{"id":207277,"date":"2021-03-10T19:19:14","date_gmt":"2021-03-11T00:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/?p=207277"},"modified":"2021-03-12T21:25:12","modified_gmt":"2021-03-13T02:25:12","slug":"this-april-a-virtual-production-of-tasha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/2021\/03\/10\/this-april-a-virtual-production-of-tasha\/","title":{"rendered":"This April: A Virtual Production of ‘TASHA"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Department of Theatre and Dance presents a Virtual Production of\u00a0 ‘TASHA<\/em>, a Protest Play by Yusef Miller, directed by Tia James, and choreographed by Francesca Harper.<\/p>\n

\u2018TASHA<\/em> is set in a modern republic. White Nationalists are occupying the government. Black communities are under martial law. Newly elected President Waters rules that from henceforth all who defy the police are criminals and will remain unburied should they be killed. Natasha Brown, 27, seeking justice, buries he cousin, murdered by law enforcement. In doing so, \u2018Tasha ignites a prophecy long buried, the criminalization of Brown people. But is this prophecy reversible? \u2018TASHA<\/em> was inspired by Sophocles\u2019 ANTIGONE<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Playwright\u2019s Note: ‘TASHA was written while I was facilitating a Devised Theatre class. The aim of the class was to magnify the voices of young women of color, murdered by the police – racial violence perpetrated against the female Black body is seldom told. A prototype of TASHA was first performed for and by Black and Latina students. I strongly urge that any future production of ‘TASHA evolve from a performance lab among theatre students. The process should amplify Greek tragedy through the inclusion of non-traditional voices. The lab goal should be to empower and inspire young artists of color to address race, gender, and the criminalization of Black people.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"Bio<\/figure>\n<\/div>

\nYusef Miller<\/strong> (Playwright<\/em>) is from Houston but resides near the Bronx river. He has a Lila Acheson Wallace Playwright Fellowship and a Le Comte Du Nouy Prize in Playwriting Excellence at The Juilliard School. Yusef holds an MFA in Theatre and Dance from The University of California, San Diego. He holds a B.A. in English from Morehouse College. As Playwright, Yusef is a 2020 Dramatist Guild Foundation Grant recipient. Yusef was a finalist for the New York Theatre Workshop 2050 Fellowship. He was a finalist for the Lincoln Center Artist Mentoring Lab Fellowship. Yusef’s tragedy \u2018TASHA<\/em> was a semi-finalist at the Eugene O’Neill National Conference and received a 20-hour workshop at Hi-Arts, a home for Hip-Hop Art and Urban Culture.<\/div><\/div>Yusef\u2019s allegory THE PROPHECY OF SHEEP<\/em> was a Williamstown Festival, Weissberger Nominee. It was performed in Paris\/France at Th\u00e9\u00e2tres de Nesle. It was workshopped at The Lark Play Development Center, Lincoln Center\u2019s Directors Lab, and The Classical Theatre of Harlem. As Screenwriter, DING DONG<\/em> Yusef\u2019s short film which premiered at Ripfest #10 Short Film Festival, NYC. As Actor, Yusef is an AEA and SAG-AFTRA unions member. He is a member of Lincoln Center Theater’s Directors Lab and Tectonic Moment Work Institute. Yusef performs throughout the world \u2013 USA, Africa, Europe. France. In AMBITION’S DEBT, Yusef made his Feature Film debut. Yusef is driven to create a platform where homophobia and racism are abolished. He is Filmmaker, Producer, and Creator of ON PROGRAM, a short-film collaboration between writers and musicians from diverse communities. Collaborations reflect uplifting perspectives of people, places, and events long-depicted poorly.<\/p>\n
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\"Bio<\/figure>\n<\/div>
