Mama's Biscuits

Mama’s Biscuits: Starches Hold Black People Together

MIRRORS by Azure D. Osborne-Lee places us within the ritual of recipe. Our protagonist lets us get to know her world through food. In Suzanne's interview, she discuss this a bit more in depth.

Bird's mama's recipe is still a process like religious experience embedded within her. Her mama's biscuits ring in the background of the story, meeting us at the wake of her lover.

Black Southern food has a basis within slavery, and collecting scraps from the Big House. Food is a staple within the community because of this. So much of Blackness can be found within our food.

You can find love itself there. As well as soul, hence the name Soul Food.

 In Soul Food: A Brief History, Roshae Lowe explicates:

“Though our relationship with food dates further than when our ancestors were seized and snatched away to this stolen land ... U.S. slavery forced us to redefine that relationship... From the early years of slavery until the passing of the 13th amendment... enslaved peoples of African descent only received a small number of rations to live off of for a week—five pounds of a starch (rice, sweet potatoes, or cornmeal)... a few pounds of dried, salted, or smoked meat (whatever was the cheapest), and a jug of molasses... Anything else they ate had to be acquired by other means, such as hunting, gardening, foraging, fishing, and/or raising livestock... The enslaved carried with them farming knowledge passed down from West Africa, as well as newer knowledge shared with them by their slavers, poor white neighbors, and, most importantly, the indigenous peoples of the area...”

What is a family recipe that will never leave you? While some of our greatest recipes, surprisingly, can be found on the back some of the most popular biscuit brands... It doesn't change the effects of committing a food's recipe to memory.

And box recipe or not, if it came from Grandma, it's Grandma's recipe.

There is something profound about our recipes of the South that have held the black community together... starches give us fuel, such as Soul Food, although it's a different type of fuel. A fuel that might require a nap before feeling the full effect.

Have you seen MIRRORS yet? Click here for information.

Mirrors Teasers and Watching Online

Watch Mirrors Teasers: Azure D. Osborne-Lee

Have you heard about our online viewing? Check out more information about the online viewing of MIRRORS by Azure D. Osborne-Lee. MIRRORS premiered on November 10th, 2021.

Azure is a queer black playwright who you want to remember. MIRRORS is just as unforgettable as a reflection.

If you missed us, we most certainly missed you. And yet there is still hope.

Missed our premiere? No problem at all. Just promise us you won't miss us while we're online. We find pleasure in your comfort, and know that the story will invite a conversation worth having at home.

What Are Your Ideas of Home?

Our main character Bird has never left her family home. And struggles to see herself outside of it. Is there anything that Bird can see outside of Belle?

 Mirrors explores heavy topics such as death, lost lovers, and strangers... who find relief in each other. Each character is so captivating.

Teaser I became our visual introduction to this story. Teaser II shows us a little more about what we can expect. There isn’t much to prepare you for this experience.

Check out these teasers here and here, and let us know what you think. And click here for more information on the online viewing.

What is Gender Parity?

Expounding Gender Parity

The rainbow flag.

What is Gender Parity?

The definition above is from the European Institute of Gender and Equality. There are a ton of articles of gender identity. When we speak of parity, however, there are some of us who are not considered. We discussed topics similarly in our upcoming premiere of MIRRORS by Azure D. Osborne-Lee. 

It is often forgotten that our movements have always moored from elsewhere. The brilliance of trans and queer people of color.

Often at their deaths. Or even greater expense. 

Becoming unmentionable.

We should all be in agreement on the fact that gender equality starts with dismantling. The deconstruction of who success belongs too, is crucial.

A non-binary femme applies makeup in a mirror. Photo by Brei Bandy.

'TGNCNB' and What Does It Mean?

The binary of parity avoids the constraints that all people face. There is still so much too unpack. Trans, gender non-conforming, and non-binary is what TGNCNB stands for.

When we identify outside of a given spectrum, we end up demanding far more than we had intended. Because we had never planned on receiving less to begin with. 

At this point in our evolution, we have to learn to have conversations that serve us in intersection. A transwoman's experience is going to be far different of those of cis-woman.

We cannot over simplify gender disparities. We end up asking those of great value to move around for movements that do not include us.

What is True Gender Equality?

