National Black Theatre Selects Four Artists For The 2022 SOUL Series LAB Residency Program

Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre, celebrating its 55th season, has selected four artists for the SOUL Series LAB (Liberating Artistic Bravery) Residency Programs, which is comprised of three signature programs: I AM SOUL Playwright Residency, SOUL Producing Residency, and SOUL Directing Residency. This will be the first time NBT has welcomed a new company of residents after taking a year off due to the unfortunate impact of the pandemic.

This year's residents are: CALLEY ANDERSON (I AM SOUL Playwright Resident), BRIAN EGLAND (I AM SOUL Playwright Resident), ERIC EMAUNI (SOUL Producing Resident), and abigail jean-baptiste (SOUL Directing Resident).

Through the SOUL Series LAB, NBT strengthens the artistic relationship between historically Black theatrical institutions and cutting-edge artists. It's a creative laboratory and home for Black artists and is dedicated to the acceleration and creation of innovative cultural productions, based on NBT's pedagogy forged in 1968. The goal of the program is to diversify the narratives, the points of access, and possibilities being developed and produced around Black lifestyle in American theatre.

Launched in 2012, the I AM SOUL Playwright Residency Program uniquely serves emerging Black playwrights from around the nation, with a commitment to producing a workshop production of a new original text created over an 18-month process. Former recipients of this residency are: Mfoniso Udofia (Her Portmanteau), Aurin Squire (ZooHouse), Derek Lee McPhatter (Serious Adverse Effects), TyLie Shider (The Gospel Woman), Nambi Kelley (Blood), Fedna Jacquet (Black Mother Lost Daughter), Angelica Chéri(Crowndation: I Will Not Lie to David), Dennis A. Allen II (Manhood), Lee Edward Colston II (The First Deep Breath), Tracey Conyer Lee (Retreat), Darrel Alejandro Holnes (Bayano) and Eric Micha Holmes (Mondo Tragic).

The SOUL Producing Residency is a 10-month residency to understand the administrative needs of producing a theatrical season in New York City. This residency calls back to Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's guiding principle of autonomy in Black storytelling and provides an unprecedented opportunity for applicants of color to gain real-time experience. Former recipients of this residency are: Ngozi Anyanwu, Marie Cisco, Jordan Flemming, Tola Ozim, and Emana Rachelle.

The SOUL Directing Residency is a rigorous yet creative playground for Black directors to gain exposure, New York City credentials and, most importantly, technical skills. Piloted in fellowship with the inaugural Directing Resident, Ebony Noelle Golden and the site-specific work, 125th & FREEdom. This program provides a home for one director for a minimum of 18 months, who will focus on mounting an NBT main-stage production of an existing play. Additional former recipients of this residency are Dominique Rider 2019/2021, and Josiah Davis 2020/22.

The residents were selected after a competitive peer selection process that takes five months to fully administer, which is managed by NBT for all three programs. This year's cohort of artists will officially start their residencies on Tuesday, September 6th. Each resident is provided a financial stipend, professional development, dramaturgical and developmental resources, and a full production team. In all three programs, NBT manages the competitive peer selection process which takes five months to complete. Artists in this year's cohort will start their residencies on September 6th.

Read more about each artist below:

PLAYWRITING RESIDENTS

CALLEY N. ANDERSON is a Fall 2022 MacDowell Fellow and is an alum of the Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellows (2020-21), Clubbed Thumb Early Career Writers Group (2021-22), and The Civilians R&D Group (2021-22). Beyond her writing, Anderson was previously the Showrunner's Assistant for Season 2 of One of Us Is Lying (Peacock) and is currently Program Manager at NY Writers Coalition. BA: Davidson College | MFA: New School for Drama. calleynanderson.com

BRIAN EGLAND has had his works become Official Selections of the Atlanta & DC Black Theatre Festivals, he's received placement in the former Southern Rep Theatre's 4D program, residency with the Mississippi Center for Cultural Production as one of their RPPL Artists, and in 2021 Brian returned to UL Lafayette where he wrote and directed a piece titled Boxes In The Ground that streamed on Broadway On Demand and received Honorable Mention in their Stage/Screen shorts film festival. Brian's journey with NBT began in 2020 as a semifinalist for the I AM Soul Playwriting Residency.

