New York University Tisch School of the Arts Allyson Green, Dean

Institute of Performing Arts Sarah Schlesinger, Associate Dean

Department of Drama Rubén Polendo, Chair

TISCH DRAMA STAGE Presents:

INTER//STELLAR

CURATED BY
NATIONAL BLACK THEATRE

DIRECTOR/LEAD CREATOR
EBONY N. GOLDEN

PROJECT DESIGNERS
JASMINE CANJURA, REEF (HARITH) LIEW

PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER
ALICIA CABRERA

PROCESS CHRONICLER
SAJ (STEFANIE A. JONES)

BOOK
NYAH ANDERSON, NAIYA MCCALLA AND JAMILAH ROSEMOND

CONCEIVED AND DEVELOPED
VIKTOR LE GIVENS, PARIS WEEDEN, AND EBONY NOELLE GOLDEN

 

A Message From the Chair

Tisch Drama is a community devoted to creation and collaboration. A dynamic production process—exploring live and now virtual formats—sits at the heart of our curriculum as a place to reconcile theory, training, and creation. One of my great privileges since becoming Chair has been the development and growth of our TISCH DRAMA STAGE programming. In these challenging times, our goal continues to be programming a range of important artists in the field that present a wide spectrum of views and processes—theatre artists committed to investigation, interrogation, and innovation.

After presenting successful residencies over the past four years, with artists and companies that have included Young Jean Lee, Steve Cosson and the Civilians, 600 Highwaymen, Phantom Limb, the Movement Company, and the National Asian-American Theater Company, I am thrilled and honored to welcome the National Black Theatre’s visionary Artistic Director, Jonathan McCrory, and his remarkable colleague Ebony Noelle Golden, as our fall artists in residence. Founded in 1968 by Dr. Barbara Ann Teer, NBT is among the oldest Black theaters in the country. Dr. Teer believed in Black Theatre as a source for uplifting, strengthening, and healing Black communities. NBT’s core mission remains the same today as it was at the time of its founding: to produce transformational theatrical experiences that enhance African American cultural identity by telling authentic stories of the Black experience. The vibrancy of this mission is as potent now as it ever has been, as Tish Drama joins in a celebration of this mission and a reaffirmation that Black hearts, bodies, stories, and lives matter.

While in residency at Tisch Drama, Jonathan and Ebony have collaborated with our students to create Building the Future Now, a program of two timely works. INTER//STELLAR explores the pursuit of joy, self-actualization, and soul retrieval while living in a challenging world. Love is the Message! Joy is the Revival. examines the power of love in this particular time of “transition, unrest, and death.” I am thrilled that we are presenting this series as part of a critical dialogue on our world, our nation, our communities, and our lives.

I hope you will continue to join us during this unique season. Watch for more information about Studio, Student Works, and TISCH DRAMA STAGE productions. Thank you for coming to see Building the Future Now and for participating in this community.

— Rubén Polendo

A Note from the Curator

When thinking about this residency between the National Black Theatre (NBT) and Tisch Drama, I think about an opportunity to engage creative placemaking, the next generation, and legacy. As Artistic Director of NBT, residencies like this push past the digital space we have been forced to maneuver and has allowed for two institutions to generate a virtual home. Through this seven-week engagement, NBT has been able to partner with the nimble and present staff at NYU to establish a creative placemaking theatrical event that is not confined by our limitation of what we think or imagine what can happen. We have been able to bend the matrix of what can happen in this liminal space and provide seven weeks of creative training to break down the modalities of how we construct theatre, how we build a practice, how we share a pedagogy, and how we truly enrich the lives of those around us. This residency has been a powerful gift—not only for the National Black Theatre to give to NYU students, but also for the students to infuse, engage, and even evolve the flame that Dr. Barbara Ann Teer lit in 1968 when she founded NBT. Through this work lead by Ebony Noelle Golden and myself, we have jointly constructed environments that can sustain building the future now! We are not waiting for some solution to show up, we are taking the tools that we know, the love that we have, the passion that we see, and the vision that we are committed to as means to heal the divisive chaotic forces of our current times. NBT is excited for you to experience these two works; we want to thank NYU Tisch Drama under the dynamic leadership of Rubén Polendo for two solid years of partnership and look forward to the conversation that we know these works will help to spark. It is humbling, as a legacy Black Theatre institution, to be the first to do this kind of work—as a main-stage production for the department.

