THE ARCHIVE: New Works By Black Women Staged Reading Celebrates Black Women's Voices in Theatre

"The Archive: New Works by Black Women" is set to captivate audiences with a staged reading showcasing the powerful narratives of black female playwrights and black femme directors. This celebration of black women's voices in theatre promises an evening of compelling stories and artistic expression.

Performances are on February 16th & 17th, 2024 at 7:30 pm at The Flea, 20 Thomas St, New York, NY 10007.

Featuring the work of Playwrights Kai Hartman, Marissa Joyce Stamps, Thalia Sablon & Jordan Powell, "The Archive" aims to tell the stories of black women and serve as an act of archiving them in our collective memory. It reflects creator Jordan Powell's lifelong mission to provide an artistic space for black femmes to practice their craft, share their stories, and build a supportive community. The event recognizes the financial hurdles black femme artists often face and strives to create a safe and generative space for creativity through community building and peer-to-peer feedback. This event is co-produced by Jordan Powell, Maimouna Camara and Anuka Sethi.

The event is still seeking donations. Contributions can be made through the GoFundMe campaign 

Featured Playwrights:

Marissa Joyce Stamps is a Black, Haitian-American NYC-born and based Afrosurreal writer, director, actor, and educator. She is the recipient of the 2023 Princess Grace Playwriting Award/New Dramatists Residency, a member of Clubbed Thumb's 2023-2024 Early-Career Writers Group, member of EST/Youngblood, a New Georges Affiliate Artist, and was a Finalist for National Black Theatre's 2023 I AM SOUL Playwrights Residency and a Mercury Store Fall 2023 Lead Artist. Plays: ...Twisted Juniper (2022 O'Neill NPC Finalist; Chautauqua's 2021 NPW; Workshop Theater's Fall 2020 Intensive), Being Up in Here... (Exponential Festival 2024, Princess Grace 2023), Blue Fire... (Exponential Festival 2022; Orchard Project's 2021), deadbodydeadbodydeadbody (Ars Nova ANT Fest 2022), Letiche... (Bushwick Starr SRS 2023), and Techno Paper Planes (Moxie Arts Commission 20/21).

Marissa has also collaborated with The Public Theater, 24 Hour Plays, Fire This Time Festival, Conch Shell Productions, Dixon Place, Irondale, The Anthropologists, New Ohio Theatre, Keen Company, Wild Project, BUFU, and more. She is a proud member of The Dramatists Guild and Playwrights' Center. Marissa serves as The Workshop Theater's Literary Manager and has taught at Brooklyn College. MFA: Brooklyn College. marissajoycestamps.com @marissajoycestamps

Thalia Sablon: Born in Haiti and raised in Queens, I have spent most of my life running around New York trying not to wreak havoc. I recently graduated from Rutgers University with an MFA in Playwriting and am currently serving as the artistic admin fellow at New York Theatre Workshop. As a writer, I strive to bridge the gap between the personal and the political, exploring the intersections of interpersonal relationships and larger socio-political systems. My work focuses primarily on the experiences of black people and queer femmes, envisioning worlds beyond the constraints of societal norms. Through my writing, I aim to showcase the struggle to live a full life, highlighting the unique challenges faced by individuals from different walks of life. I am passionate about creating work that expands our understanding of the human experience.

Kai Hartman is a multi-disciplinary artist, filmmaker, and writer attending New York University's Grad Film program where she is currently pursuing her M.F.A in Film Production. She is a recent graduate of Howard University where she studied filmmaking and theatre. Born in Atlanta, Georgia and raised in Douglasville, GA, Kai gravitates toward generational stories about and as experienced through Black women, through which her artistry comes from. Her practice is grounded in afro-surrealism and her goal is to use her imagination and experiences to create work that acts as an archive.

Jordan Powell is a Jamaican American director, writer, filmmaker, designer, and educator. Her work as a writer and director is to bring together black women so we can, as a community, excavate our past and retell these stories through our bodies, voices, and new technological devices that help us archive these stories. Her work archives and documents the present so that we can be represented in the future. She has written and directed a film, Cutie, that was developed in the Nine Muses Lab taught by Bryce Dallas Howard. Has worked shown at The Wild Project, Playwrights Downtown, and New York Theater Festival.

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