Thanks to a Metro Arts Creation Grant, Actors Bridge Ensemble has commissioned Artistic Director Vali Forrister and well-known local playwright Cynthia Harris to create a new play based on oral histories of women who have come to Nashville to reinvent themselves. The two are currently recruiting women interested in being interviewed as part of the project.
In-person oral history interviews will last approximately 90 minutes and will be conducted between January and May, 2015. Interviews can be de-identified for those who wish to remain anonymous.
The script that is created from these interviews will receive its world premiere production as part of Actors Bridge Ensemble’s 20th Anniversary Season in 2016.
Through the generous support of Nashville Public Library, the oral histories collected through this project will be preserved in NPL’s Special Collections Center.
Community partners in this project include Casa Azafrán, Conexión Américas and the Nashville Public Library.
She is a self-described Writer/ Performance Artist/ Dancer/ Activist/ Health Educator/ Everyday Magical Waterfixin HooDoo Woman and proud southerner. A natural sign watcher, very much in tune with her surroundings, Ms. Harris finds it almost impossible not to hear the stories hovering around people. Growing up in a multi-talented family, she always felt at peace pursuing her creative interests. However when it came time to choose a career, Cynthia chose to focus on her parallel interest in health and graduated from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University with a BS in biology in 1999. Her subsequent work in the field of women’s reproductive health research fed her appreciation for the analytical and gave her the opportunity to study human behavior, leading her to not only be a vocal advocate for women’s health issues, but to create stories of empowerment. Her first performance piece, “Phrases of Womanhood”, has been performed since 2002 in Tennessee and Georgia by the Phoenix Ensemble under the direction of Ms. Helen Shute-Pettaway. Her performance piece, “Why Won’t She Leave?” has been presented nationally since its debut in 2005.
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