The Shakespeare Project

I studied a lot of Shakespeare in school and could never find my place in it.

There was a lot of talk about the stories were universal and that anyone of any race and gender could play these roles but that never sat right with me. I didn’t want to try something on that might fit me; I wanted something made for me.

In 2020, I decided to rewrite/adapt/queer all of Shakespeare’s comedies by 2030. Since then, I’ve thought a lot about how we uplift the Bard and use his works for colonization. I do want to adapt at least 10 but I no longer think they’ll all be comedies.

I long for a theatre I’m not sure ever existed

The Plays

Dear Helena

In a loose adaptation of All’s Well That Ends Well, Helena comes home to a divorce party but soon her friends learn her marriage was a lot more complicated than they originally thought. Over the course of an evening, all of the women examine their relationships and ask themselves why they’ve accepted the sort of sh*t that’s been handed to them. 

Yuppie Clusterf*ck

A group of yuppie, 20-somethings head into the woods. Chaos ensues. It’s kind of like Midsummer but only in the most chaotic ways imaginable. And by the end of it, maybe we’ll learn how to be better to each other. 

As You Are

In an apartment building, various different neighbors attempt to adjust to “the new normal” of staying inside. We see Ros fall in love with Orlando. Silvy try to woo Phoebe while Audrey tries to woo him…but ultimately in this adaptation of As You Like It, each of them come to terms with what does it mean to be a community and what do we owe each other. 

Twelfth

In this adaptation of Twelfth Night, we enter into a dream world. What’s it mean to fall in love with the world is falling apart? What’s it mean to belong in a body that isn’t really meant for you? And what’s it mean to find grace at time when all the world can hand you is resilience

What’s next?

My hope is to adapt King Lear next. For right now though, that’s a bit on the backburner as I work on a play about Afro-Latinx identity and abortion.