Weird Sisters Theatre Project Has Selected New Producing Team
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Nov. 06, 2019
The Weird Sisters Theatre Project has selected a brand-new team of female artists to continue producing theatre in Atlanta by women, for everyone.
In the vein of the company's mission to foster and cultivate opportunities for women in the arts with a commitment to producing works by women for everyone, they are excited to bequeath their power and responsibilities to the next outstanding producing team. Applications were shared in late summer 2019 with the Atlanta arts community and two rounds of interviews were conducted this fall by a conglomerate of founding members and producers from the outgoing team.
Between 2011 and 2015, the founding members (Kelly Criss, Veronika Duerr, Jaclyn Hofmann, Megan Rose Houchins, and Tiffany Porter) brought Atlanta many crowd-pleasing productions including Desdemona: a play about a handkerchief, Anton in Show Business, Five Lesbians Eating a Quiche, Émilie: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight, and the world premiere comedy Hot Pink, or Ready to Blow.
In summer 2016, the original founders stepped down and handed over the day-to-day responsibilities to a new team. This second stellar group of artists finished their last project in January 2019 and included Shelli Delgado, Rachel Frawley, Kate Donadio MacQueen, and Julie Skrzypek. During their tenure, they shared many weird new works with Atlanta audiences: Enchanted April, The Electric Baby, Dangerous Women, and Space Girl, among other special events and readings.
As the second team's producing term came to an end, everyone agreed to solicit new applicants for a third team with another two-year term. This allows the Weird Sisters to continue to share exciting, provocative, and decidedly weird works with Atlanta audiences. The previous producing teams are excited to mentor these new female producers - providing advice and support as they take the reins on Atlanta's weirdest theatre project.
The new team includes:
Natalie Fox:
Natalie is honored to be a part of the newest Producing Team for The Weird Sisters Theatre Project! Natalie has a BA in Theatre Performance from the Santa Fe University of Art & Design. A passionate director, she has most recently collaborated on processes at Theatrical Outfit (Our Town), Essential Theatre (Slaying Holofernes, Henry Darger Takes a Walk), and upcoming: Theatre Buford (A Christmas Carol, and The Importance of Being Earnest). Her aim is to promote emotional healing and social change through storytelling. She can't wait to start creating alongside these fiercely talented women!
Asia is a native Atlanta actor excited for the opportunity to contribute to the community that shaped her. She has worked with the Weird Sisters as a company member and witnessed first-hand the refreshing voice this company shares with the Atlanta theatre scene. Some of her recent credits include Our Town & The Laramie Project (Theatrical Outfit), Pipeline (Horizon Theatre), and Skeleton Crew (True Colors). Her first Weird Sisters production was Dangerous Women, and she could not be more honored to join this group of dangerous women as a producer!
Renita is so excited to be a part of Weird Sisters. Renita is an educator and actor currently working at Aurora Theatre as the Director of Education. Some of her previous stage credits include FML: How Carson McCullers Saved My Life (7 Stages), 12 Dates (Aurora Theatre), Once Upon A Mattress (Stage Door Players) and Petite Rouge (Synchronicity Theatre). "Let's get weird!"
Erika received her BFA in Acting at The Theater School at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. She kicked off her career in Chicago's cherished storefront theaters. Her interest in Shakespeare and Movement brought her to London for a Certificate in Classical Acting at LAMDA. A role in the Blumhouse Production's film The Gallows: Act 2 moved her to Los Angeles where she also worked on the team that premiered The Cake by Bekah Brunstetter. Upon returning home to Atlanta, you have seen her as #46 in The Wolves (Horizon Theatre), Amanda in Slaying Holofernes (Essential Theater), Justine in Frankenstein's Funeral (Found Stages) and most recently as Lydia Wickham in The Wickhams (Theatrical Outfit). Erika is a story maker that believes in the magic of storytelling to ignite empathy and connection through bold narratives and authenticity.
Ibi Owolabi:
Ibi is a film and theatre director in love with Atlanta. She graduated from Georgia Southern with a BA in Theatre, where she won the Stage Directors and Choreographer's (SDC) national fellowship. She then became a directing intern at Actor's Express, and from there, the Kenny Leon Fellow at the Alliance Theatre. Some of her directing career favorites are The Electric Baby with the Weird Sisters, Here Comes the Sun at the DC Black Theatre Festival, and The Nether at Theatre Emory.
Producer Quotes:
"I don't think anyone on the original team could have envisioned this progression when we started out 8 years ago: recruiting and mentoring 10 new producers as they take on their first projects. To be able to provide a platform for aspiring female artists to select, commission, and then fully produce female-driven stories is a real honor that I feel so fortunate to be a small part of. We received a wonderful response from the community when we began accepting applications for this new team and are all so excited for what lies ahead."
- Kelly Criss, Weird Sisters Theatre Project Producer 2011-2015 & Founding Member
"Setting out to vet new producers, we were looking for artists who had a drive for expansion. The Weird Sisters is a place for ambitious dreamers and workhorses. What impressed me about this group was the universal passion for growth: to learn as producers, develop material that challenges and inspires, and to grow the community of artists and audiences that the Weird Sisters engages. My experience as a WSTP producer has been invaluable, and I am beyond grateful to pass on a role that means so much to me to such a talented and exciting team."
- Rachel Frawley, Weird Sisters Theatre Project Producer 2016-2019
The Weird Sisters Theatre Project in a non-profit organization incorporated in 2012 by a coalition of artists associated with the Atlanta Shakespeare Company. They have since produced 5 partial seasons of exciting, new works. They have performed at The Atlanta Shakespeare Company, Aurora Theatre, The Alliance, Emory University, Windmill Arts Center, Out of Box Theatre, Synchronicity Theatre, 7Stages Blackbox, and Actor's Express.
Comments
Videos