Equity means involving yourself outside of the binary. Engaging with how those around or outside of you identify. Until you are relearning how to look at bodies, we are not moving forward. Get acquainted with the right resources. Stay connected to us here at Parity.  

Mirrors Teaser II

Soon One Mornin’: MIRRORS Teaser ii

MIRRORS by Azure D. Osborne-Lee is set to premiere on November 10th, 2021. Above you'll find the second teaser to this project.

It has been a pleasure for Parity Productions to aid this story's blossom into the world of theater. Azure explores characters we rarely get a glimpse at.

These are the people only known as an afterthought becoming center stage.  Arrival of the black and queer artists emerges.

As we gear up for its film debut, we have released behind the scene footage of this process from stage to film. The topics in Mirrors bring about a range of topics i.e. sexual assault within the LGBTQ community.

This story finds a way to explore many nuanced conversations in under 2 hours. The ideas exposed within this Black Space have been quite illuminating. Who knew the dark could do so much?

This play will give you what you've been missing within the theater. It's what's missing in your story-telling today.

The evolution of a theater is definitely at its peak of discovery within this story.

Click here for ticket information to the premiere. Be sure to tell us what you think of MIRRORS!

We'll save a seat for you.

Show Your Support For MIRRORS

Donate or buy a ticket to the AC&C to support MIRRORS

Actor Natalie Jacobs (she/her) in Mirrors. A Black actor in a floral dress answers an old-fashioned phone.

MIRRORS by Azure D. Osborne-Lee is set to premiere November 10th, 2021.

Osborne-Lee has created a masterpiece that you don't want to miss. Come celebrate with us at our Awards Ceremony & Celebration this month.

There is a magic in the black perspective of storytelling. It is unapologetic in its will to be uncouth. This story speaks for itself. Read our review on the play here.

You'll see what it's like to step into the fictitious town of Mississippi. And you'll realize it's the only fiction surrounding this experience. The queer hate alive within the South is evident in this story. These stories ring true beyond time.

Suzannee Darrell (she/her) behind the scenes of Mirrors filming. Photo by Paul A. Notice II.

MIRRORS in the Making

Within 4 Days the cast and crew of MIRRORS finished the filming of this play. This work deserves as much exposure as it possibly can get.

Celebrate With Us

Join us online or in-person for the premiere of MIRRORS by Azure D. Osborne-Lee. Get Your Tickets. 

• Artist Tickets are $25

• Single Tickets are $75

• Double Tickets are $145

• VIP Tickets are $300

Can’t attend? Donate to Parity Productions so that we can continue our work to uplift women, trans, and gender-expansive theatre artists. Thanks to a generous supporter, all donations to our Awards Ceremony & Celebration (up to $10,000) will be matched. 

Have you seen any of our articles on this beautiful story? Check out some music from Mirrors!

WALK TALL PRODUCTIONS: Marcia with MIRRORS

WALK TALL PRODUCTIONS: Marcia with MIRRORS

There is still a little time before the premiere of MIRRORS, a filmed play by Azure D. Osborne-Lee, and directed by Paul A. Notice II.. Will you be joining us in celebration? Maybe checking out more information about MIRRORS can help with that.

Have you been tuned into our conversations around production? If you haven't you can check out our content on our blog. 

To know more about the unique and wonderful story of MIRRORS, check out articles on the thematics of MIRRORS i.e. death rituals or body diversity.

MIRRORS has an upcoming interview with Walk Tall Productions. 

Marcia Pendleton (she/her), the founder of Walk Tall Productions, is set to interview the MIRRORS cast this week on WBAI 99.5 FM on her program Backstage Stories. Pendleton will talk with playwright Azure D. Osborne-Lee (he/him, they/them), performer and music director Ashley Noel Jones (she/her), and film director Paul A. Notice II (they/them) on their experience with the play, and bringing it to life in front of the camera. Learn more about the program here, and please stay tuned for more details. 

MIRRORS is set to premiere in 2 weeks! On November 10th, 2021. Click here for more information.

Check out our interviews with Suzanne Darrell, Ashley Noel-Jones, and Azure D. Osborne-Lee.

For general information about MIRRORS, stay connected to Parity Productions.

Get your streaming/in-person tickets today! Want more information on MIRRORS? Watch the teaser here.

