The Bushwick Starr presents:

SELF PORTRAITS (DELUXE)
written by Phillip Howze
directed by Dominique Rider

February 6-24, 2024
Tuesdays - Saturdays at 7pm
At JACK: 20 Putnam Ave., Brooklyn

FEATURING:
Clover St Hubert, Christina Jones, Justus Ross and Aris Stevenson

CREATIVE TEAM:
Devon Gates (Composer & Music Director), Brittany Vasta (Scenic), Nia Safarr Banks (Costumes), Masha Tsimring (Lighting), Kathryn Ruvuna (Sound), Phillip Howze (Video), Sydneii Colter (Stage Manager), Maia Tivony (Assistant Stage Manager)

Presented in association with JACK
Line Produced by Ayana Parker Morrison

ADDITIONAL STAFF:
Jordan Barnett (Associate Lighting Designer)
Devin McCallion Fletcher (Production Manager), Jay Maury (Technical Director), Mele Borges (Box Office Manager & Captions Operator), Jen Williams (House Manager), Justin Allen (House Associate) 

CREW:
Aaliyah Stewart (Sound Operator), Nai’ya Willis-Hogan (Wardrobe Supervisor), Cat Dawes (Master Electrician), Brandon Bulls (Audio Supervisor) 
Scenic Crew: Colleen Combs, Sandra Mhlongo, Akobi Williams, Loach Sample, Eliut Ortiz, Maggie Heath, John Murphy, Jeremiah Brunnhoelzl
Lighting Crew: Bonnie Puk, Emily LaRochelle
Sound Crew: Lour Yasin, Jeremiah Brunnhoelzl, Macy Kloville

SELF PORTRAITS (DELUXE)  is made possible with generous support from The Jerome Foundation, The MAP Fund, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature. 

Portions of SELF PORTRAITS have been previously developed, presented, or iterated at  BRIC Arts-Media, Lincoln Center, PRELUDE Festival, and Performance Space New York.

BIOS:

Phillip Howze (Playwright, Performer, & Video) is a writer and theater maker whose works have been developed and produced across the country including at Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Clubbed Thumb, New York Theater Workshop, PRELUDE Festival, Public Theater, San Francisco Playhouse, Signature Theatre, Sundance Institute Theater Lab and Yale Cabaret. Howze’s playwriting debut, Frontieres Sans Frontieres, premiered in an extended, sold-out engagement at the Bushwick Starr and was named one of the "10 Best Theatrical Productions of the Year" by New York Magazine/Vulture. He’s writing new play commissions for the American Repertory Theater, Playwrights Horizons and Lincoln Center, and he was recently appointed the inaugural Associate Senior Lecturer at Harvard University’s Theater, Dance & Media program. His new collection Rarities & Wonders: Plays is available from Tripwire Harlot Press. (www.tripwireharlot.com) 

Dominique Rider (Director) is a Brooklyn-based director and writer whose work seeks to answer the question: “What is a world unmade by slavery?” while attempting to analyze the layers of anti-blackness that maintain the world we live in. Deploying theatre and performance as tools of Afropessimism, Dominique has developed and staged work with Portland Stage, The Bushwick Starr, The New Group, The Park Avenue Armory, and more. Past fellowships/residencies include The Atlantic, Hi-Arts, The National Black Theatre, TheaterWorks Hartford, NYSAF, BRIC Arts, Roundabout, and NAMT. Currently, Dominique is a producer with CLASSIX, an artist in residence at Duke University, and a member of The Civilians R&D group.

Clover St Hubert (Performer, 1st Violin) (he/they) is a transmasc NYC-based classical and jazz vocalist and violinist. It is extremely important to him, as a member of the Black and trans community, to find a way to mesh music and activism as a way to inspire, encourage, and hold space. As an extremely passionate performer, Clover has performed all over the world, and locally, all around New York City. They started studying music at The School for Strings, and then at Mannes Prep, and continued his studies at university. Clover has been a part of The Jazz Power Initiative since he was 12, and worked as their Programming and Artistic Assistant in 2022. Currently, he is studying psychology at UMGC, performing vocal jazz gigs around New York City, sings in choir, and continues to study the violin. 

