The Sonnets Project at UT

Director Graham Schmidt asked me to step on to be Playwright-in-the-Room for the devised piece, "The Sonnets Project."

“The Sonnets Project” is an immersive, site-specific storytelling experience that invites audiences to consider, “If you had a chance to make a statement as you crossed over into the next life, what would you say?” Infused with music, dance, physical theater, and tons of love, “Sonnets” takes as its springboard the life of Wendy Johnson, a character from Jose Rivera’s play, "Sonnets for an Old Century." This is a performance about what we hold on to, and what we are able to leave behind, in an imagined waiting room between this life and the next. 

The Sonnets Project ran from November 16-18th, 2016 at The University of Texas at Austin. 


Director: Graham Schmidt
Playwright-in-the-Room: Daria Miyeko Marinelli
Scenic Designer: Iman Corbani
Lighting Designer: Alex Hanna
Costume Designer: Lirit Pendell

Ensemble: Miles, Agee, Jacob Basquez, Darlesia Carter, Jose Alejandro Figureoa, Oluwaseun Samuel Olayiwola, Elise Peterson, Tori Robertson, Hunter Sturgis, Oktavea Williams

The MFA Years: An Introduction

Occasionally, I'll be writing posts for the MFA Years. 

Here's a sneak peek from the first one:

On Writing

The Cocktail Party Pitch: I write immersive theatre and work that seeks to redefine the theatre going-experience.

What That Actually Means: I like writing work where you’re not just sitting and watching. Maybe you’re wandering around, maybe you’re eating something. I like writing work that’s experiential (whatever that means) and weird. I like work that surprises you.

Other Things You’ll Find in My Work: Strong female protagonists, because, yes. Wild broken things. Poetic stage directions. The agony of choice and the suffering of love.

You can find the whole article here. 

Untameable Nominated for an NYIT Award

Untameable was nominated for a NYIT Award for Outstanding Choreography and Movement. 

Yes. 

Here's an excerpt from an interview that Nikita, Ian, and I did: 

 

What was your favorite part of working on this production?

Ian: My favorite of working on Untameable was the process of translating Daria's words into movement. Due to the enormity of the script and the many different pieces required to make it happen, the rest of the scenes that occurred outside of the vignettes between the Lady Queen and the Boy Prince were highly structured and needed to be as such to work effectively. Our moments were so flexible and fluid. It was very freeing.

Nikita: My favorite part of working on this production was interacting with the audience. Particularly as an immersive show, every evening was extremely different based on the audience's energy. I was able to feed off of their responses, as well as off of the work of my dance/devising partner, Ian Stewart every night. Often Ian and I had to work around bodies in our playing space so while we had structure, the moments of improvisation were thrilling.

Daria: The people. We assembled a smart, ambitious, passionate, talented beyond talented team. It was a dream.

Full article here. 

Untameable: Finalist for the 2016 Dionysia New Play Competition

Untameable is a finalist for the 2016 Dionysia New Play Competition, sponosred by Khaos Company Theatre. An excerpt of the piece will be presented during the the New Play Competition, and the winning play will receive a full production. It will be directed by James Mannan, and will be performed Friday May 20th and Saturday May 28th.  

If you're in Indianapolis, IN- check it out!

 

Interview with Robert Kuang of Self-Care with Writers

The lovely Robert Kuang interviewed me for his blog Self-Care with Writers. 

Here's a quick peek:

Did you grow up wanting to be a writer?

I’ve always been writing. I started skating around three or four and remember Tara Lipinski winning a ton of competitions. I told my mom, “I want to go to the Olympics so I can write an autobiography.” She was like, “You can probably write an autobiography without going to the Olympics.” I didn’t realize writing was a “career path,” and I say that in quotations because I still don’t think playwrights can make a living writing plays.

You can find the rest here. 

Coax Me at Rising Circle's "Love in Living Color"

A short piece I wrote called Coax Me is being performed as part of Rising Circle's Spectrum Series, "Love in Living Color."  The event will be happening on February 9th, at Jimmy's No. 43. 

It'll be featuring the talents of Oladimeji Akinwande, Siho Ellsmore, Kevin R. Free, and Matthew Barbot, with Kana Hatakeyama directing. 

Would be delighted to see you all there! 

Untameable playing at St. Paul's Hall!

Guys, it's finally happening.  Love & Diamonds & 5 Years of Rewriting. And here we go. 

The cast honors me, the design astounds me and it's a cutting good time. 

Grab your tickets here! Because who ever said no to an immersive diamond heist? 

See you there. 

More Info about Untameable (like, what it's actually about) found here. 

Untameable is a co-pro between The Unsoft War & Highly Impractical Theatre. 

 

Faster Than Bullets at The Oneness Project

Faster Than Bullets will be presented on July 26, 2015, at Access Theatre as part of The Oneness Project, an collection of theater dedicated to social justice. The piece examines how to right a wrong, and asks what superheroes look like when justice itself is a murky term. Faster Than Bullets will be directed by Erin Daley, and features Kana Hatakeyama and Isabella Saka. 

Grab your tickets here! 

Facebook event here.