tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62799539553660898342024-02-07T21:26:31.234-08:00windows, doors, closets and drawers . . .a blog by Nina Angela Mercernina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-29346801294999530372020-08-01T09:41:00.002-07:002020-08-01T09:41:21.589-07:00<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTlpNE_x1LA_qXXUSb0ccxXGiDPjBPLgmsYiSSowmKhNkU1r6XsQgFU20NUIGKAd6H5GPAc_shiZlAKdkG7PkPZiHgLuSZVZplS2JGXxh8mqT32nYqhKcsKgp8S8zYhArYYWVa8oUkGdo/s1600/IMG_4598.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1404" data-original-width="1600" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTlpNE_x1LA_qXXUSb0ccxXGiDPjBPLgmsYiSSowmKhNkU1r6XsQgFU20NUIGKAd6H5GPAc_shiZlAKdkG7PkPZiHgLuSZVZplS2JGXxh8mqT32nYqhKcsKgp8S8zYhArYYWVa8oUkGdo/s320/IMG_4598.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ItaParica and Sky, 2020</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Praia Paciencia - Rio Vermelho, Salvador da Bahia, Brasil 2020</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After sunrise - Festa da Iemanja, Rio Vermelho, 2020</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lavogem do Bonfim, 2020</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">O Cravinho with friends. The Pelo. 2020.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh18xjF3XM0jowUSfaMGv2iWIOaziReoC-5BMTngrQ77Z7tlFkFemFn2lYIK4kqTtirx3-RG5wZ96dUDcMopD6nzxvvPJeOGjzCzZY0D1BqeQQMpi2FYGXC8T9tiQI7W_HqXd4x190ux0g/s1600/IMG_5770.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh18xjF3XM0jowUSfaMGv2iWIOaziReoC-5BMTngrQ77Z7tlFkFemFn2lYIK4kqTtirx3-RG5wZ96dUDcMopD6nzxvvPJeOGjzCzZY0D1BqeQQMpi2FYGXC8T9tiQI7W_HqXd4x190ux0g/s320/IMG_5770.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mural honoring Iemanja. Rio Vermelho. Rua da Paciencia. 2020.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lavogem do Bonfim</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW43HbtioanZGIUJ7DBsB3UnBKHJwDaQymDOJWy7FhqE_tGnNqBpxUMxzwzwP5xRRXqYQju-yhn8olG7SPNCe-EBssTips0I_6IETVawLBYDjsA3KdDzntyivHtgxOh6_8JdAKXaDL-MQ/s1600/IMG_5762.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW43HbtioanZGIUJ7DBsB3UnBKHJwDaQymDOJWy7FhqE_tGnNqBpxUMxzwzwP5xRRXqYQju-yhn8olG7SPNCe-EBssTips0I_6IETVawLBYDjsA3KdDzntyivHtgxOh6_8JdAKXaDL-MQ/s320/IMG_5762.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-11496766183257041592020-08-01T09:03:00.001-07:002020-08-01T09:03:50.190-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLtSnNgewH1IZIa0X-0f-qWpF2nuyZE2w-_SISoXftlJhmP04cDCM_fn8e_vPotOmkfi5EtXL-rMlQ2YpVs6lEn4RO9MhNMeKYLDc4PZIaCsreuBnh0Qce0g1P_VN8hWInqd40U36UpUA/s1600/NINA+APONTE+COVER+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1305" data-original-width="927" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLtSnNgewH1IZIa0X-0f-qWpF2nuyZE2w-_SISoXftlJhmP04cDCM_fn8e_vPotOmkfi5EtXL-rMlQ2YpVs6lEn4RO9MhNMeKYLDc4PZIaCsreuBnh0Qce0g1P_VN8hWInqd40U36UpUA/s320/NINA+APONTE+COVER+1.jpg" width="227" /></a></div>
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Still from my video poem "Invocation for Jose Antonio Aponte"</div>
nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-57094941556311131302020-08-01T08:52:00.002-07:002020-08-01T08:52:58.770-07:00Charisma at the Crossroads at Alice Young Arts Center at Drew University <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNP5PmGoHFNfPN_ai2lvoQeXIXPxjBTFi0aYjhG1gmgNZIGMjPGWXx4nkttaagEEpz39Ya-sSGJOrD1yxw-EhJEcR91kUETmPZVZ_gY-vgnk0dBxu3zNiHr_IfUCdsZRuRdnmFAF7JVTA/s1600/LD_073118_THEATRE_AdvantageArts_0676.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNP5PmGoHFNfPN_ai2lvoQeXIXPxjBTFi0aYjhG1gmgNZIGMjPGWXx4nkttaagEEpz39Ya-sSGJOrD1yxw-EhJEcR91kUETmPZVZ_gY-vgnk0dBxu3zNiHr_IfUCdsZRuRdnmFAF7JVTA/s320/LD_073118_THEATRE_AdvantageArts_0676.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I have been moving. So, I am just sharing photos from the production of my play CHARISMA AT THE CROSSROADS at the Alice Young Arts Center at Drew University, directed by Lisa Brenner with co-director Kimani Fowlin. Sitting in the audience and watching my writing come to life was one of my favorite experiences as an artist in 2018.The play will be published in an anthology of plays for BIPOC youth in 2021 on Bloomsbury. Loved working with youth artists from Newark, NJ for this!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmkrzQ6vXZDkOHrLpMw2WK_RdPXcr9i8gVjgxjAQX-4KqeFlqn-RKnjZCwajpiCOWQTv6gK0D9eQtICDLT4PQfH_3ggxv38B2OqoxxEoGEC1tCTYZK8LncaxIgdB2PGOi_g3XWp1brmYE/s1600/LD_073118_THEATRE_AdvantageArts_0732.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmkrzQ6vXZDkOHrLpMw2WK_RdPXcr9i8gVjgxjAQX-4KqeFlqn-RKnjZCwajpiCOWQTv6gK0D9eQtICDLT4PQfH_3ggxv38B2OqoxxEoGEC1tCTYZK8LncaxIgdB2PGOi_g3XWp1brmYE/s320/LD_073118_THEATRE_AdvantageArts_0732.