BUILDING COMMUNITIES WHERE ACTORS FEEL SAFE IS STEP ONE TO MY DIRECTION

oH nO!
aN UNFINISHED PLAY

My first big undertaking was a play that I wrote. Oh No! is an exploration of all of my anxieties, cut up into consumer friendly nuggets that we could put onstage.

When we began the project, I told my co-director (Sydney Dubitsky) that I was concerned that the material was rather heavy and my first concern was always going to be the cast’s mental health and wellbeing.

Emotional ping pong

Without a doubt, this was the hardest part of Oh No! to direct. A direct thought to stage script about my difficult journey with gender dysphoria. The actor on the right (Kylie Clay) was tasked with giving voice to every negative thought I’ve had about myself and my gender, and I was terrified of traumatizing them on the production. Who wouldn’t be? That’s heavy shit!

To the left is a scanned copy of the script with my notes in it. Throughout, I instructed the actors to pull from various pop culture references as their inspiration. The goal was to create a layer of abstraction from the text, and it seemed to work!

Both actors have since told me that by keeping the rehearsal room light, making pop culture reference, making jokes, and taking care of them- they felt that Emotional Ping Pong resonated with audiences in a way they were proud of.

And all of that somehow overshadowed the fact that they had to play ping pong for three weeks straight in rehearsal!

THE BLUE WOMANMAN

This was the strangest part of Oh No! to direct, but it was made infinitely easier by having an actor (Zoe Eklund) who was as excited about painting themselves blue as I was about telling this weird story.

At its core, the story follows a woman understudying for The Blue Man Group without them knowing she is. Every night, she paints herself blue in hopes that tonight’s the night they burst through her door and ask her to perform with them.

Under its absurd layers, is a story about pleading for acceptance in the face of a white, patriarchal, and heteronormative society.

This is a performance art piece- with a script that is bare bones and without dialogue until the very end. I know, that’s my fault.

Mine and Zoe’s work was almost entirely physical, devising choreography together in a way that maintained their boundaries, didn’t take itself too seriously, and got the audience emotionally invested every night. The video to the left is proof that our work worked, and I couldn’t be more proud of it.

TW: police brutality

FOOD FOR THE GODS

Written and directed by Nehprii Amenii, I had the honor of being one of the assistant directors on this production.

An immersive spectacle, the show dealt with the murder of Black men by police. Nehprii’s kindness and gentle approach to such incredibly difficult subject matter forever changed the way I view theatre and the role of a director.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre in December 2021

The show opened with a slideshow of Black men murdered by police, lynching mob, or by systemic racism at large. Nehprii was kind enough to allow a classmate I had lost to police violence in high school to be included in this slideshow, honoring his memory in this long history of violence in this country.

For more information about my classmate, Jayson Negron, honor his legacy, and find ways to fight back against police brutality in CT, please go to this link:

https://www.instagram.com/justice4jayson/