— Jonathan McCrory, Artistic Director, National Black Theatre

A Note From the Director

“Looking for the rain   Looking for the rain” — Gil Scott Heron

How to make art in a time of breakthrough//a poem How to center joy in a time of social upheaval//a musical How to breathe as if breath is our only currency//a novella How to dance when shocked still//a concert How to sing your song when all you know is song//an oratorio How to approximate intimacy in a time of distance//a composition How to find the sun in a season of ice// an epic sojourn How to radiate healing in a time rupture//a ceremony

During this residency, I witnessed myself perform a sort of emotional gymnastics. I’ve done this before. Twisting my words while taking the temperature of the room. This virtual room—intense and ripe with possibility and necessary as air. I wonder who needs this more, the ensemble and the designers, or me. I am convinced, reflecting on what we made, this performance-film-ceremony-choreopoem, I once again made the medicine I needed to survive another daunting stretch of time and space. Reflecting as I write, I’m grateful for the challenge to create work outside the expectations of “traditional” theatre-making. Through the necessary release of stage/curtains/auditorium, I found new pathways to the stars just beyond my reach. I’ve grown comfortable with the discomfort lacing the unknown, the dark interstitial spaces where transformation is possible and new systems of creative liberation are found.

QUESTIONS// a litany

1. What’s too much to unload, upload, or unearth about this shared moment we are living through? 
2. What’s most important to share, teach, and facilitate when the goal is to produce an artifact that reflects our human experience?  
3. What does the next generation of art-makers, my future colleagues, need to know about the challenges and opportunities being born through this moment?
4. Is it possible to activate an experimental womanist performance practice across the internet?
5. Where do rage and grace meet?
6. How can I support artists in making work that is overtly political and rooted in spiritual medicine for transformation and dare I say healing?
7. How can I illuminate Dr. Teer’s legacy through this process?

The challenge of making work without being in the same room has also asked me to expand my awareness of what is possible. Before each rehearsal, I meditate on how Dr. Teer might facilitate a transformative ritual in this moment. I light a candle and think about the freedom fighters who create closeness with loved ones locked away in prison cells or deported due to our country’s immigration policies. I drink water and daydream about how Ntozake Shange might create a choreopoem with her collaborators who for whatever reason could only do so by mail or fax machine. What is possible through application of technology is limitless for those who make it so. Ceremony rooted in intention and community. Connection, by any means as an act of radical creativity and joy. I am thankful for the snatches of clarity amidst all of the inquiry. Perhaps this moment of conjuring theatrical ceremony is actually a deep practice of remembering as the river remembers, as our muscles remember, as our hearts remember. How will we remember this moment if not through the stories that remind us we were here leaning into each other through screens and story and trust and surrender—quilting by lamp glow while tracking packages across interstate highways and time zones. As you prepare to watch, or perhaps re-watch INTER//STELLAR, our love song to the sun, know that this is a collective labor of love and trust. That the same stars we studied, the same stars we move between, have been woven into the words and the world created for you to engage. Ask yourself what you are reaching beyond to find deep wells of hydration and soul retrieval. How are you inviting a deeper relationship with the sun inside of you, inside of us all. Allow yourself to struggle with the unknown, the fertile darkness where the light is brilliant and lights our path forward.  

We are one with the stars.

— Ebony Noelle Golden

Addendum: I initially determined that INTER//STELLAR would take place in August 2020 in Harlem. As we dove deeper into the devising process, it became clear that we didn’t need to respond to this moment, so the time period shifted to 2019—still present and relevant but indeed a different necessary moment.  