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-34578299368321254362018-01-16T15:59:00.002-08:002020-08-01T08:41:22.732-07:00Review of Visionary Aponte Exhibition in BOMB Magazine My visual poem "Invocation for Jose Antonio Aponte: Lamina 26" was part of the Visionary Aponte exhibition at Little Haiti Cultural Center for Art Basel-Miami. Really enjoyed working with inde film-maker Toshi Sakai on this project. And I am simply honored to be in community with fierce visual artists I admire and respect while illuminating Aponte's urgently relevant history of resistance and power in Cuba. Our present time demands that we invoke this communal spirit as we move forward as diaspora. Big thanks to Tosha Grantham for pulling us together on the one. The exhibition is moving to NYU's King Juan Carlos Center on February 22nd. Check out the exhibition review in BOMB magazine ...<br />
<a href="https://bombmagazine.org/articles/reanimating-history-visionary-aponte-art-and-black-freedom/">https://bombmagazine.org/articles/reanimating-history-visionary-aponte-art-and-black-freedom/</a>nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-78381731859530300272018-01-11T09:53:00.003-08:002018-01-11T09:53:46.489-08:00Got a chance to talk about the connection between art and activism with Margaret Prescod on Soujourner Truth Radio ...<br /><a href="https://soundcloud.com/sojournertruthradio/black-women-artists-for-black-lives-matters-nina-angela-mercer-on-connecting-art-activism">https://soundcloud.com/sojournertruthradio/black-women-artists-for-black-lives-matters-nina-angela-mercer-on-connecting-art-activism</a>nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-90387421710620741862017-09-20T13:07:00.000-07:002017-09-20T13:08:58.714-07:00 On Performance and Black Theatre: An Interview with Playwright Nina Angela Mercer, a repost of JT Roane's interview in PERSPECTIVES, published by AAIHSTalking to my brother, scholar J.T. Roane, is always rich with gems, especially over fries at my favorite diner in the Bronx. Check it out.<br />
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<a href="http://www.aaihs.org/on-performance-and-black-theatre-an-interview-with-playwright-nina-angela-mercer/">http://www.aaihs.org/on-performance-and-black-theatre-an-interview-with-playwright-nina-angela-mercer/</a>nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-86945916725799990392017-09-20T12:32:00.001-07:002017-09-20T12:32:16.171-07:00Taking the Road with Ebony Noelle Golden's 125th and Freedom - A Recap and Call to Join the Tribe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Check out my experience witnessing, walking, and strategizing with the 125th and Freedom Tribe at the link ...</div>
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<a href="https://medium.com/@ninaangelamercer/taking-the-road-with-ebony-noelle-goldens-125th-and-freedom-ef4da537f3d2">https://medium.com/@ninaangelamercer/taking-the-road-with-ebony-noelle-goldens-125th-and-freedom-ef4da537f3d2</a><br />
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<br />nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-44418118735774257902017-09-20T12:21:00.000-07:002017-09-20T12:28:05.922-07:00That Artist, Scholar, Witness Life ... Recent Publications with Links!Check out a few of my most recent on-line publications. There's variety here - my own chorepoem, a scholarly essay in a peer review journal, and a recap of a dope street performance that's happening one more time in Harlem at the end of this week.<br />
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<a href="http://www.wocninc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/VOICESCall.jpg">http://www.wocninc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/VOICESCall.jpg</a><br />
*My choreopoem ITAGUA MEJI: A Road and A Prayer is published in this issue of Voices online magazine, #SayHerName Edition.<br />
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<a href="http://continuumjournal.org/index.php/108-volumes/issues/vol-4-no-1/4-1-articles/156-performance-as-participatory-policy-making-taja-lindley-s-trinity-black-life-as-burlesque">http://continuumjournal.org/index.php/108-volumes/issues/vol-4-no-1/4-1-articles/156-performance-as-participatory-policy-making-taja-lindley-s-trinity-black-life-as-burlesque</a><br />
*My essay Taja Lindley's TRINITY, Black Life as Burlesque is published in the current issue of Continuum: The Journal of African Diaspora Drama, Theatre and Performance<br />
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<a href="https://medium.com/@ninaangelamercer/taking-the-road-with-ebony-noelle-goldens-125th-and-freedom-ef4da537f3d2">https://medium.com/@ninaangelamercer/taking-the-road-with-ebony-noelle-goldens-125th-and-freedom-ef4da537f3d2</a><br />