Hope to see you November 10th, 2021.

Black, Gay Love: MIRRORS

Black, Gay Love: MIRRORS

“ Whenever anyone begins to think about arts advocacy, a complex obstacle presents itself at once: artists have a very bad habit of being resilient, and it is that resilience that deceives us into believing that the best of it sort of gets done anyhow — and the “great” and the “best” sort of lasts anyhow... The public and even academic perception is that nothing, neither social nor personal devastation, stop the march and production of powerful and beautiful artworks... Chaucer wrote in the middle of a plague. James Joyce and Edvard Munch carried on with a blind eye and a weak one respectively. French writers excelled in and defined an age writing in the forties under Nazi occupation... The greatest of composers was able to continue while deaf. Artists have found madness, ill-health, penury, and humiliating exile — political, cultural, religious — in order to do their work... Accustomed to their grief, their single-minded capacity for it and their astonishing perseverance in spite of it,  we sometimes forget that what they do is in spite of distress — not because of it...””

— Toni Morrison, The Source of Self-RegardQuote Source

MIRRORS by Azure D. Osborne-Lee is a gripping story unearthed by time and death. There are so many powerful moments within MIRRORS.

The idea of gay love from a Black perspective of the past. Body diversity and varied spectrums of the queer identity.

This is very much one the stories currently missing from theater. From our media at large. Join us at the premiere of MIRRORS, on November 10th, 2021. 

And check out our teaser for MIRRORS above.

Music Origins From Negro Spirituals

If you’ve been looking for the 7th Wonder of the World, look no further. Takes a bit of uncovering. But think of it as a treasure hunt…

One that can be found within America’s history. A history often disconnected from Black history.

We are encouraged to reckon with our past, no matter how many dead ends you find. It involves finding the grooves in the Juke Joint beat far into the distance. It falls solemn and heavy on Jim Crow victors still living. You find these sounds in church, humming with the Mother Board on Sunday morning. Have Black sounds been beaten silent?

Sometimes it feels that there are hidden oaths. Mandating how much truth is permitted to the public. There are many things history has failed to repeat outside of omission.

Our musical roots within this country are based on the Black experience. And it’s clear as day, if you know exactly what to listen for. Negro Spirituals can be found as the origins of America’s music. You'll find the 7th Wonder.

Negro Spirituals from the Far South by A.E. Perkins brings this thought full circle.

The Negro spirituals of slavery times were composed in the fields, in the kitchen, at the loom, in the cabin at night and were inspired by some sad or awe-inspring event... The death of a beloved one, even one of the master’s family, the hardness of a master or his cruelty, the selling of his friends or relatives, and heart-rending separations, a camp meeting, a great revival, the sadness or loneliness of old age, the unusual phenomena such as a bursting of a comet...

From Rock, to BlueGrass, Blues Black Spirituals can be found.

Mirrors is filled with rich connections to Black historical roots.

Here you can listen to some of the music within Mirrors, Ashley Noel Jones is the musical director within both the film and play. You’ll be greeted by her voice in this small compilation of sounds.

The Leads Missing in Theater: Suzanne Darrell

The Leads Missing in Theater: Suzanne Darrell

Suzanne Darrell stars as Bird Wilson in the film of the play, MIRRORS,  by Azure D. Osborne-Lee.

This play is both haunting and comforting. And Darrell's experience highlights the serendipity within the making of this story. It was an experience better left to transcribe, and take heed to her thoughts.

Below you can find her interview transcript on her process in being part of MIRRORS.

MIRRORS is set to premiere November 10th, 2021. Please click here for more information.

Suzanne Darrell: A Birth of MIRRORS

I met Azure D. Osborne Lee, about 11 years ago. They were stage managing another play I was in at the time. Azure was relatively new to the city, and I was in grad school at the time, at The Actor’s Studio Drama School at PACE University. They were in between apartments and came to live with me. We became very close friends. Azure was writing MIRRORS for Freedom Train Productions. He was doing a playwriting workshop, and Mirrors was born there.

First Times to Remember

 I was probably one of the first people to read it… And in 2010 Azure decided to have  a staged reading of it for the first time.  I was privileged to read the role of Bird... What drew me the most to Bird is that she wasn’t the typical shero. I thought about the time of 1960 and what it meant to be  queer in  a small Mississippi town, no less. I  wondered what it must have been like for her and I thought, ‘This would be a challenge.’

