Running alongside our mainstage season of Identity is our new initiative, Wayward Voices!
Wayward Voices is a space to amplify, uplift, and empower Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) artists and their communities. Our goal is to produce work that inspires and activates artists now and artists to come. And this new season is sure to do just that.
This entirely free virtual season features four productions created and devised by BIPOC artists from around the country. Join these artists in stories of culture, identity, religion, and love. Explore these stories and join in community, all from the comfort of your home.
Our lives were changed from just reading these stories and picking this season. And now, we can’t wait to share these stories with you.
Check out our season below!
Opening the inaugural season of Wayward Voices is Bismillah, Or in the Name of God, written by Nakisa Aschtiani. Based in Laguna Beach, CA, Bismillah tells the story of long-time Iranian-American friends questioning ingrained cultural beliefs, and fighting for change after a bar shooting changes their lives forever. Aschtiani poses the question, “is it ever too late to love unconditionally?” Directed by Ani Marderosian, the story and poignant language will be amplified in this audio-only experience.
Black Mexican by Rachel Lynett takes the next slot in our season. Partnering with Lynett and taking the reins as director is New York-based director Gineiris Garcia. Inspired by the cultural appropriation scandals of Rachel Dolezal and Jessica Krug, Black Mexican tells the story of Ximena, a White university professor posing as a Cuban woman, while Alia, an Afro-Latine Belizean, continues fighting for her place in the spectrum of Latinidad. The play explores colorism and struggles with identity within the Latinx/e community.
New York-based The Sống Collective presents a new devised theater piece, Collective Stories. The production is rooted in the process of Free Southern Theatre’s storytelling circles which brings together individuals to share and create works inspired by memories, personal experiences, and connection via community. In this iteration, The Sống Collective explores the relationship between the Vietnamese and Black communities and is using theater to begin the tough and necessary conversations. Collective Stories addresses the anti-Blackness in the Vietnamese community in order to focus on moving the community forward and bringing healing between both communities.
Closing our season is De la Luna, Del Sol by actor and director, Daniel Andres Blanco. A passionate screenwriter, Blanco transforms his screenplay of the same name into a socially-distant, virtual play. Loosely inspired by Jose Rivera’s Cloud Tectonics, De la Luna, Del Sol follows introvert Emiliano De la Luna through his struggles coping with life after a traumatic breakup. While healing, Emiliano meets Elena Del Sol online who offers him a promising future. His thoughts continue to dwell on the past and he soon realizes the world has moved on without him.