hold is an invitation to contemplative practice in queer resistance to capitalist conditioning of time, via collective gathering and recurring durational space. hold cultivates the body as site of revolution with seeds of intention sown in the morning and the rain of prayers at night.
the structure is simple:
welcome (3 min)
opening “bell”————closing “bell” (20 min)
seed/prayer (7min)
prayer offered by Queer Holy Nia Witherspoon–the final session of “hold” will be an hour long, and provide space to reflect with a closing ritual.
Mei Ann Teo (Creator, they/she) is a queer immigrant theatre & film maker who works internationally at the intersection of artistic/civic/contemplative practice. As a director/dramaturg/deviser, they make work across genres, including experimental participatory work, music theatre, and documentary theatre. Devised work includes an intermedial participatory work Labyrinth: Defining Humanity for the Beijing International Festival (Top 8 of Festival in Beijing News), and an original opera WAKE with composer Jon Bernstein and singer Marnie Breckenridge. Directing work includes: Dim Sum Warriors the Musical by Colin Goh and Yen Yen Woo, composed by Pulitzer Prize winner Du Yun for national China twenty-five city tour, Jillian Walker’s world premiere SKiNFoLK: An American Show at the Bushwick Starr (NYTimes Critics Pick, NYMag’s matrix “Highbrow and Brilliant”), and Madeline Sayet’s Where We Belong at Shakespeare’s Globe in London. Teo is the Artistic Director of Musical Theatre Factory.
Orion S. Johnstone (Composer, they/he) is a Queer as fuck/care-centered community minister and theater director/composer fiercely dedicated to our mutual healing and collective liberation and to the idea that how we make is as important as what we make. Recent theater credits include: Co-director of Diana Oh’s {my lingerie play}: the Concert and Call to Arms!!!!!!!!! (Rattlestick), Composer/MD for Light Shining In Buckinghamshire (NYTW), music supervisor/co-captain (along with director Rachel Chavkin and MD Nehemiah Luckett) of the TEAM’s Primer for a Failed Superpower. They studied Musical Theater at NYU (Tisch) and Justice Ministries at Auburn Seminary, and they were a 2018 Directing Fellow in TransLab at the Public/WP. http://www.orionjohnstone.com
You-Shin Chen (Collaborator, she/her) is a New York based Taiwanese designer who is committed to diversity and humanity. Trained as a theatre designer, she centers the human experience in the process of creating a three dimensional space. Her scenic design for Eclipsed (Berlind Theater) is part of USA exhibition at 2019 Prague Quadrennial. She is the recipient of the 2019 Daryl Roth Creative Spirit Award at The Lilly Awards and Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Scenic Design in 2020. Recent theater credits include: SKiNFoLK (the Bushwick Starr & National Black Theatre); UGLY (the feath3r theory & the Bushwick Starr, & Washington Ensemble Theatre); Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie (ArsNova); Monsoon Season (AFO Theatre); Man of God (InterAct Theatre Company); Messiah (LaMama, Stonewall 50); Rock-A-Bye (BalletX); Jazz Singer (Abrons Arts Center). Associate scenic designer for Moby Dick (A.R.T., Des. Mimi Lien.) You-Shin is a member of Local USA829, IASTE. http://www.youshinchen.com
Troy Anthony (Collaborator, he/him) is a composer/lyricist, actor, and activist based in NYC cultivating a life full of Black queer joy. He has presented work at Joe’s Pub, 54 Below, Prospect Theater Company, the National Alliance of Musical Theater Conference, Musical Theater Factory (MTF), and The O’Neill. He’s received commissions from Atlantic Theater Company, The Civilians and The Shed. Troy has been seen in the Public Theater’s Twelfth Night, As You Like It, and Hercules as well as Prospect Theater Company’s Tamar of the River. He is the founding music director of the Public Theater’s Public Works Community Choir and focuses on the intersection between art and social justice at the DreamYard Art Center. He is also a 2019-2020 Musical Theater Factory Maker.
Matthias Neckermann (Collaborator, he/they) is a cultural scientist specialized in theater and the performing arts.They are a versatile creative technologist and fabricator, with varied experience behind, under, above, and in front of the stage. Through all, they are driven by a leading curiosity for their own practice as well as the interplay of live performance and prerecorded media. Matthias holds a BA in Cultural Studies from the University of Hildesheim and is a current MFA Candidate in Video and Media Design at the Carnegie-Mellon School of Drama.