I’m always up for a challenge. It's just so brilliantly written by Azure.  There is a depth of love and pain that moves from the small town pettiness and gossip, in the form of the church ladies to the torture that Bird  lives with daily through the loss of the love of her life... It's a very  powerful and provocative story. After I read it for the first time, I knew I had to play the role of Bird. She’s like no one I’ve ever known before. A Black middle-aged woman in 1960, who is  and queer, decides to  live life on her own terms? Yes, that’s what drew me to Bird.

Plus Size Leads

Being a plus size person in an industry that does not usually embrace plus size people and women in particular can be extraordinarily difficult. The fact that Azurerecognized I was talented and deserved the opportunity to have a moment to play someone who wouldn’t normally be acknowledged , or hired to play Bird, was affirming for me as an actor... It was exciting to me, as plus size woman, to read her for the first time. And when I auditioned for the play in August of 2019, I thought, ‘Well, you know what, I have nothing to lose. I’m going to go in, and I’m going to do what I know how to do. And I’m going to bring Bird to life the way I know that I can, in my body, in my mind and in my Spirit.’ And I did. And I’m grateful to Azure, to Parity Productions and to myself for showing up for the experience. I’d like to give a special shout out to Jamibeth Margolis Casting for calling me in.

Ancestors and Theatre Making

Every strong and powerful actor pulls from their personal life experiences to build a character... Bird and I have similarities but we’re also very,  different. My personal belief is that my ancestors and my guides were with me. . That might be woo-woo for some people to understand, but it isn’t for me. I believe they have been on this journey with me to become the best actor/performer I know how to be, in an industry where I am normally invisible...

So yes, do I have a sense  they are always with me? Yes, I do. And did I bring that with me into both the play and film version of MIRRORS? Absolutely.

I saw one of the rough cuts and I thought ‘That’s not me.’ That’s someone else. I was cracked wide open, to whatever the Universe had to do to move through me to lift this character from the page. I memorized all those words, and made specific choices, and Bird showed up.

Suzanne’s Conjures of Bird: Hauntings in MIRRORS

Bird is extremely haunted. One of the lines that clearly informs the audience that she’s haunted is when she says,‘I can’t have this house be a prison for us both.’ And she’s been carrying the weight of that on her back for years.

Bird also talks about coming into ownership of the house through the death of her parents, and how that was unexpected. She never thought about leaving at any point in time, and it would always be that house, and that career as a metalworker and that town...

She wanted a simple life, but she got stuck. I think we all get stuck or emotionally paralyzed in unexpected ways. The trauma Bird lived through kept her complacent and the arch of Bird’s character is to see her moving through that... We finally glimpse that at the end of the play.

Suzanne Darrell as “Bird” in Mirrors.

Rituals and Traditions

The darkness of Bird’s life didn’t give way to a great deal of creativity in ritual. I imagine her creativity was tied up in her being a metal worker. That was where she spent the majority of her waking hours, working. She had other kinds of rituals. For instance, she made her mama’s biscuits and that was a tradition that was passed down through her family. She also loved the ritual of listening to music and dancing. 

As a metal worker which was primarily a job men did at the time, she created things for people in her community who had a need. There is great power in a woman’s ability to take care of herself and stand on her own two feet without the need of a partner.  In Bird’s case and in 1960, without the need of a man.  

Bird was a very simple, straightforward woman and yet her community was judgemental   about whom  she chose to love. It was complicated - not for her, but for the town in which she lived.

It's not a tradition in my culture to stand at the  grave side, and we say things to the deceased, as  we say goodbye and watch them go from one realm of life into the next... But I love that moment when Bird says goodbye, and lets  go of her first love.   She finally got the closure she was so desperately seeking.

Bird’s Character Growth

I remember crying during the run of the play at the grave site, but something different happened to me during the film. It felt like a circle of completion. There were no tears. There was just the freedom of goodbye. It was finished. As an actor, I’d never experienced that choice. I just let Bird live in my body, and say goodbye in the way she chose to. 

