Following a call for entries in August 2020, over 65 original works—ranging from monologues and slam poetry to puppetry and dance activism—were submitted. From those entries, a diverse panel of artists of color selected the 24 works that will comprise the inaugural festival. All works that have met the required submission guidelines will be archived on The Breath Project website.
The Breath Project seeks to build a more equitable theater community in the country and to actively dismantle structural racism in the American theater through a three-pronged mission: Art, Action, and Advocacy.
- Art In partnership with organizations and artists across the nation, The Breath Project will create, develop, and support original theatrical works, created by BIPOC artists. The work that is housed by The Breath Project will be used as a tool for education and advocacy, as a living time capsule of this moment in history.
- Action The Breath Project is working to build relationships between local artists and theaters in their community and region, creating more opportunities for BIPOC theater artists, technicians, and administrators throughout the country. Working across national partnerships, The Breath Project will seek to end the notion that plays by BIPOC artists fulfill a quota or check a box for a theater, and instead become an organic and permanent part of the American Theater landscape.
- Advocacy
The Breath Project will work to support the organizations that produce, fund, and support the American Theater to eliminate the racism and biases that exist in our institutions and business practices.
This event is FREE but requires advance registration. RSVP HERE >>
The 24 selected works (in alphabetical order) are:
- Mhir Agrawal / Gamal Chasten – “Say Hello Stewart”
- Aldo Billingslea — “3 Story Walk Up”
- Alumni Theater Company — “Perspectives”
- Ananya Dance Theatre — “Just Breathe”
- James Brunt — “Waiting for Death”
- Giovanny Camarena — “Don’t Be Afraid”
- The Char’Actors — “The Cycle”
- Tyharra Cozier — “Breath”
- Henri Franklin — “Views of Color in 8:46”
- Yetta Gottesman — “Oh, Maria”
- Ilasiea Gray — “Acting While Black”
- David Guster — “Nice to Meet You”
- Candice Handy — “Black Quarantine Date”
- Harvey — “Breonna’s Prayer”
- Gabrielle Jackson — “The Ballad of Jacob Blake”
- Angela G. King — “8:46”
- Bruce Lemon, Jr. — “The Act of Ownership”
- Anthony Sky Ng-Thow-Hing — “Transcending Isolation: Hope”
- Playwright Collective of Puerto Rico – “inhala – exhala”
- Josh Richardson — “Choosing Sides”
- Derek J. Snow — “The Ballad of the Dying Body or The Breath to Say”
- Jessica Gabrielle Thomas — “Glow | Eternal”
- Bil Wright — “Pulse”
- David Zayas / Gamal Chasten — “I Just Don’t Know”