Aris Stevenson (Performer, 2nd Violin) is a multi-instrumentalist and producer from Tampa, Florida. With experience playing in symphony and jazz orchestras, in addition to other various chamber music and jazz ensembles. They have featured in many performances in the Tampa Bay community, along the east coast of the U.S., and several countries in Europe. Aris has made appearances as a concertmaster, guest jazz and fiddle soloist, and pianist. He is a 2016 graduate of Blake High School, and an alumnus of the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music and The School of Jazz and Contemporary Music at The New School.

Justus Ross (Performer, Viola) Justus Ross has completed degrees in violin performance at Texas Tech University, University of Southern California and New England Conservatory under Annie Chalex-Boyle, Dr. Lina Bahn and Ayano Ninomiya. Along with his TTU studies, Ross performed with the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra and was the associate concertmaster of the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra. While at USC, Justus was a finalist in the Concerto Competition and a member of the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committee. During his time at NEC, he won first prize in the Dorothy Bales competition where he  was loaned a Guarneri violin. While completing his graduate degrees he performed and toured with ensembles such as Fermata, Myrska trio, American Youth symphony, Juventas, Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra and Griot Quartet. He now resides in New York City where he performs in musicals, orchestras and chamber groups. Among them have been Watch Night directed by Bill T. Jones, Ms. Lauryn Hill & The Fugees orchestra, and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra. 

JACK (Associate Presenter) is an award-winning multidisciplinary performance meets civic space in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. JACK was created to fuel experiments in art and activism, collaborating with artists and neighbors to build a more just and vibrant society. We present over 75 shows a year in theater, dance, and music and host conversations on issues that are vital to the local community. JACK’s programming centers on artists of color and those dedicated to our collective liberation. Learn more online @jackartsny and www.jackny.org

Ayana Parker Morrison (Line Producer) is a creative producer in theater, live events, and across digital platforms. Her company, Parker Morrison Productions develops new projects that speak to the spectrum of stories from the African Diaspora. Ayana was the inaugural Producing Fellow with New York Theater Workshop’s 2050 Administrative Fellowship and an alum of the WP Producer’s Lab 21-22' cohort. As Manager of Artistic Production at MCC Theater, she produced many groundbreaking pieces including Bees & Honey, Wolf Play and NY Times Critic’s Pick, Wet Brain. As Creative Producer at Checkmark Productions, she develops new work and cultivates community amongst the industry’s most exciting emerging artists of the global majority. She’s currently the Associate Artistic Director at WP Theater and is a public speaker sharing her philosophy on culturally responsive producing, and her expertise as an industry leader, on various platforms nationwide.

Devon Gates (Composer & Music Director) is a bassist, vocalist, and composer from Atlanta, Georgia, now based in Brooklyn, NY. Through studying anthropology and jazz performance at Harvard University and Berklee College of Music, she has worked with jazz luminaries Terri Lyne Carrington, Vijay Iyer, and esperanza spalding. In 2022 her original composition “Don't Wait" was published in Berklee Press' "New Standards" collection of 101 lead sheets by female jazz composers. Her other works have been recently programmed by the Harvard Choruses, Chicago Acapella, Bowdoin College, and National Sawdust.

Brittany Vasta (Scenic Designer) is a Brooklyn-based scenic designer for live performance. Recent work includes Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill (Syracuse Stage), Octet (Signature Theatre & Berkeley Rep) and Choir Boy (Portland Center Stage). Her designs have also been seen at NY City Center, Cherry Lane, Theatre Row, The Duke, Juilliard, Kansas City Rep, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Portland Stage Company, among others. She received a Drama Desk nomination for the set design of Octet. M.F.A., NYU. USA 829. Brittanyvasta.com

Masha Tsmiring (Lighting Designer) is a NYC based designer for live performance. Recently: Terce (Prototype); Deepe Darknesse (Lisa Fagan/Lena Engelstein); Sad Boys in Harpy Land (Abrons Art Center); Rodelinda (Hudson Hall); The Hunt (Miller Theater); English (Barrington Stage Company); Grief Hotel (Clubbed Thumb); Unstill Life (LA Dance Project); Eternal Life, Part 1 (The Wilma); The Appointment (Lightning Rod Special); morning/mourning (Prototype/HERE);  Events (The Hearth); Montag (Soho Rep); Vietgone (Guthrie); Tick Tick…Boom! (Portland Center Stage); Der Freischütz  (Wolf Trap Opera). In addition to design, Masha’s interests include progress towards a more ethical model of making in the American theater. She is a proud member of USA829. Masha received her MFA from the Yale School of Drama. She is a proud member of USA829. More info at www.mashald.com.

