What Will the Neighbors Say? Co-Artistic Director Ana Cristina Da Silva to Depart in August

What Will the Neighbors Say? have announced that Co-Founding Co-Artistic Director Ana Cristina Da Silva is moving on to her next artistic venture and stepping away from the company at the end of their current season in August 2022. Da Silva also served on the inaugural Board of Directors for WWTNS?

"I would like to thank this community for supporting us in creating new work as an initial founder and Co-Artistic Director of What Will the Neighbors Say?," stated Da Silva. This fall, Da Silva is continuing the development of her piece "The Chickens Have Come Home to Roost" focusing on puppetry and movement direction. This next stage of development is made possible by the support of the Brooklyn Arts Council and the A.R.T./NY Creative Opportunity Fund. "I am thrilled to be exploring what puppetry and movement have to offer this piece. More to come in collaboration with my Co-Producers at Catskill Mountain Shakespeare!" Da Silva added they wished What Will the Neighbors Say? all the best in their creative works to come.

Da Silva has been integral to the success of the Neighbors over the past six years since she co-founded the company in 2016. Since the company was created, WWTNS? has been awarded the National Endowment for the Arts, the Bel Geddes Fund, and the Brooklyn Arts Fund to name a few. Additionally, they have been the Artist-in-Residence at Queens College and were curated as BricLab cohort residents.

Fellow Co-Artistic Director Sam Hood Adrain stated that, "while this news is of course bittersweet, we are excited for Ana Cristina's continuing artistic journey and are looking forward to seeing how this important piece grows." Co-Artistic Director James Clements, added, "Ana Cristina has been a key part of our first chapter, and we are excited to bring new folks into leadership roles in the company. We continue to grow, develop and change as we enter a new phase in the Neighbors' history."

"The Chickens Have Come Home to Roost" is a drama told through poetry and puppetry following the inner life of a woman, Angie, as personified by a puppet chicken, Birdie. After a sexual encounter with a man, one where the participants' actions are questionable and difficult to judge, the relationship between animal and human quickly morphs when Birdie gains the ability to speak. Together, Angie and Birdie are forced to look at the encounter and journey into Angie's past to discover how they can exist in the present. This one-act psychological drama poses the question: what does consent look like? Da Silva began working on the script two years ago, and it was first developed with Catskill Mountain Shakespeare last year, as well as through the Content Creators, a selective writer's program.

What Will the Neighbors Say? is an investigative theatre company that provokes questions through untold stories. Led by a collaborative cohort of International Artists, the Neighbors present overlooked social, cultural and historical narratives that challenge the audience to reflect on the current moment. Through a combination of original plays, arts education workshops and dynamic community gatherings, the troupe incites rowdy and rigorous debate at the theatre and throughout the Neighborhood.

For more information visit: www.wwtns.org

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