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(Washington, D.C.) This March, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company launches RESET, a new, free digital collection featuring historical resources, excerpts, and video performances curated by Nicole M. Brewer, Faedra Chatard Carpenter, Jordan Ealey, Kristen Jackson, Leticia Ridley, and Nikkole Salter. The collection is available now at www.woollyreset.net from March 4 – 31, 2021.
In August 2020, the curators—six Black cisgender women theatre artists, activists, and scholars—were invited to identify culture creators and works that have deeply impacted them, acknowledging that their personal selections reflect their personal perspectives. What emerged was the beginnings of a universe; constellations of Black artistry across history, genre, and theme.
Among the women they pay tribute to are poet Nikki Giovanni, producer and playwright Vy Higginsen, actress Hattie McDaniel, Black feminist group The Combahee River Collective, and Dr. Barbara Ann Teer, founder of the National Black Theatre. And just as the solar system is vast, so are the works of these selected women and the multitudes of many more women who could be included in the collection. The hope is this is the beginning of a journey that continues on into deeper discovery.
Woolly Mammoth’s Artistic Director, Maria Manuela Goyanes says “I love having the pleasure and honor of programming the artistic content at Woolly Mammoth, and I also acknowledge that my perspective need not be the only one always centered. The women celebrated in this project include names I had heard before, such as Audre Lorde, and also women I should have known about like pioneering playwright Pauline Hopkins. RESET is an opportunity for all of us to learn about and lift up these extraordinary—and often unacknowledged—contributions to our culture.”
Seventeen artists brought their works to life, including Woolly Company Members Shannon Dorsey and Dawn Ursula, as well as long-time and new Woolly collaborators: E. Faye Butler, Felicia Curry, Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Ricardy Fabre, Paige Hernandez, Ahmaya Knoelle Higginson, Asia Howard, Kristolyn Lloyd, Amiah McGinty, Natasha Ofili, Sisi Reid, Patience Sings, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Tyler Thomas, and Reggie D. White.
RESET’s multidisciplinary experience combines dramaturgy, history, performance, and digital production. Designed specifically for this project, RESET’s interactive website will ask users to connect stars revealing artist constellations that contain video, curator’s reflections, and additional resources for further exploration. The website design was developed and created by students Deja Collins, Connie Dai, Jack Golden, Hannah Huie, Andrés Poch, Sean Preston, Zavier A.L. Taylor, Taylor Verrett, Carlo Antonio Villanueva, and Mark Williams, who are MFA candidates in Projection and Media Design at University of Maryland, College Park, under the guidance of their professor Jared Mezzocchi (Woolly Company Member).
RESET was line produced by Sarah Cain, stage managed by Rachael Danielle Albert and assistant stage managed by Leigh Robinette, with video editing by Ben Gunderson.
RESET is free to access and available now from March 4 – 31, 2021 at www.woollyreset.net. The site is not mobile friendly. View on computer or tablet. Closed Captions are available.
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