Kathy Ruvuna (Sound Designer) is New York based sound designer and composer. Recent credits include Mary Gets Hers (Playwrights Realm), Trouble in Mind (Hartford Stage), Bernarda’s Daughters (The New Group), Amani (National Black Theatre), Dark Disabled Stories (Bushwick Starr), What-A-Christmas!, Sweat (Alley Theatre), The Lion in Winter, Pipeline, Radio Golf (Everyman Theatre), The Great Leap, You and I, Read to Me (Portland Stage),  Circle Jerk! Live (Fake Friends), In the Southern Breeze, Ni Mi Madre (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater). She holds a B.F.A. in Sound Design from The Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University and an M.F.A. in Sound Design from the Yale School of Drama.

Nia Safarr Banks (Costume Designer) is a Costume Designer from Richmond, Virginia. She graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2019, and has recently received her Master of Fine Arts at Boston University in 2023. She has been nominated for two Richmond Critic Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design in a Play An Octoroon ( TheatreLab), and in a Musical A Christmas Kaddish (Richmond Triangle Player). Her credits include: August Wilson's Seven Guitars (Actors' Shakespeare Project) ,  Hamlet (American Shakespeare Center), and The Color Purple ( Nashville Repertory Theatre). She is excited to make her design debut at Bushwick Starr.

Jordan Barnett (Associate Lighting Designer) is a Brooklyn based Lighting and Scenic Designer | Design Credits: Henry V (Stella Adler), Seagull in the Hamptons (Lee Stransberg), Marisol (Emerson Stage), Marisol (Emerson Stage), Hysteria (Neo-Politcal Cowgirls) | Assistant Credits: English with Masha Tsimring (Barrington Stage), Psychic Self Defense with Christina Tang (HERE Arts Center), Chita Rivera Awards with Paige Seber (Skirball Center) | Jupnett.com

Sydneii Colter (Stage Manager) is excited to be collaborating with the Bushwick Starr for the first time. Off-Broadway: Bernarda's Daughters, Evanston Salt Costs Climbing, Black No More (The New Group), Covenant (Roundabout Theater). Other recent credits include: Sweet Chariot (Shiva Theatre), Sparrows at the Bar (Theatre Aspen), Echoes in the Garden (The Chain Theatre).

Maia Tivony (Assistant Stage Manager) is grateful to be here! Broadway: Harry Potter & the Cursed Child. Off-Broadway: The Seagull/Woodstock, NY, Bernarda’s Daughters (The New Group). Regional: 1776 (American Repertory Theater). Other Credits: New Year’s Eve 2022: 40 Years of Phish (Madison Square Garden), A Capitol Fourth (PBS). BFA Emerson College. Thanks to Sydneii for wanting to work with Maia again.

<3 for previous iterators: Oge Aguelue, Jelani Alladin, Stephen Arnold, Malcolm-x Betts, Ato Blankson-Wood, Stanley J. Bogan, Margot Bordelon, Ramad Carter, Raven Cassell, Ugo Chukwu, Erron Crawford, Ja’Michael Darnell, Zachary Elkind, B.J. Evans, Jesse Ferguson, Leland Fowler, Karen A. Furhman, Musiki (M) Glover, David Goldstein, Jonathan Gonzalez, Emily Harney, Brian Hickey, Justin Hicks, Morgan Johnson, PJ Johnnie Jr, Kelly Kerwin, Natalie Loveland, Jillian Macklin, Blake Morris, Kristina Newman-Scott, Michael Oloyede, Rahmell Peebles, Erin Margaret Pettigrew, Kyle Price, Katrina Reid, Will Rucker, Donell Smith, Lili Alice Walker Stiefel, Garrett Turner, Allan K. Washington, Stevie Walker-Webb, Leigh Walter, Reggie D. White, Taylor Barfield