Who’s Who – The Creative Team

Ebony Noelle Golden (Director) is an artist, scholar, and culture strategist from Houston, Texas, and currently based in Harlem.  She devises site-specific ceremonies, live art installations, creative collaborations, and arts experiments that explore and radically imagine viable strategies for collective black liberation. In 2020, Golden launched Jupiter Performance Studio (JPS) which serves as a hub for the study of diasporic black performance traditions. JPS is integral to the development of a five-part theatrical ceremony that will be developed and produced over the next three years with partners in Harlem, Brooklyn, Durham, and Ashfield, Mass. In 2009, she founded Betty’s Daughter Arts Collaborative, a culture consultancy and arts accelerator, that devises systems, strategies, solutions for and with education, arts, culture, and community groups globally. Golden’s current projects include: Jubilee 11213 (in partnership with Weeksville Heritage Center and generously supported by Creative Capital, Coalition of Theaters of Color, and Black Spatial Relics) and In The Name Of (commissioned by Apollo Theatre and generously supported by Double Edge Theatre, Toshi Reagon, Network of Ensemble Theatres and Hi-Arts).

Jasmine Canjura (Project Designer) is currently in her third year studying scenic and costume design at Tisch Drama’s Production & Design Studio. She is a Latinx artist originally from California and her recent credits include costume design for Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens (Playwrights Horizons Downtown), costume design for One for the Road (Playwrights Horizons Downtown), costume design for A Whaley Big Mistake (New York Summerfest), and assistant scenic design for Death of the Last Black Man in the Entire World (TISCH DRAMA STAGE). Canjura also recently worked as the production designer on Haute Couture (ONEIRIC Studios).

Reef (Harith) Liew (Project Designer) finds it very strange to talk about himself in third person. He is currently studying scenic and lighting design in Tisch Drama’s Production & Design Studio and pursuing a double major in game design. He hails from the small country of Brunei but moved to Singapore. He used these opportunities to travel to places such as Bali to learn about shadow puppetry and other theatrical practices.

Alicia Cabrera Tactuk (Production Stage Manager) is a third-year student in Tisch Drama’s Production & Design Studio studying stage management and scenic design with a minor in digital art and design. Past credits: stage management for Funnyhouse of a Negro (TISCH DRAMA STAGE), assistant stage management for Love in the Nightingale (Tisch Drama Student Works), production assistant for The Late Wedding (TD STAGE), assistant scenic designer for 12 Angry Animals (TD STAGE) and audio assistant for Medusa the Musical (Tisch Drama’s New Studio on Broadway). Alicia has worked as a production assistant for TicTacTuk, a production company in the Dominican Republic, and has worked on multiple television shows and live events—she became their co-producer and helped develop Imaginativa.

 

 

Who’s Who – The Cast

	Nyah Anderson (Celeste) is a young, imaginative, authentic, up-and-coming actress. Having made an appearance in several theatrical  productions and playing a multitude of roles: From Velma Kelly in Chicago, Marie, Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother, in Cinderella, Dorthy in The Wiz, Hermia in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray, and now Celeste. Not only an actress, but also a very talented vocalist, she looks forward to seeing what the future will bring, with the support of her family and friends by her side.
	Naiya McCalla (Luna B.) is so grateful to be a part of her first TISCH DRAMA STAGE production! She is currently a second-year Drama student at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, training in the Stella Adler Studio. An Atlanta native, she’s had the wonderful opportunity to be a Teaching Artist for Young Performers with both Onstage Atlanta and Forefront Arts. Most recently, she’s been seen in productions with SheATL Arts and Art Garage NYC. She hopes this collaboration with the National Black Theatre, this INTER//STELLAR journey of cosmic liberation, is received with open hearts, and that everyone is prioritizing their health and well-being.
	Jamilah Rosemond (Natasha) is a second-year student in Tisch Drama, training at the New Studio on Broadway. This is Rosemond’s first TISCH DRAMA STAGE production, and she is thrilled to be playing Natasha in INTER//STELLAR. Some of her past credits include: Henry Box Brown National Tour (Robinette); AG Life, American Girl’s web series (Host); Girl Be Heard’s mainstage show, Citizen Be Heard (performer/writer); Bayard: The Musical (Dorothy Heights), and NYMF’s Peace, Love, and Cupcakes (Emily). She would like to thank Ebony and Paris, the cast, and the crew for making this production so special. She is also grateful for her family and God.