*My recap of what it was like to witness Ebony Noelle Golden's 125th and Freedom in Harlem.<br />
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Back to the grind, y'all. One love. You can also find excerpts of my play GYPSY & THE BULLY DOOR in back issues of Black Renaissance Noire and The Killens Review of Arts and Letters. More print and on-line goodies coming soon!<br />
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<br />nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-52348212457131523362017-05-30T08:28:00.001-07:002017-05-30T08:52:56.109-07:00Changing Perceptions Theatre Company Celebrated the birthdays of Lorraine Hansberry & Malcolm X at The Langston Hughes House in Harlem on May 19th, 2017!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It was definitely an honor to get a call from Shaun Neblett, founder and director of Changing Perceptions Theatre Company, asking if I'd write a monologue for the annual birthday party for Lorraine Hansberry and Malcolm X at the Langston Hughes House in Harlem. Both Lorraine and Malcolm have been inspiration, influencing my walk on this road. I keep a portrait of Malcolm in my foyer; my father painted it in 1969. And I have this dope memory of reading his speeches from the By Any Means Necessary collection purchased at DC's Pyramid Book Store when I was 17 years old, staying up late at night before school just to gain deeper understanding of my place in the world through Malcolm's vision. But I selected Lorraine's words for my writing inspiration this time around, because I have often wondered what she would have written, what she would have had to say, what she would advise in these chaotic times. I did not get a speech or letter to work from. Instead, I had her musings from private notes, a list of "likes" and "regrets." I was moved by the intense loneliness, passion, and commitment in her personal thoughts, a woman holding intense love for her craft, community, and self, even through the contradictions. I found a beautiful woman in the midst of becoming ... And, to get to share work at the Langston Hughes House - me, a woman who grew up reading Langston's Jesse B. Simple stories with my dad on Sunday drives through the city? Well, that is just all the goodness. Right on time.</div>
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Celebrating the birthdays of Lorraine Hansberry and Malcolm X at the Langston Hughes House!<br />
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Kymbali Craig performs SPARROW by Nina Angela Mercer, a monologue inspired by Lorraine Hansberry's notes archived at The Schomburg Center.<br />
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Kymbali Craig in SPARROW, a monologue by Nina Angela Mercer<br />
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Packed house!<br />
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<br />nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-7825800475087028502017-03-16T08:22:00.003-07:002017-03-16T08:33:10.143-07:00#SACREDRESISTANCE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">I got a text message from my dear sister in January, asking me to join a very important call to think about how
to sustain our movement against the culture of violence and inhumanity that the
current administration wears as its emblem and boots. She felt an urgent need
for us to dig deep into our ancestral traditions to harness a force
transcending divisions, especially because the current administration is
determined to use religion as an incendiary threat, sparking f</span><span class="textexposedshow" style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">ear, and informing travel, immigration, policing, and
foreign policy. We must fight this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">That call became a national <a data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/blacklivesmatter?source=feed_text&story_id=10212985381776017" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="58cl"><span aria-label="hashtag" style="unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span></span></span><span class="58cm"><span style="text-decoration: none;">blacklivesmatter</span></span></span></a> interfaith
action for <a data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/sacredresistance?source=feed_text&story_id=10212985381776017" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="58cl"><span aria-label="hashtag" style="unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span></span></span><span class="58cm"><span style="text-decoration: none;">sacredresistance</span></span></span></a>.
