Live & In Color Announces The Recipient Of The June Bingham New Playwright Commission

The June Bingham New Playwright Commission honors the legacy of the late artist and playwright June Bingham by providing support to a new generation of early-career women/femme and/or non-binary storytellers as they seek to create work that creates change. Director and Arts Administrator, Abigail Grubb, serves as the Program's Director and co-founder alongside Live & In Color's Artistic Director and June Bingham's nephew, Devanand Janki. After a highly competitive national call for applications and three rounds of panel review conducted by three femme and non-binary industry professionals, the panel selected Shenny De Los Angeles, Geraldine Inoa, Nikki Brake-Sillá, and AriDy Nox as the four finalists.

With incredible excitement, Live & In Color announces AriDy Nox as this year's recipient of the June Bingham New Playwright Commission.

"I am so incredibly excited to have AriDy as this year's recipient. Their work transcends realms and transports audiences into a space of boundlessness where anything seems possible. Live & In Color is so thrilled to have to opportunity to invest deeply in AriDy as they work to create this new play" - Abigail Grubb, Program Director.

AriDy Nox (they/them, she/her) is a multi-disciplinary black femme storyteller and social activist with a variety of forward-thinking creative works under her/their belt, including the historical reimagining of the life of Sally Hemmings Black Girl in Paris (2020), the ancestral reckoning play A Walless Church (2019), the afrofuturist ecopocalypse musical Metropolis (2019), and many others. AriDy creates out of the vehement belief that creating a future in which marginalized peoples are free requires a radical imagination. To learn more about AriDy's work visit www.aridynox.com.

"I am so honored to be working with the fantastic team that is the Live in Color family. It is always heartening to be around people who know how precious this work is. We are telling the stories of our communities, delving into all the messiness and glory of what it means to be a marginalized person in this world. It's hard work and it can only be done together, so I cannot wait for September!" - AriDy Nox, 2022 June Bingham Recipient

AriDy's work will be developed over the course of 2 weeks at Live & In Color's annual fall retreat in September. This opportunity will culminate in a 30-60 min 2-person play that will be workshopped and presented to an audience.

2021's recipient, Erlina Ortiz, developed LA EGOISTA at the Bingham Camp during the fall retreat. LA EGOSITA was selected to be a part of the 2022 Latinx Theatre Commons Comedy Carnival in Denver and will be performed this month.

Founded by Director/Choreographer Devanand Janki, Live & In Color is a creative incubator for new plays and musicals bound for commercial success, with a core mission of diversity and inclusion in all aspects of the theater industry-on and off stage, and at every level of creative and business touchpoint. In its first seven seasons, Live & In Color has developed the musicals "Little Girl Blue" by Laiona Michelle, "With Bells On!" by Tommy Newman & Devanand Janki (Based on the play by Darrin Hagen), "Within Elsewhere" by Trent Jeffords and Joshua Betancourt, "The Golden Threshold" by Cheeyang Ng and Eric Sorrels, "Present Perfect" by Nancy Nachama Cheser and Jaime Lozano, "Pangaea" by Janet Noh and Lee Summers, "The Family Resemblance" by Masi Asare and "Call It Courage" by Adam Overett. Plays developed during the retreat include "La Egoista" by Erlina Ortiz, "Narrow Daylight" by SEVAN, "The Home We Left Behind" by Valerie David, "Invictus Mingus" by Frank Harts, "The Galilee House" by BV Marshall and "Esspy" by Nandita Shenoy. In 2020, Live & in Color developed the virtual pieces "Days of Re-Creation" written entirely by writers of color, "2020 Roasting on an Open Fire" a virtual holiday extravaganza and a weekly virtual happy hour show, "Be Our Guest!" with Broadway professionals, and two virtual 24 HR Play and Song Festivals. Named one of the SDC's "Top standout moments for diversity and inclusion," Live & In Color develops new work for the stage that promotes and celebrates diversity. Emphasizing non-traditional casting, multi-ethnic participants, and bold theatricality, Live & In Color offers unique development opportunities for new plays and musicals that encourage dialogue among artists from a variety of cultures. Live & In Color envisions an American Theatre where established and aspiring artists of color have generous opportunities to practice their craft by providing a safe, beautiful space in Salem, CT where artists can gather to develop new works that give voice to under-represented communities. For more info visit liveandincolor.org.

Support has been provided from CT Humanities (CTH), with funding provided by the Connecticut State Department of Economic and Community Development/Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) from the Connecticut State Legislature.

To keep up to date on this year's recipient and their work, visit liveandincolor.org.

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