INTER//STELLAR Production Team

STUDENT STAGE MANAGEMENT ADVISOR – LAUREN BLANKS
ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER – SANAH TAHILIANI
DESIGN TEAM – KARL BRAND, BRYSON EZELL, DANIELA GOYTIZOLO
MENTORS – MARK BENNETT (SOUND), ERIN SLATTERY-BLACK (COSTUMES), DAN SOULE (SCENIC), JENNA WOODS (STAGE MANAGEMENT), JEANETTE OI YEW (LIGHTING & VIDEO)

Department of Drama Administration

Chair – Rubén Polendo
Associate Chair – Nathan Flower
Director of Theatre Studies – Gwendolyn Alker
Director of Professional Training – Dawn-Elin Fraser
Director of Strategic Planning – Chris. P. Jaehnig
Director of Diversity Initiatives – Michael McElroy
Director of Applied Theatre – Mauricio Salgado
Director of Production – Jeanette Yew
Director, Finance and Administration – Anita Daniels
Student Services Director – Scott Loane
Director of Admissions & Recruitment – Robert Hoyt
Associate Director, Special Projects – Joe McGowan
Manager of Faculty Services – John Dietrich
Computer Systems and Communications Manager  – Greg Chan
Marketing and Communications Administrator – Holly Grace Gaddy
Career Development & Alumni Engagement, Program Administrator – Rachel Friedman
Admissions Coordinator – Molly Horan
Admissions Administrator – Isabella Willeboordse
Academic Advisors – Neema Atri, John Dietrich, Josh P. Jackson, Rachel Johnson, Amanda Stumpf
Budget Administrator – Azena Louis
Administrative Aides – Lisa Joseph, Sarah Kuntz, Casey O’Neil, Christine Phelan, Jesael Rios Studio Administrators – Nanc Allen (ETW), Samantha Jackson (Meisner), Daniel Spector (Classical), Hilary Tanabe (NSB)

Department of Drama Production Staff

Production Manager – Scott Mancha
Associate Production Manager – Brídín Clements
Operations Manager – Ryan Parow
Technical Director – Kat Tharp
Scene Shop Supervisor – Patrick Brennan
Prop Master – Rachel Schneider
Costume Director – Therese Bruck
Costume Shop Supervisor – Kimberly Parkman
Costume Technical Fabricator – Asa Thorton
Lighting Supervisor – Josh McConchie
Director of Sound & Media – John Kemp

Department of Drama Production Assistants

Master Carpenters/Paint Charges – Josh Barilla, Colleen Murray, Nina Pan, Nadja Antic
Props Assistant – Ant Ma
Carpenters and Props Assistants — Collin Linnville, Hanif Bhatti, Lauren Nguyen, Megan Mishkin, Elliot Stewart, Sophie Blondel
Master Electricians – Kristin Paige, Corey Whittemore
Costume Build Team – Zoë Allen, Kindall Almond, Kaeylarae Buntin, Lauren Carmen, Orla Long, Maddie Wall, Claire Zhang
Production Resource Office Assistants – Kenny Duecker, Callie Holley, José Hurtado, David Rhea

While engaging a range of subjects and approaches, this work is intended for mature viewers. Please note that the show contains adult situations and challenging language. Discretion is advised. The videotaping or other video or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.