We've been in deep conversation to hold space and welcome people of all faiths,
religions, and spiritual practices, as well as those who do not claim a
particular faith but are still deeply rooted in the practice of social justice
and human rights rooted in love. Join us on April 1st for #sacredresistance at
Malcom X Park/Meridian Hill Park at 11am for drumming, song, meditation,
poetry, prayer, dance, and resistance. Satellite actions in your city. And, for
those able to begin our vigil through fasting and/or meditation, we will start
as early as midnight that day. Location for midnight gathering TBA. More
details at <a href="http://www.sacredresist.org/" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank">www.sacredresist.org</a> See
you on the 1st! <a data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/chantdownbabylon?source=feed_text&story_id=10212985381776017" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="58cl"><span aria-label="hashtag" style="unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span></span></span><span class="58cm"><span style="text-decoration: none;">chantdownbabylon</span></span></span></a> <a data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/sacredresist?source=feed_text&story_id=10212985381776017" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="58cl"><span aria-label="hashtag" style="unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span></span></span><span class="58cm"><span style="text-decoration: none;">sacredresist</span></span></span></a> #blacklivesmatter<span style="color: #1d2129;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-81123269783846371972016-10-02T21:46:00.000-07:002016-10-03T08:47:14.049-07:00An August Occasion at Howard University <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I am looking forward to presenting a paper for the August Wilson Conference at Howard University this month. I have been deeply inspired by Wilson's work since seeing Joe Turner's Come and Gone at Arena Stage when I was in junior high school in DC. I did not know that I would be moved to write plays years later then. But Wilson's rare gift for blues poetics and story-telling struck me in an unforgettable way in the dark house of the theater. I actually went into labor with my first daughter while listening to August Wilson speak about Seven Guitars at Howard University back in 1995. I didn't know I was in labor at the time, but it became very apparent later, after hanging out at a music studio into the wee morning hours. It's all intertwined. It has been a precarious alignment at times, but it has always made sense, if you know how funk makes sense, and if you know how blues makes all the sense, and the way life does if you choose that dance. And, of course, it's always special to return to HU - my alma mater, my former place of employment, the ground that knows every aspect of how my feet fall while walking. If you're in the area, come through ...nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-62004764460828042282016-09-06T19:20:00.004-07:002016-09-06T19:24:04.192-07:00Seph Rodney of Hyperallergic.com Covers Black Women Artists for Black Lives Matter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://hyperallergic.com/321046/black-women-artists-bear-witness-in-red/">http://hyperallergic.com/321046/black-women-artists-bear-witness-in-red/</a>nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-11186810507430882802016-09-06T19:20:00.003-07:002016-09-06T19:21:46.714-07:00Media Coverage of Black Women Artists for Black Lives Matter from NYT<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/03/arts/design/at-new-museum-a-pop-up-support-system-for-black-lives-matter.html?smid=tw-nytimesarts&smtyp=cur&_r=2">http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/03/arts/design/at-new-museum-a-pop-up-support-system-for-black-lives-matter.html?smid=tw-nytimesarts&smtyp=cur&_r=2</a>nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-51226344488718482182016-08-29T11:16:00.000-07:002018-02-12T11:47:20.163-08:00Video footage of ITAGUA MEJI: A ROAD & A PRAYER and trailer for GYPSY & THE BULLY DOOR<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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ITAGUA MEJI: A Road and A Prayer by Nina Angela Mercer, featuring Audrey Hailes as Aisha with Kimani Fowlin as Ori. Directed by Maya James with choreography by Kimani Fowlin. Percussion by Chris White.<br />
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Link to raw footage below ... This performance happened at Rutgers University-New Brunswick in Sept 2014. The choreopoem started outside. The audience followed the performers into the theater in a processional. The footage begins as the procession enters the theater.<br />
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Watch the performance at the link below ...<br />
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/118264503">ITAGUA MEJI: A Road and A Prayer</a><br />
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And check out the video trailer for GYPSY & THE BULLY DOOR by Nina Angela Mercer. On camera and editing, Rachel Eliza Griffiths. Choreography by Kimani Fowlin. Featuring Dameka Hayes and Kimani Fowlin in video performance with Nina Angela Mercer giving Voice to her own words. This trailer was inspired by the full play, GYPSY & THE BULLY DOOR by Nina Angela Mercer, as it appeared at Dumbo Sky in Oct 2013 with Ebony Noelle Golden directing.<br />
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GYPSY & THE BULLY DOOR vid trailer:<br />
<a href="https://vimeo.com/76490935">https://vimeo.com/76490935</a><br />