Tia James <\/strong>(Director<\/em>) is an actor, teacher, director, and vocal coach, currently a faculty member of UNC Professional Actor Training Program, and vocal coach and company member of PlayMakers Repertory Company. Tia has been seen on Broadway in The Merchant of Venice<\/em> (Broadhurst Theater), and regional theater productions include Julius Caesar <\/em>(PlayMakers Rep) Native Son <\/em>(PlayMakers Rep), Richard III<\/em> (Allentown Shakespeare); Loving and Loving<\/em> (Stella Adler Studios); The Winter\u2019s Tale and The Merchant of Venice<\/em> (The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park), Much Ado About Nothing<\/em> (Two River Theater) and Civilization (all you can eat)<\/em> (Woolly Mammoth Theater). Her television credits include \u201cNurse Jackie\u201d and \u201cTreme.\u201d She has been the vocal coach for PlayMakers Rep, having worked on such shows as The Adventures of Robin Hood<\/em>, Skeleton Crew<\/em>, She Loves Me<\/em>, Bewilderness<\/em>, Jump<\/em>, Life of Galileo<\/em>, and How I Learned to Drive<\/em>. <\/div><\/div>Tia served as the Associate Artistic Director for The Shakespeare Academy @ Stratford CT, was a teaching artist for NY\u2019s Public Theater Public Works Program, Mobile Unit, and A Midsummer’s Day Camp; a teaching artist for DreamYard Arts Center, and has directed over a dozen plays including Hamlet<\/em>, Othello, <\/em>and The Mystery Plays<\/em> at NYU Graduate Acting Program, Richard III<\/em> at The Shakespeare Academy @ Stratford CT, A Bright New Bright New Boise<\/em> with Atlantic Acting School, Macbeth<\/em> with PlayMakers Mobile Shakes and Constellations<\/em> with UNC PTAP. Tia is the recipient of the 2003 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival; Irene Ryan Winner, the 2014 NYU Graduate Acting Diversity Mentorship Scholarship for Voice and Speech, and the 2020 and 2019 Michael Chekhov\/Zelda Fichandler Scholarship. Tia received her BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University, and her MFA from NYU Graduate Acting.<\/p>\n
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\"Photo<\/figure>\n<\/div>
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Francesca Harper<\/strong> (Choreographer<\/em>) After being named Presidential Scholar in the Arts and performing at the White House Harper joined and performed soloist roles with The Dance Theater of Harlem and later as a Principal Artist in William Forsythe\u2019s Ballet Frankfurt. Harper has choreographed for The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Richmond Ballet, Ailey II, Tanz Graz, Hubbard Street II, and her own company, The Francesca Harper Project, which was founded in 2005 and tours Internationally. <\/p><\/div><\/p><\/div> Harper performed in four Broadway productions including The Color Purple, then toured in leading roles in Sweet Charity, Sophisticated Ladies and Lady Day at Emerson Bar and Grill.\u00a0 She also served as a Ballet Consultant for the Oscar winning film, \u201cBlack Swan.\u201d Harper was Movement and Casting Director for The Bessie Award winning, \u201cThe Let Go,\u201d commissioned by the Park Avenue Armory and for Zendaya and Tommy Hilfiger\u2019s Apollo Theater production for Fashion Week in 2019.\u00a0 Fellowships include Urban Bush Women\u2019s Choreographic Center Initiative and The Ballet Center at NYU. Harper has also created World Premieres for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New Jersey Symphony orchestra.\u00a0 New works include a new creation for Wendy Whelan, Associate Artistic Director of The New York City Ballet and her own autobiographical work, \u201cUnapologetic Body, supported by Urban Bush Women\u2019s CCI.\u00a0 Recently, Harper completed seven World Premiere Virtual Dance Films for Jacob\u2019s Pillow, Princeton University, the New York Choral Society, and many other venues including another World Premiere in Beijing.\u00a0 Harper is currently engaged as Executive Producer with Sony Pictures on a series in development while also pursuing an MFA in performance creation at Goddard College. For more information, please visit thefrancescaharperproject.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Montclair State University Department of Theatre and Dance Virtual Spring Season 2021; A way to continue the journey of learning virtually by performing and capturing during the COVID 19 Pandemic<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":207305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-207277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-announcements"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207277"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":207315,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207277\/revisions\/207315"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/theatre-and-dance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}