2022 Year in Review
Photo by Jansen Bridge for Chicago Performs 2022 @ the MCA.
I have a lot to be thankful for in 2022.
I didn’t quite get to everything on my list for the year. But I’m grateful for all the ways I’ve been able to move forward. Reflecting on the last 365 days, here’s a few highlights that keep me excited:
Water Riot in Beta: A Cyber Punk Rock Opera – Debut Presentation
Tara Aisha Willis, Ph.D., is the Curator of Performance at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is leading the reinvigoration of the performance programming at this institution. My affiliation with the museum reached a highpoint with Chicago Performs 2022.
The inaugural year of this performance festival featured new work from Erin Kilmurray, Bimbola Akinbola and myself. It was also the public launch of a new commissioning program at the museum which provided significant support for my Water Riot work in progress:
The powers that be are ready to privatize Lake Michigan, but tonight a troupe of water rights activists are staging a “damn the dam” protest inspired by social movements across history.
Grounded in contemporary issues including climate anxiety and eco-grief, Water Riot in Beta draws on the under-acknowledged legacy of Black voices in Punk, Electronic, and experimental contemporary music.
Water Riot at the MCA - I’m taking a Bow. Photograph by Jeremy Lawson
I leveraged the museum’s resources to gather an amazing troupe of collaborating artists over the course of 2021 and 2022, and now Water Riot is poised for even more growth in the months ahead.
Chicago State University Theatre Department - Short Play Revue
I was so gratified to engage the theatre department at Chicago State University in 2022, representing Chicago Dramatists as a resident playwright.
Post-Performance Photo with CSU Students and Key Faculty!
Over the spring semester, the student body studied several of my plays and I visited the class for a q&a about my creative practice. Our time together culminated in their presentation of four of my One-Act plays.
I was so happy I could attend in person and see these artists explore my work.
A shot from the CSU Theatre department performance of my hit play, Citizen Jane.
It’s always a thrill when artists respond to my words, but I was particularly taken by the ways these students –- the artists and audiences of the future -- responded to my work. I felt understood, embraced and celebrated and left the event so lifted.
(Bonus: 227 creator, Christine Houston, is on faculty there, and I got to meet her IN PERSON. It’s amazing how much Black Culture and History is at your fingertips in Chicago.)
underdrown - finally a live presentation
Water Riot is now the anchor production for my growing NightQueen Performance Suite, but 2022 also saw milestones for the companion piece, underdrown.
Primary Stages in Manhattan produced the first live staged reading of this piece in the fall of 2022, and I was immensely grateful and inspired by the way underdrown took shape outside of zoom rooms. That experience informed my approach to the next rewrite. I’m genuinely excited about this play again, thanks to the creative community at Primary Stages.
Underdrown was also named a finalist for the 2022 Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award, presented by Northern Stage and the Neukom Institute for Computational Science at Dartmouth College.
So those were just a few highlights of quite an awesome year. I won’t pretend that 2022 didn’t bring me some lows, rejections and setbacks. But I’m learning to take it in stride and remain astounded by the wealth of opportunities that are expanding my horizons as a dramatic writer.
Gonna Do My Best to Keep This Up for 2023!