PRODUCING RESIDENT

ERIC IMAUNI is fiercely dedicated to building equity into the foundation of the industry and is a champion for the artists and voices that have been historically excluded. Eric is an alum of TedxBroadway Young Professionals, Theater Producers of Color, & Beth Morrison Producers Academy. He is also the recipient of the AKA 500 Hour Producers of Color Initiative. Credits: Broadway: Associate Producer - Is This A Room, Dana H(2 Tony Awards); Off-Broadway: Co-Producer - Kinky Boots.

DIRECTING RESIDENT

abigail jean-baptiste (she/her/hers) is a theater maker, director, and writer born & based in New York City with familial roots in Haiti and the American South. Her work intersects with critical race theory to reimagine understandings of the past. Guided by questions about blackness and femininity and kinship, her work uses images, fragmented language, repeatable gestures, and tangible objects in a constant search to build unconventional ways of being. Past Directing Projects Include: The Story of A Circle by David Ryan Smith, A Case for Black Girls. Setting Central Park On Fire by Kori Alston, Escapegoat by May Treuhaft-Ali, Black Girl Joy by Phanésia Pharel and the salt women by Audley Puglisi. Currently a part of the Roundabout Director's Group, Classic Stage Company Associate Board and The New Georges Jam. Previously: Project Number One Artist at Soho Repertory Theater, Bushwick Starr Reading Series, Resident Lead Artist at The Mercury Store. abigail has also worked as associate/assistant director to Lileana Blain-Cruz, Saheem Ali, Diane Paulus, Sam Gold, and John Doyle. In 2020, she was named one of the "Powerhouse Women Directors Theatre Fans and Industry Pros Alike Need to Know" by Playbill. Most recently, she directed The House That Will Not Stand at Le Petit Theatre in New Orleans. A Proud Lilly Award Winner. B.A. Princeton University.www.abigailjeanbaptiste.org.

The L.A.B is being supported by the generosity of the Jerome Foundation, Ford Foundation, Andrew Mellon Foundation, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, New York City Council, New York State Council on the Arts, and Howard Gilman Foundation. For more information about each of the residencies and alumni of the SOUL Series LAB, visit www.nationalblacktheatre.org and follow NBT on Facebook (@NationalBlackTheatre) and Twitter/Instagram (@NatBlackTheatre).

ABOUT THE PRODUCER:

Founded by visionary Dr. Barbara Ann Teer in 1968, National Black Theatre (NBT) is a nationally recognized cultural and educational institution. Dr. Teer pioneered "the healing art of Black theater as an instrument for wholeness in urban communities where entrepreneurial artists of African descent live and work." In 1983, Dr. Teer expanded the vision of NBT by purchasing a 64,000-square-foot building on 125th Street and Fifth Avenue (renamed "National Black Theatre Way" by local law in 1994). This was the first revenue-generating Black arts complex in the country, an innovative arrangement through which for-profit businesses who shared NBT's spiritual and aesthetic values rented retail space to subsidize the arts. Out of her vision, NBT houses the largest collection of Nigerian New Sacred Art in the Western hemisphere and is considered the authentic representation of a model whose time has come. Throughout its rich history, NBT has maintained a strong commitment to creating a space in which new and underrepresented voices can be brought to the forefront to provide unique and diverse perspectives on the myriad critical issues of equity and social justice that affect our nation today. During the past 50 years, NBT has produced over 300 original works, toured globally and launched international extensions, like the National Black Theatre of Sweden.NBT is supported by grants from the Ford Foundation, New York Community Trust, Time Warner Corporation. Howard Gilman Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Andrew Mellon Foundation, City Council of New York, City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs, Columbia Service Society and private donations. Visit www.nationalblacktheatre.org or follow NBT on Facebook (@NationalBlackTheatre) and Twitter/Instagram (@NatBlackTheatre).