sophie Delphis, mezzo-soprano
Creative Team:
Vayl Larkin, Playwright
JNK Enzo, Stage Director
Maleni Chaitoo, Director of ASL
Sydney Anderson, Music Director/Stage Manager
Zoe Griffith, Lighting Designer
Micaela Bottari, Scenic Design
Sebastian Armendariz, Sound Design/Livestream Producer
Commissioned Composers:
The Smallest Sound, in the Smallest Space
March 3-5, 2023
Written by: Bryce McClendon
Directed by: Katy Early
This world premiere play follows four different University voice students participating in an investigation into the behavior of their teacher, Kent Randall, who has been publicly accused of sexual assault.
As a representative from the University Office of Institutional Compliance interviews four of the professor's students, their lessons overlay the conversations, combining reality, memory, and imagination as illustrations of Kent's influence over their memories and testimonies. The play lives into the dissonance between the personal discovery and processing of an experience of trauma, and the responsibility to represent that trauma to an investigative body concurrently.
CAST (in order of appearance)
Shah Motia: Kent Randall
Shelly Lynn Walsh: The Compliance Officer
Alexander J. Rodriguez: Lee
Rachel Policar: Lizzy
Ai Chaim Ra: Jarrett, Kent u/s
Heather Jones: Brittain
Morgan Mastrangelo: Michael
Nathaniel LaNasa: Mel
Savannah Bergli, Daniela
Mary-Angela Granberry: The Compliance Officer u/s
Roberto Colon: Michael u/s
Sophie Delphis: Brittain u/s (performing Saturday 3/4 at 2:00pm)
Sebastian Armendariz: Lee u/s
CREATIVE TEAM
Bryce McClendon, Playwright
Katy Early, Director
Nathaniel LaNasa, Music Director
Givens Parr, Dramaturg, Cover Art Painter
Julian Wild, Director of Production/Lighting & Sound Design
Roberto Colon, Assistant Stage Manager/Assistant Director
Sydney Anderson, Executive Producer/Stage Manager
Location:
Nancy Manocherian's the cell theatre
338 West 23rd St. (between 8th and 9th Avenues)
New York, NY
Click HERE to learn more and view highlights
MIXT: A Living Gallery
Built upon a sonic landscape by Julian Wild,
called "The Illusion of Nature"
MIXT is an inter-disciplinary community creation event. The cell theatre will be transformed into an interactive and immersive environment where we can cultivate the celebration of our diversity and find the common ground through which we all intersect along the way. Artists, hobbyists, and humans of all disciplines and experience levels are invited to submit or perform their original works, to be included in the curation of “A Living Gallery”.
Featuring Poets, Dancers, Painters, Musicians, Actors, Writers, Feelers, Viewers, Listeners, and you.
High-lights from MIXT: A Living Gallery