‘TIA PRAY A SOUND
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2023
7:30PM at The Shiva Theater at the Public
by a.k. payne
Co-directed by abigail jean-baptiste (all pronouns) and Jaz Hall (they/them)
Clowning Consultant: Jay Délise (they/them)
Stage Manager: Shiku Thuo (any pronouns with love)
featuring a.k. payne, Alicia Pilgrim (she/they), Cristina Pitter (they/she), Joy-Marie Thompson (they/she), Maleek Rae (they/them), and N'yomi Allure Stewart (she/her)
sound and her mama, kendra, have lost a lot of memories. they gather on kendra’s back porch to try to put things back together. along the way, clowning elephants try to help sound along the journey and patriarchal shadows try to steal their dreams. can this Black mother and child witness one another by the end?
a.k. payne
Writer and Performer
a.k. payne is a playwright and theatermaker with roots in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her plays love on and engage Black lives and languages beyond the confines of linear time to find/remember stories that might create conditions for our collective liberation(s). They hold a B.A. in English and African-American Studies from Yale College and an MFA in Playwriting under Tarell Alvin McCraney from fka Yale School of Drama. Their work has been a finalist for the L. Arnold Weissberger New Play Award and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. They are a grandchild of the Great Migration; a queer & non-binary abolitionist affected in community by the ‘New Jim Crow;” and of a great lineage of Black women storytellers and living-room archivists; all of which deeply informs, uplifts and amplifies their work as a playwright, community organizer and spacemaker.
abigail jean-baptiste (all pronouns)
Co-director
abigail jean-baptiste (all pronouns) is a theater maker, director, and writer born & based in New York City with roots in Haiti and the American South. guided by questions around blackness and feminization and kinship, their work uses fragmented language, repeatable gestures, and found objects in a search to build nonsensical ways of being and to reimagine understandings of the past. currently: I Am Soul Directing Residency at National Black Theater, The Audrey Residency at New Georges and BOLD Resident Director at Northern Stage. previously: Project Number One Artist at Soho Repertory Theater, Bushwick Starr Reading Series, Resident Lead Artist at Mercury Store. abigailjeanbaptiste.org
Jaz Hall (they/them)
Co-director
Jaz Hall (they/them) is a queer, non-binary, interdisciplinary director, performer, producing curator, casting associate, & advocate. Jaz believes in community, new work development, & media with historically marginalized groups at the forefront. Works for & by these communities are the forward momentum of necessary change.
Counting DC as their theatre hometown, Jaz debuted their QTBIPOC artist platform, WOMB, the creation space (hiatus) at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where they have served as Assistant Director, Performer, Independent Producer Curator, & Artistic Producing Associate under Nataki Garrett. Jaz’ work as producing curator was most recently seen on the OSF Green Show stage, IT IZ... WHAT IT IZ: A MizCast Variety Show.
In 2023, Jaz returned to OSF as assistant director of ROMEO AND JULIET and producer on the Green Show season. OSF; FAIR Assistant Director (2019). Arena Stage; Allen Lee Hughes Fellow, Casting (2014-2015). Howard University; BFA, Musical Theatre. IG: @thejazhall
Jay Délise (they/them)
Clowning Consultant
Jay Délise (they/them) (official jester of Sugar Hill) is a writer, theater artist, eater of grapes, and producer based in Harlem, New York. They have performed at The United Nations, The Schomburg Center, and The Pulitzer Center. Their work has been highlighted around the world and in publications including Afropunk, Vagabond City, Glass Poetry Press, and Huffington Post.
Shiku Thuo (any pronouns said with love)
Stage Manager
Shiku Thuo (any pronouns said with love) is a stage Manager, actor and director hailing from Southern California, but taking residency in New York. Their most recent works include: The Whitney Album (Soho Rep), ‘Bov Water (Northern Stage) On that Day in Amsterdam ( Primary Stages) Mercury Store Residences. To all the womxn who raised me, thank you for your DIVINE medicine.
Alicia Pilgrim (she/they)
Performer
Alicia Pilgrim (she/they) is grateful to be a part of the Breaking the Binary fest. Alicia is always interested in creating conversations where people can feel seen and stretch their own mindset/perspective. After all, this is one of the core reasons we do theatre! Recent credits include: This is How We Come Alive, burnbabyburn, A Thousand and One, and Random Acts of Flyness.
Cristina Pitter (they/she)
Performer
Cristina Pitter (they/she) is a queer multi-spirit afro-indigenous artist, abolitionist, and alchemist who wants to burn it all down and plant new seeds in the fertile soil. They also have the best laugh ever. SERIOUSLY. Follow their antics at cristinapitter.com.
Maleek Rae (they/them)
Performer
Maleek Rae (they/them) is a gender queer multidisciplinary artist hailing from the eastside of Detroit, MI. Maleek is a graduate of the BFA acting conservatory at SUNY Purchase. Their most recent credits include The Best Man:The Final Chapters(Peacock), Random Acts of Flyness(HBO), East New York(CBS), and their recurring role on Law & Order: Organized Crime(NBC). Maleek's work can also be seen on stages throughout NYC, national commercials, video games, and their own original multi media creations. All thanks and praise be to God. Instagram: @iammaleekrae Website: www.malikreed.com
N'yomi Allure Stewart (she/her)
Performer
N'yomi Allure Stewart (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn, NY.
N'yomi is the first black trans woman to graduate from the prestigious University of North Carolina School of the Arts Acting program receiving a B.F.A. and since has worked at the Public Theater (Richard III, A Raisin in the Sun) and other notable theater companies/organizations such as The O’Neil, Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout, The New Group, Playwrights Horizons, and The Old Globe.