Theatre Rhinoceros & Theatre Bay Area Name Arts Tanika Baptiste As Leadership Resident

Theatre Rhinoceros welcomes award-winning director, performer, designer, and all-around rising star Tanika Baptiste as an Arts Leadership Resident, through a residency grant awarded by Theatre Bay Area.

Baptiste is working with Development Director & Company Manager Crystal Liu, under Executive Artistic Director John Fisher's mentorship, learning the administrative day-to-day tasks necessary to keep a modestly staffed, independent theatre company afloat and functioning in unpredictable times, when public attitudes on both the necessity of arts programs, and the humanity of LGBTQ+ people, are shifting everyday.

Prior to 2023, Tanika Baptiste played an integral creative role in Theatre Rhinoceros' 2021-22 season, as a director of both virtual and in-person staged readings, and helming the full productions At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen by Terry Guest, and How Black Mothers Say I Love You by Trey Anthony. The former garnered so much positive attention that the production was attended in person by Mayor London Breed and District Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who expressed their excitement and gratitude for both Theatre Rhinoceros' and Tanika's continued work and creativity, lifting up both as examples of creators who keep San Francisco unique and culturally thriving even in the midst of national crisis.  

As part of the Arts Leadership Residency, Tanika will produce and direct Group Therapy, a new play by local playwright Kheven LaGrone about aging, healing, and connecting as queer human beings of color. This play, to be presented as a full production at the start of Rhino's 2023-24 season at 4229 18th St, is thematically pertinent in its discussions of maintaining relevance and grappling with regret as its characters approach queer eldership (a discussion usually not given serious attention even in LGBTQ+ circles), and is also relevant in a broader context given the history of its production location. 

Theatre Rhinoceros was founded in 1977, and is the longest running LGBTQ+ theatre in the nation. We develop and produce works of theatre that enlighten, enrich, and explore both the ordinary and the extraordinary aspects of our queer community. Our emphasis is on new works, works about under-represented members of the larger queer community, and revivals of lesser known queer classics. Over the years Theatre Rhinoceros has received many awards of recognition including: Theatre Rhinoceros Day in the City Proclamation from Mayor Gavin Newsom, State Assembly Certificate of Recognition from Senator Mark Leno, recognitions from Congressperson Nancy Pelosi and Assembly Persons Tom Ammiano and Carole Migden, numerous Cable Car, BATCC and TBA Awards and Nominations, and the GLAAD Media Award for Best LGBT Theatre. 

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