<br />nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-17767765970659958752016-08-19T16:34:00.002-07:002016-09-01T07:47:28.213-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I am full with the deepest inspiration. Why? Because this July I joined a collective of Black women artists and cultural workers to co-birth Black Women Artists for Black Lives Matter. Simone Leigh, the brilliant Artist in Residence at The New Museum, generously opened up her residency to all of us. She has made it possible for us to build this collective action as an addition to her exhibition, The Waiting Room. And we are definitely making strong medicine, or as some of us say, "That Good Good."<br />
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Because ...<br />
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this July 2016 was a time of continued rage, deep sadness, and absolute frustration as our minds and souls rocked in response to state sanctioned violence against Black lives again. It was also a time for continued love and organizing for justice. What I could not have known was that this intense love for community would bring so many beautiful folk together in this way. But now I do know through experiencing it. And we want you to share in our offering Thursday, September 1st from 4:30pm to 8:30pm at The New Museum in NYC. RSVP at the link below. Thanks to the New Museum for supporting us with such integrity and vision!<br />
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<a href="http://www.newmuseum.org/calendar/view/1061/black-women-artists-for-black-lives-matter">http://www.newmuseum.org/calendar/view/1061/black-women-artists-for-black-lives-matter</a><br />
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<br />nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-46703794358961235112016-08-17T10:16:00.002-07:002016-08-17T10:16:55.298-07:00I am looking forward to being a panelist and facilitating an interactive workshop at the National Black Arts Festival this year!<br />
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<a href="http://nbaf.org/program-season-2016/">National Black Arts Festival 2016</a><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px rgb(225, 225, 225); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", HelveticaNeue, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 21.45px; margin-bottom: 0.85em; margin-top: 0.85em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="border: 0px rgb(225, 225, 225); box-sizing: border-box; color: #d83c20; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">SYMPOSIUM</strong></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px rgb(225, 225, 225); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", HelveticaNeue, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 21.45px; margin-bottom: 0.85em; margin-top: 0.85em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="border: 0px rgb(225, 225, 225); box-sizing: border-box; color: #d83c20; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Saturday, September 17, 2016, 9:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.</strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><strong style="border: 0px rgb(225, 225, 225); box-sizing: border-box; color: #d83c20; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px rgb(225, 225, 225); box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Call and Response: Contextualizing African American Presence in the American Theater”</em></strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />A partnership with Arts at Emory and Emory University<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Tickets: $40 to include a private tour of the exhibition <em style="border: 0px rgb(225, 225, 225); box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Raising Hell: The Art, Archives and Activism of Camille Billops and James V. Hatch”</em><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Goodrich C. White Hall, Emory University, Room 208</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px rgb(225, 225, 225); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", HelveticaNeue, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 21.45px; margin-bottom: 0.85em; margin-top: 0.85em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
NBAF in partnership with Arts at Emory and Emory University presents a day long symposium with distinguished local and national scholars addressing the issue of the presence and influence of African Americans on performance arts and theater. Participants will include: Michael D. Harris, Artist, Associate Professor of Art Historian, Emory University; Krista Thompson, Northwestern University, author of <em style="border: 0px rgb(225, 225, 225); box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Shine: The Visual Economy of Light in African Diasporic Aesthetic Practice</em> (2015); McKinley Melton, Professor of English at Gettysburg College, whose research focuses primarily on spiritual and religious traditions throughout the African Diaspora and its influence on Diasporan literary, artistic, and cultural expressions; moderator Dr. Paul Carter Harrison, Emory Scholar/artist in residence, playwright, director and author of “The Drama of Nommo;” Nina Angela Mercer, playwright, poet, theater scholar based in NY City who will conduct interactive breakout sessions; Dianne Stewart, Associate Professor in the Emory Department of Religion; Dr. Pellom McDaniel, curator at Emory University’s Rose Manuscript and Rare Books Library and Playwriting Fellow Jireh Holder.</div>
nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-19828389911599946742016-03-22T17:32:00.000-07:002016-08-29T13:46:29.578-07:00Come through for this!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Rehearsal and Show Photos:<br />
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<br />nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-38020701960773633272015-08-08T12:03:00.001-07:002015-08-08T12:06:42.904-07:00Walking the Talk, or Why We Changed Our Venue for Sunday, Aug 9th, 2015!Dear friends,<br />
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<br />
Some of you have been following the
announcements I've been making about the upcoming performance of my
choreopoem, ITAGUA MEJI: A Road & A Prayer, as I have posted
rehearsal update photos and reminders about the show for the past month
or so. The show is still on for Sunday, August 9th, but we have changed
our venue to the <a class="profileLink" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=152280670036" href="https://www.facebook.com/nuyoricanpoets">Nuyorican Poets Cafe</a> at 236 East 3rd Street, NYC from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. Join us.<br />
This decision to change venues is grounded in my heart-felt<span class="text_exposed_show">
commitment to justice, Black lives, courageous truth-telling, and the
very important choice to walk my talk, always. I am standing in
solidarity with many artists, but most especially, Eboni Hogan, a spoken
word artist and mother who was treated with gross disrespect at The
Sidewalk Cafe (the former venue) as she advocated for proper treatment
for her son. Thanks to <a class="profileLink" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=510135863" href="https://www.facebook.com/mahoganylbrowne">Mahogany L. Browne</a> for mobilizing the people and making it possible for the show to go on. </span><br />
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I have tagged all of my folk who responded to the event invite, but all
are welcome to attend. Please spread the word. Thank you. Onward.<br />
<br />
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Check out the Facebook Event Link here: </div>
https://www.facebook.com/events/1053506571333924/nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-87662242143103768202015-06-29T19:33:00.001-07:002015-06-29T19:39:08.109-07:00right here/right nowI will find a way into this troubled truth that makes my most sensitive
child shed hot tears because "this is how they treat us." I will find
answers stronger than hugs. I will find words and do what writers do
with them. And I will wonder if those words could ever be enough.
Probably not. That's why the poets and singers, the music-makers and
dramatists, the painters and provocative visionaries will not stop.
Because it's never enough. And I will seek action, and after that, I
will wonder the same things about ceilings, iron bars, escape routes,
and this strange weather, this seeming drought in some of our souls. It
don't stop. Neither will we.<br />
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0d8iu1lE-cM/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0d8iu1lE-cM?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IST6qRfVqwY"> </a><br />
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<br />nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-13104577564063561272015-06-29T19:23:00.000-07:002015-06-29T19:23:03.247-07:00Check out ITAGUA MEJI: A Road & A Prayer by Nina Angela Mercer on Sunday, August 9th in NYC!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
(photo by <a class="profileLink" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=16205550" href="https://www.facebook.com/hemzheru">Hemamset Angaza</a>)</div>
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Join us for ITAGUA MEJI: A Road & A Prayer by Nina Angela Mercer, with choreography by Kimani Fowlin, at The 9th Annual Boog City Poetry, Music and Theater Festival in NYC at The Sidewalk Cafe at 94 Avenue A on Sunday, August 9th!<br />
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In ITAGUA MEJI, Aisha struggles to find Ori, the divinity of her own head ...<br />
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Aisha, performed by Audrey Hailes<br />
Ori, performed by Kimani Fowlin<br />
The Source, all percussion by Pamela Patrick<br />
Written & Directed by Nina Angela Mercer <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Facebook Event link here:</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
https://www.facebook.com/events/1004987699541764/</div>
nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-35022566204343984372015-06-29T19:08:00.003-07:002015-06-29T19:09:36.081-07:00Reflection: MOTHER WIT & WATER BORN by Nina Angela Mercer at Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre, Nov 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In November 2014, I had the wonderful opportunity of having the 1st stage reading of my play MOTHER WIT & WATER BORN at Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre for the Keep Soul Alive Reading Series. For this reading, the play was directed by Maya James with choreography by Kimani Fowlin. I was absolutely inspired by this opportunity to share my work at NBT. It is an institution founded in love and deep-rooted purpose. It is home for many of us.<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Synopsis: In 1795, a Girl-Child is born on the ship, Mary Mother of
God, as it sails across the Atlantic Ocean from Cape Coast. The Baby Girl’s cries
are fierce as machetes raining from the darkest night sky. Many believe She is
