My short essay “Mercies and Infelicities” is in print in the latest issue of the Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism. It’s part of a special section on #PerformativeX, edited by Michelle Liu Carriger. I’m grateful to Prof. Carriger for her editorial brilliance — and to the other amazing authors in the special section for their incisive readings of performativity as a rubric for our political present. Have a look!
Teaching at Brandeis
This fall, I’ll be joining the Brandeis faculty as a Visiting Assistant Professor of English. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to become part of the Brandeis community and to teach dream courses like Contemporary African Literature, Animals and Literature, Postcolonial Theory and Decolonial Pedagogy.
Imagined Theatres 4
I’m very gratified to be part of Imagined Theatre’s special fourth issue — “Emergency.” My piece is called “Shelter” and it’s up now on the Imagined Theatre website. Many thanks to Daniel Sack and the editorial board for giving performance makers and scholars an opportunity to reflect on the extraordinary circumstances in which we find ourselves.
At Buffalo TED Talk
My brilliant collaborator Dr. Amma Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin gave a 2019 TED Talk on At Buffalo, a new musical I am making with her and Khalil Sullivan. Have a look!
New Essays
I’m excited to share three new things that I’ve published in the last few months.
First, I reviewed Laura Edmondson’s wonderful book Performing Trauma in Central Africa: Shadows of Empire for Modern Drama; see my academia.edu page for the PDF.
Next, I wrote an Indefinite Article on Daniel Fish’s adaptation of Don DeLillo’s White Noise for NYU Skirball. White Noise is running at Skirball this season.
Finally, I wrote a short essay, “If You’re Listening,” about Lynn Nottage’s Mlima’s Tale, for Westport Country Playhouse. You can catch Mlima’s Tale at WCP this fall.
Enjoy!
Hussein Essay in African Theatre
A new essay of mine, “And With Them Came Devils: Ebrahim Hussein, Mashetani and the Poetics of Doubt,” is out as part of African Theatre 17. Many thanks to the entire African Theatre team for helping make this latest manifestation of my continuing work on Hussein a reality.
New Teaching Role at NYU
I am absolutely thrilled to announce that I have begun work at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts as an Assistant Professor Faculty Fellow in the Department of Drama. This fall, I will be teaching Introduction to Theater Studies, with several new seminars in the works for the spring.
Barrydale Puppet Parade Documentary
The team behind the 2015 Barrydale Puppet Parade in South Africa, for which I served as a member of the directing team, has put together a wonderful documentary about the show and the process of creation leading up to it. It's available here.
Film Festival Screenings for Zoey and the Wind-Up Boy
Fresh off a screening at the Roswell Galacticon and Science Fiction Film Festival, Zoey and the Wind-Up Boy - the short film I co-wrote with my collaborator Marica Petrey - will be shown at the Ithaca Fantastik film festival as part of their shorts program on Nov. 11. For more details, please visit the Ithaca Fantastik website.
New Article on Race and Taxidermy in Theatre Journal
I am thrilled to announce that my latest article, "The Lifelike Dead: Staging the Nonhuman in Colonial Nairobi" has appeared in the September 2017 issue of Theatre Journal. Many thanks to special issue editor Jennifer Parker-Starbuck and the rest of the Theatre Journal team for making this a reality. To access the journal, please visit their Project MUSE page. A PDF of my article is also available through academia.edu