Zola Dee

On Freeing Fire

Writer and performer: Zola Dee

Director: Vanessa Brooke Agnes

Actor: Mathias Brinda

Special thanks to all who have come before me to make this moment possible. Special thanks to all the Black femmes who gave responses and let me record their voices. This includes: Vanessa Brooke Agnes, Isa Boose, Cherise Boothe, Sharon Bridgeforth, Sophina Brown, Val Daniel, Fran Daniel (Mom), Makeda Declet, Rozetta Douglas, Vienna Gist, Jicarra Hollman, Taylor Jasper, Jasmine Johnson, Niyia Mack, Nelle Rivers, Mirari Sithole, and Henita Telo. And a special thanks to the Playwrights’ Center and the Jerome Foundation for their continued support.

Freedom is a choice.

Each day I plan on consciously choosing it.

I choose it for those who had no choice. A long line of ancestors flowing before me who could only claim freedom if they were also willing to choose death. I choose freedom in my life so that they can experience freedom through me. As they live within me. From my hair to my blood. In each inhalation and exhalation. Their home is me. My body, an altar for them. I choose freedom not only for my past ancestors but the ones to be, so that the same essence of freedom can flow through the blood of those yet to come.

With each passing day I realize this life is equally for me to experience and equally not mine at all. I’m not here on this Earth solely for myself. Opening up to that realization, I can now recognize the uniqueness of this personalized journey and the interconnectedness all at the same time. The duality of it all. An interconnectedness that spans time and space. It reaches outwards not only to the folks of our present but of our pasts and futures. And I’m grateful to be part of all the interwoven timelines.

During the pandemic, I claimed a new name for myself. My family still calls me by the name I grew up with which is comforting. I will always be Dionna to them. They are my roots. But as I grow more into the person I've always known I can be, I claim a new name. To the outside world I am known as Zola and I'm proud of myself for making that change. It's so powerful to take ownership over oneself whether with a name, new lifestyle, healthy habits, whatever. I've been meditating on the idea of consciously giving name to oneself or someone else. Also during the pandemic, a friend of mine gave birth to a daughter she named Freida, nicknaming her, Free. All I could think was, what a gift to name a Black girl Free. What a birthright to live up to...Free. What a blessing to this young girl. Free. What an honor…Free.

What if we all claimed freedom as our birthright? How would you show up in the world? How would we love? Would we choose love over fear? Would you take the risk or make the move that you’ve been dreaming about? How would you move about this world if you carried freedom with you each moment? In every breath? Would you choose your own healing over your own destruction? Or action over your own complacency? For a few years I’ve been manifesting a life that is unbounded. But even then, I’m not sure what that even looks like. So my mission the remainder of this year is to live and find moments of freedom for myself. Breath them in. Sit a while. Cherish them. I can’t keep waiting to manifest a free life. It’s so easy to talk in circles around thing that you want but eventually life requires action.

So here we go.

Zola Dee (she/her) is a playwright, screenwriter, and performer whose works are deeply invested in exploring Black Americana, African diasporic religions, and imagining freer worlds for the Black collective body. Her most notable work GUNSHOT MEDLEY: Part 1 was Ovation Award recommended and published in Routledge’s Contemporary Plays by Women of Color.  Her other plays include Smile, Goddamnit, Smile; Rain, River, Ocean; and Father, Father. Her work has been seen and/or developed with Rogue Machine Theater, Collaborative Artists Bloc, The Playwright’s Center, Hi-Arts, CalArts Center for New Performance, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Zola was just recently granted the NEXT commission from Antaeus Theatre Company in Los Angeles. While most of her artistic career has been based in Los Angeles, she is currently living in Minneapolis where she is a Jerome Fellow at the Playwrights’ Center. She is a current member of East West Players Playwrights’ Group. Other accomplishments include: member of Many Voices Fellow 2021-2022, CTG Writer’s Workshop 2019-2020, 2017-2018 Core Apprentice at The Playwrights’ Center and the 2018 Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights Diversity Fellow. 

Collaboration and community building is foundational to Zola’s mission as an artist. She currently works in the performance wing at the Walker Art Center and is a writing consultant for Meow Wolf. She has also worked for institutions such as The Guthrie Theater and Pasadena Playhouse, and The State Theater of California where she worked as the Artistic Associate under Danny Feldman. She is a graduate from California Institute of the Arts with a BFA in Acting and a minor in Creative Writing. While at CalArts, she studied with Nataki Garrett, Aleshea Harris, Doug Kearney, and Tisa Byrant. 