more aberration than human, more curse than precious cargo. She certainly isn’t
meant to survive. But She does …</div>
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MOTHER WIT & WATER BORN is a choreo-drama telling the
story of 7 generations of women born from that Girl Child’s lineage as they
fight to remember and forget the blood memory encoded into their DNA. It is the
blood memory that birthed them into America and pushes them into an unknowable
future. It is ritual and dance. It is Herstory.<br />
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The reading was well-received by the audience, and I look forward to developing MOTHER WIT & WATER BORN as a full production. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkSYahlqJVOazukO7qKLmRMzR1JhzpNlfN3u2yQNeeA_prn7P0Q77gGcSA1jrFoLFv4B9WhzVU-c-ArapsFfhhGW_tfZEfRUKiRsw37YwMYD9zIBpCqYrtaw-5SGR6Dn0DncdIgfy6AJQ/s1600/IMG_6512.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkSYahlqJVOazukO7qKLmRMzR1JhzpNlfN3u2yQNeeA_prn7P0Q77gGcSA1jrFoLFv4B9WhzVU-c-ArapsFfhhGW_tfZEfRUKiRsw37YwMYD9zIBpCqYrtaw-5SGR6Dn0DncdIgfy6AJQ/s320/IMG_6512.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-66782771056936768662015-05-28T06:27:00.005-07:002015-05-28T06:27:51.232-07:00Feels like I've been breaking things apart to rebuild since 2014. Quit
so many bad habits. Breached so many fears. Finally, I'm back at a
foundational level, watching the smoke clear from the burning of my own
personal baggage. And it dawned on me ~ if I'm lucky, I'll be revising
my whole self at different moments for the rest of my life. It ain't no
biggie. Just growth, always a necessary choice.<br />
<br />
More on evolution, transformation, justice, progression, detours, and revised love stories soon. nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-16426711224142213452015-01-27T22:10:00.002-08:002015-01-27T22:14:15.865-08:00Mixtape/My Mind: Zoom.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6OhSYLqrfI0wcc1oY15QfQKeYnLVBXgT6Ihz_g6yJiTviSwZ9difxLNc1-atkRhyphenhyphenNKKRE0Td5sJ1QvOLjwFXdXv2lujaaY6nQTQR14_k_Jp3fHXSq5jY1zOi8cFNHbmRdSgkIdE-GD68/s1600/Commodores+getty_ann_392.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6OhSYLqrfI0wcc1oY15QfQKeYnLVBXgT6Ihz_g6yJiTviSwZ9difxLNc1-atkRhyphenhyphenNKKRE0Td5sJ1QvOLjwFXdXv2lujaaY6nQTQR14_k_Jp3fHXSq5jY1zOi8cFNHbmRdSgkIdE-GD68/s1600/Commodores+getty_ann_392.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r2_Ej7mwDE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r2_Ej7mwDE</a>nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-41954215020605810742015-01-27T17:29:00.002-08:002015-06-30T12:34:36.360-07:00Plays Need Homes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">After
spending years imagining, writing, and revising a play while enduring the oft
troubled (yet strangely beautiful) mental landscape that comes with such
endeavors, most playwrights are hungry to share with a theater company, a
director, a creative team, a cast and an audience. But finding the right home
for a play is probably the most difficult aspect of being a playwright. In
fact, I am close to certain that many playwrights don't find homes for
their work at all. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">In
the beginning of my journey as a playwright, I produced my own work. I didn’t
know any other way to get the play from the page to the stage. I had not gone
to college for a degree in theater; I knew nothing about “The Industry.” I’d
only performed in theatrical productions connected to my life as a student with
Joyce Mosso’s Creative Dance Company and D.C. Park’s and Recreation’s
Showmobile and Black Reflections programs during my youth. So, I emerged as a audacious producing playwright in 2005 by incorporating my own non-profit organization,
Ocean Ana Rising, Inc. I was boldly creative and clueless, and my lack of
knowledge regarding the difficult journey to production probably saved me some
early heartache and insured my play would find its audience, despite the
American Theater industry’s less than generous well of opportunity for Black
women playwrights.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">But
producing is no easy romance. Though Ocean Ana Rising, Inc. has successfully
played a role in developing three of my stage-plays, our company has never had
the capacity to move beyond one workshop production a year. First of all, the
company does not exist to produce my work. The mission is communal in its
focus. We seek to produce work written for, about, and by women of color. I am
only one woman. So, between developmental processes for my own work, Ocean Ana
Rising has also co-produced a performance series dedicated to Black women in
NYC. We have also facilitated arts outreach workshops for women and girls in
need. Simultaneously, I have maintained a position as a faculty member at
Medgar Evers College at The City University of New York over the past six
years. And, I have two daughters I’ve been raising since I was 21 years old. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Without
going through a detailed and emotionally heightened autobiography, I will
simply state that finding a theater home for my work has become absolutely
necessary in light of my choice to be all these versions of woman. I realized
that I needed more consistent support shortly after OAR’s first (and only)
workshop production of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gypsy & The
Bully Door, </i>if I was going to ever move past “emerging” status as a
dramatist.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">So,
imagine how I danced and shouted when I got the news that the African Continuum
