Pulling It All Into The Current - A solo spoken word play at United Solo - Theatre Row

Letta Neely

Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, Letta is a Black lesbian playwright, performer, poet, mother, teacher and community activist who has been involved in progressive, anti-racist and queer liberation movements all her adult life. Her work focuses on the connections and intersections of queerness, Blackness, and awareness. Letta’s first play, Hamartia Blues, was produced by The Theater Offensive at the Boston Center for the Arts in 2002 and received two IRNE [Independent Reviewers of New England] award nominations. Her plays "Last Rites" and "Shackles & Sugar" have been produced in Boston, Philly, and Los Angeles. In addition to the chapbooks: gawd and alluh huh sistahs and When We Were Mud, Letta has written two books of poetry, Juba and Here (Wildheart Press), which were both finalists for the Lambda Literary Awards. Her literary work has been included in numerous anthologies, literary journals and magazines including Through the Cracks; Sinister Wisdom; Common Lives, Lesbian Lives; Rag Shock; African Voices, Rap Pages, Catch the Fire, Does Your Mama Know, and Roll Call—a Generational Anthology of Social and Political Black Literature & Art. As a member of the Traces/ Remain Ensemble with Deen Rawlins-Harris, she collaborated with Toshi Reagon's Emerson College residency: Parable Path Boston to develop the Seed to Harvest Book Project. Letta is a co-artistic director for Fort Point Theatre Channel and a member of FPTC's Her Story Is, a collective led by independent women writers and artists from the U.S. and Iraq who promote projects aimed at expanding linguistic, artistic and cultural boundaries in response to global conflict and its aftermath with a focus on centralizing the experiences of women. She is the editor and scriptwriter of Ifé Franklin's "The Slave Narratives of Willie Mae" (book and film). Letta hosts FireWater Poetics (a hybrid open mic w/ feature) at the Elma Lewis Center in the Social Justice Collaborative at Emerson College each month where she is the current StoryWeaver-in-Residence. She directed Renita Martin's play, "Unmasked" for Revolution of Values, produced by Greg Allen. She is a NEFA grant recipient of both Collective Imagination for Spatial Justice and Public Art for Spatial Justice funding. Letta recently took on the role as Makayla in Lyralyn Kaye's AFAB (Assigned Female at Birth), an award winning web series. Letta is also the Design Lead for the Design Gym at DS4SI (Design Studio for Social Intervention), where world building happens on the scale of the neighborhood. Finally, Letta is the Vice President of Programs at Apprentice Learning. She, along with Greg Allen, are current LAB grant recipients and are in the process of creating a one-person show, “Pulling It All Into The Current”.

Greg Allen

Throughout his career, Greg Allen has directed numerous college and university productions and professional shows in Boston and New York. Greg's work has graced esteemed venues such as the Francis Anne Cannon Workshop Theater, Ensemble Studio Theater, and Bleeker Street Theater in New York City. His productions have been showcased in Boston at the Strand Theater, Mosesian Center for the Arts, Boston Center for the Arts, and the Garde Arts Center in Connecticut. Among his notable productions are "The Colored Museum," "Once on This Island," "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill," "A Lesson Before Dying," and, most recently, "Polaroid Stories" by Naomi Iizuka and presented mainstage at Northeastern University. Apart from directing established plays, Greg is passionate about collaborating with playwrights to develop scripts for readings, workshops, and initial productions. He has had the privilege of directing workshops and premieres of new works by acclaimed playwrights such as Kirsten Greenidge, Cynthia Robinson, Richard Ravosa, Letta Neely, and Cliff Odle. Recently, he directed productions of "Confidential Informant" by Charlie Lyons (produced by TC2 Theatre Company) and "Mommy Are We Poor" by Richard Ravosa (produced by Six Corners Entertainment/David Bertolino Productions). Greg is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Northeastern University Department of Theatre, and the Co-Artistic Director of the A Revolution of Values Theatre Project in Boston and his educational background includes a theater degree from Sarah Lawrence College and an M.F.A. in Theater Directing from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.