She is currently managed by Management 360 in Los Angeles. For more information, visit www.zoladee.com or follow on instagram @iamzoladee

Vanessa Brooke Agnes (she/her) is a Black Queer dreamer, Director of Community Engagement at Render Free and Founding Artistic Director of Dark Muse Performing Arts. Recent directing credits include Songs for a New World (Artistry Theater), Smokey Joe’s Cafe (Lyric Arts), Analog & Vinyl (Minneapolis Musical Theatre), K'É by Blossom Johnson (Playwrights' Center Workshop), FAME! (Children’s Performing Arts), The Niceties, An Evening with Ella and Harold (Lakeshore Players Theatre), The Uprising Vol. I & II: Black HERstory, Phoenix Project (Dark Muse Performing Arts), DEAD TIRED short film (New Dawn Theatre Company), Max & Jake (Playwright, Running Errands). Up next: Godspell at Artistry Theater. @vanessabrookeagnes 

Mathias Brinda (she/him/they) is a 5th grader at Lake Country Montessori in Minneapolis. Mathias has performed with Children’s Theatre, Morningside Theatre, and Theater Latte Da. In addition to acting, Mathias studies ballet and contemporary dance at Minnesota Dance Theatre and especially enjoys participating in Loyce Houlton's Nutcracker Fantasy where they have performed as a cousin, toy, and The Littlest Mouse.  When not on stage, rehearsing, or dreaming of being on stage, Mathias enjoys vintage clothes shopping and taking care of neighborhood pets.

Emily Michaels King

CHICKEN WING

Created and performed by Emily Michaels King

Special thanks to: Tyler Michaels King, Debra Berger, Dustin Maxwell, Mary Ann and Patrick King, and Dylan Nicole Martin

I think I could eat you. I would. If it came to that. But for now. I’ll just eat. Me. For now… 

I honestly HATE wings. (Sorry.) When they placed the order for you and put you in the microwave, did a rubber duck pop out? A movie star? What if you used all the stickers you’ve been saving at once? The bones, well, I was a little unsure about them. Don’t get me wrong, I really loved them, but like bones are, I thought they might be tough for people to swallow. It turns out they were. (I’m not trying to give everybody salmonella poisoning after all. Or am I?…) Admit it. You’ve always been like this. If you don’t make the boundaries, your body will. Are you selfish, yes or no? Do you love yourself, yes or no? Do you wish you could elaborate on those last responses more, yes or no? All my body wants to do is talk talk talk talk talk and do something with the tiny license plate that has my name on it. It has no function. Big animals can make themselves little cinnamon rolls, and if you cut her open would her grandmother be inside? The demon that you can swallow gives you its power, so try it, say your name three times in the dark and see what happens. I like the dark. I like a blind bash in the nose now and then, a dance with monsters. (Sorry you had to see me like that. Is the head you’re wearing on crooked too?) You have to look at it sideways, because it all comes down to picking your poison, saying the stuff that makes you sweat, admitting who you’ve always been when you look dead in the mirror, doing your thing.

So let’s.

Let’s do it. 

Thanks for coming, Nike.

Welcome to CHICKEN WING.

<3

EMK

Emily Michaels King (Creator, Performer, Writer, Sound Designer): Emily Michaels King is a performing artist based in St. Paul, Minnesota exploring authentic expression and human depth through movement, multimedia, and visual compositions. Her work has been presented at the Walker Art Center, the Guthrie Theater, Candy Box Dance Festival, and Movement Research, among others. Emily is known for her fearless personal work, provocative style, and collaged solo performances, including: her award-winning show MAGIC GIRL, multimedia online work DIGITAL, and IN PERSON, a companion to DIGITAL. Pairing minimalism and subtlety with cacophony and bared irreverence, Emily’s works employ the lush landscape of the inner world and the power of unapologetic vulnerability. They combine movement with text, graphics, sound, and technology to focus on themes of self-discovery and reclamation, womanhood, and bold expressions of personal truth. www.emilymichaelsking.com

Callie Baack (Stage Manager): Callie Baack is a Twin Cities-based theatre artist joining CHICKEN WING as stage manager. She holds a BA in Theatre Performance from the University of Northern Iowa. Her acting credits include Lyric Arts, Theatre in the Round Players, and the MN Fringe Festival.

New Works 4 Weeks Continues!