$50,000

Laveau is a ritual theatre piece that explores the life and work of Marie Laveau, Louisiana Voodoo Queen. Starting from a ceremony in Congo Square in New Orleans through pilgrimage, reverence rituals, song and dance, we are guided into a lineage of mysteries that both catalyzes the spirit of Marie Laveau and reveals a higher calling. This premiere will be a short film playlet of the evolving stories of both Laveau’s eternal ritual powers and the performance rituals playwright Britney Frazier, director Margo Hall, and performer Dezi Soléy have taken the project through. This new piece will have video direction by Joan Osato and will be presented by Campo Santo in Spring 2021. A celebration of Black Women, this multi-disciplinary performance ritual entwines storytelling with ceremony, honoring cultural tradition, and challenging the current idea of what engaging Black Theatre is and “should be.”

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$50,000

Featuring actors from age 80 to 8, this performance shaped in collaboration with a multigenerational, multi-bodied ensemble of thirteen will grapple with the complexities of how adults shape and influence children -- definitively and inadvertently wielding the power of words and gesture to create the cultural constructs that we struggle against today. Subverting adult language in our youth’s mouths, and our children’s worldview in our elder’s mouths, this piece will seek to discomfit the familiar and make us consider the power we wield over our children and therefore a future society. This work will premiere in Spring 2021.

www.crowdedfire.org

Prieto is an autobiographical one-man show. Known for his frequent exploration into themes of migration and sexuality, Reyes takes his audience on a journey into his experience growing up queer in the ‘hood of East San Jose.

Through the playful, lovably naive lense of an 8-year-old Reyes, Prieto tells the story of an overprotective grandmother who recycles bottles to support her family while her grandson wonders why they can’t have money like his friends. It tells the story of chismosa vecinas (gossipy neighbors) who peek through their windows and watch as the neighborhood boys tease young Reyes for “acting like a girl.” To escape from the taunting and the daily toil, 8-year-old Reyes creates an imaginary world for himself -- one made up of books and ’90s R&B.

Reyes masterfully navigates topics that are often grave and entrenched in struggle, and he instead offers levity and celebration of becoming his full self against the backdrop of poverty, politics, and an unshakable spirit. Prieto remains unabashed and unapologetic in its critique of oppressive laws and traditions while offering truth, clarity, and above all joy.

yosimarreyes.com/bio

$50,000

The proposed work involves the development of a unique genre originated by Ms. Floresislas – a Latinx trilingual play incorporating English, Spanish, and American Sign Language and deaf actors. Drawing on her life experience, the playwright examines themes and topics that speak to diverse audiences of marginalized groups in our society, including those who have a voice and those who do not. The new piece will explore issues of mental-health, and isolation at a multi-generational level, all while inspiring people to reach out and connect with one other in the most basic level of humanity. This work will premiere in Fall 2022.