Theatre Company would be producing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gypsy
& The Bully Door</i>. First, I have to credit my long-time friend and
collaborator, Eric Ruffin, with getting the play to Thembi Duncan, the
producing Artistic Director at ACTCO. Initially, Eric asked me to send Thembi
my play <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gutta Beautiful</i>. This was the
first play of mine that Eric directed. We both share a love for that play that
goes beyond reason. And we are still searching for ways to achieve the
production that it never had, despite its relatively long-life being produced
by two companies beyond my own. I was hesitant about sending it, though. I wanted
to send my most current work, and that was not <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gutta</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beautiful.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thembi liked the voice she found while reading
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gutta Beautiful</i>, but she did not feel
it was the right fit. As producing Artistic Director, Thembi wanted to be
careful in choosing the first full production the company would under-take,
after being on a short break in producing full stage plays. She felt that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gutta Beautiful,</i> while a bold and
relevant play, was likely better at another juncture in time. So, Eric asked that I send <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gypsy & The Bully Door</i>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I
can’t remember how long it took to get a response from Thembi or Eric. But I
know that when I got the news that Thembi wanted to produce <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gypsy & The Bully Door</i>, I ran in
circles; I pounded on the floor with my fists; I shouted; I cried. I wrote the
first scene, which has since been cut, for that play in 2007, while <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gutta Beautiful </i>was preparing to go up
on stage with New Federal Theatre Company. Then I didn’t touch it again until
the end of 2010, because I’d been working on my choreopoem, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Itagua Meji: A Road & A Prayer</i>. I
spent much of 2011-2013 developing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gypsy
& The Bully Door</i>, though, producing a workshop production of it in 2011
at the Fringe Festival in DC, and taking all of 2012 to revise and revise and
revise. By 2013, I was able to take it through one private stage reading, and
two public ones. The proof of all of that hard work seemed to manifest in its
ability to forge a profound connection to Thembi and ACTCO.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The
name of the company was not lost on me – The African Continuum Theatre Company.
I have been developing my own theory and practice as a Black womanist ritual
theatre practitioner over the past eleven years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gypsy
& The Bully Door</i> is rooted in a creolized cosmology that incorporates
Yoruba, Bantu, Vodoun, Hindi, and Gypsy/Fellow-Traveler cultural motifs and
parables. It is deeply tied to HooDoo, Yoruba, and Bantu sacred rituals as they
have merged due to the TransAtlantic slave trade and the birthing of a new people
through the Middle Passage. I understand <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gypsy
& The Bully Door</i>, and much of my writing for performance, as theatre
that is illustrative of the “African Continuum” as it exists on this side of
the Atlantic on the east coast of the United States.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, not only was Thembi’s selection of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gypsy & The Bully</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Door </i>for ACTCO’s 2014-2015 season some
of the best news I’d received as a playwright in a while, it was also an
important choice that helps to further advance a professional alliance that can
build a clear brand and home for kindred work.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Furthermore,
the issues that the play addresses – Black women’s body politics, police
brutality, gentrification, the culture of violence, and mental health – are
urgently relevant to our community right now. The bold explorations that the
play takes on provide a unique opportunity for conversation and transformation.
We are living in times when such explorations are absolutely necessary.</span></div>
nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279953955366089834.post-57818647484146873852014-11-04T05:37:00.002-08:002014-11-04T05:37:55.836-08:00GYPSY & THE BULLY DOOR is on a journey to DC for March 2015!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDcGNGxFqzRl6HqGFAZ3rncLtBED6_-Ez0QDDjGEMYDsUAOo2A_KXX8nOu9QrRxBcqeChqVoR1qH7OHFHB-cmrZ6pFLIc-CF2ipj7TOUVxBn7GdG4vLyJt8AJeQsiyfxwtUEGKrXloq3Q/s1600/Gypsy+Square+for+FB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDcGNGxFqzRl6HqGFAZ3rncLtBED6_-Ez0QDDjGEMYDsUAOo2A_KXX8nOu9QrRxBcqeChqVoR1qH7OHFHB-cmrZ6pFLIc-CF2ipj7TOUVxBn7GdG4vLyJt8AJeQsiyfxwtUEGKrXloq3Q/s1600/Gypsy+Square+for+FB.jpg" height="320" width="318" /></a></div>
My play GYPSY & THE BULLY DOOR is coming to The Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington, D.C., produced by The African Continuum Theatre Company, and directed by Eric Ruffin!<br />
<br />nina angela mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11359292010822216097noreply@blogger.com0