Rachel Lynett's BLACK MEXICAN Comes To Wayward Voices
Inspired by the cultural appropriation scandals of Rachel Dolezal and Jessica Krug.
The inaugural season of Wayward Voices continues with a workshop presentation of "Black Mexican" by Rachel Lynett. New York-based artist Gineiris Garcia is partnering with Lynett and taking the reins as the workshop's director.
Inspired by the cultural appropriation scandals of Rachel Dolezal and Jessica Krug, "Black Mexican" tells the story of Ximena, a White university professor posing as a Cuban woman, while Alia, an Afro-Latine Belizean, continues fighting for her place in the spectrum of Latinidad. The play explores colorism and the struggles with identity within the Latine community. "Black Mexican" will begin streaming for free on The Wayward Artist's website on May 14, 2021.
Playwright Rachel Lynett is a Black/Afro-Latine playwright and producer. So far in 2021, her plays have been featured at Theatre Lab, Magic Theatre, True Colors, Florida Studio Theatre, Transformation Theatre, Edgewood College, and as part of the Amplified Series at Indiana University, Bloomington. Rachel Lynett is the 2021 recipient of the Yale Drama Prize for their play, "Apologies to Lorraine Hansberry (You Too August Wilson)" and their plays "Last Night" and "HE DID IT" made the 2020 Kilroy's List. Rachel Lynett is also the
Artistic Director of Rachel Lynett Theatre Company and Executive Director of Page by Page.
Director Gineiris Garcia is a New York-born-and-based freelance director, producer, assistant, performer, and teaching artist. The Yale alum has assisted directors such as Jackson Gay, Awoye Timpo, Saheem Ali, Lou Moreno and Arpita Mukherjee through MCC Theater, New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW), Atlantic Theater Company, INTAR Theatre and Hypokrit Theatre Company, respectively. She is the director and co-producer of "Black Women Are Scary," the radio-dramatic podcast that celebrates and produces short horror stories by BIPOC authors. Her work has been featured in the Dominican Artists Collective's THE COOKING PROJECT, which premiered at NYTW via their Artistic Instigator program in Fall 2020, as well as with Pregones Theater and the Latinx Playwrights Circle via the Greater Good Theater Festival.
The cast of "Black Mexican" includes Jessica Brooks as Zoe, Ashley Love as Ximena, Michelle Reiss as Valery, Gabe Castro as Rafa, and Kiara Lauren as Alia. In addition to Lynett and Garcia, the production team also includes stage manager Lesley Gonzalez.
Wayward Voices is a space to amplify, uplift, and empower BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) artists and their communities. The goal is to produce work that inspires and activates artists now and artists to come. The Wayward Artist recognizes that a Wayward Voices season does not and cannot solve the systemic racism that plagues the theater community and beyond but hope that it can serve as a source of empowerment for artists and as a sign of inevitable change in the theatre community. Wayward Voices is a season of art and storytelling, but above all, Wayward Voices is a place to empower, uplift, and amplify the voices of BIPOC artists.
The workshop presentation of "Black Mexican" streams for free on The Wayward Artist's website beginning May 14, 2021. For more information about the Wayward Voices initiative and the artists involved, visit https://www.thewaywardartist.org/wayward-voices.