Life has a way of bringing things back to us. And we can push things away from us over, over and over again, the Universe will ask us, ‘Have you learned that lesson yet? How about now?’ And then we’re given the biggest push. Bird had to ask herself, ‘Was she ready?’ ‘Had she learned?’ And then and only then could she speak her personal truth in a way that she never felt safe to before... The power of that truth set her free.

Suzanne Darrell as “Bird” in Mirrors.

Filmed Experience of MIRRORS

I love being a stage actor.  Shooting something out of sequence versus the challenge of doing a play from beginning to end without stopping... is one of the most powerful experiences. You go on a journey all the way from beginning to the end... And you leave room for magic to happen. I feel totally very present in the moment for those 2 hours.

Magic happens in film as well. The lovely thing about doing a film is that you get the opportunity to do it again and again. And you find new and different things that you might not have found running it from beginning to end.

I will say, doing the film version left a lot more room for the expansion of choices. Amazing things happened when I let go even more. When we were working on the film, I could sense subtleties in a way I hadn’t had time for in the traditional play. . I think it will be evidenced when people see it who have also seen the play in its first iteration.

Suzanne’s Takeaways

Be patient. You never know what’s going to come to you. Be kind. Because everyone is working incredibly hard to develop the project and bring it to life, and be generous and gentle with yourself and with other people...

Get Streaming and Physical Tickets of MIRRORS

Get Streaming and Physical Tickets of MIRRORS

Have you gotten your streaming tickets yet? MIRRORS by Azure D. Osborne-Lee, filmed productions premieres in less than a month.

 A story that takes place in the 1960's rural South. Bird Wilson, a middle-age black woman, grieving her true love. Bird takes in the the surviving daughter, Alma Jean. A story queer love story trapped in the confines of a house much older than the living characters. It's a story that you don't want to miss.

 Get your ticket information here!

Mirrors Unveils: Southern Superstitions and a Love Story

Black hairstyle of the 1960s, a woman drinking a cocktail with a bob.

A story of my grandmother's generation, arranged in matters rather complicated. Bird is a gay woman living in Etheridge, Mississippi when she becomes the guardian to Alma Jean. Alma is the surviving child of Bird's lost lover, who trusted only Bird with her daughter.

Gay South, Mississppi filled in the small squares of rainbow colors.

Being gay in the South has traumatic impact. Particularly on Bird, a masc-presenting metalsmith. She gives me all types of Bismuth vibes, for my Steven Universe fans. A tough exterior, so at least inside yourself you're safe, right? 

What is most compelling is the undying loyalty that Bird shows to Belle, even after death. It's what makes it such a profound love story. So often, we bound love to our own ideas of who each other should be. How we perceive love exemplifies how we view freedom. 

These characters all, eventually, offer each other freedom within their love. Even in the after. I’ve always hated hearing, “I love you too death,” because what about after then? Mirrors begs that question.

Black plays about the gay South a quote from Azure D. Osborne-Lee that reads: “We both made some mistakes, said some harsh things, and your mama decided it was time for her to move on”.

Shadows Serve Reflection: Life After Death

Azure offers us such a compelling look into unconditional love. Belle seemed addicted to a fast life. It brought about many consequences for them both. And yet, her former lover honors the entirety of her character. A striking witnessing.

Bird only wanted people at the funeral who “loved [Belle] as she was.” What a protagonist to follow. It's a strange vocation to honor the dead like a knight. A crept-keeper of memories, borough-ed into her house, the only place she can demand respect.

Alma Jean does not know what to respect or where to begin to unpack herself.

Alma reminds us that we are not the only ones searching for more information about Belle. We learned that she is searching to understand her mother in wholeness. With her new guardian being so "close" to her mother, if nothing else in her stay, she hopes to gather some clarity.

White candles at a funeral.

Louise is my favorite piece of this story, the current lover of Bird has a selfless way about her. In some ways, it felt like a softer much healthier version of Cersei and King Robert. Lightheartedness aside, we always feel the absence of past lovers, and often there is a wonder. On how to fill your one up, after a ghost has won. The complexity moved me.

Each character seems to be a piece of Belle in some way, since she's gone. How they speak of her, is the legacy. When there is no longer a vessel to house you, you have no choice but to live through others. Becoming a waking thought.

Graphic of a Black woman dressed for church.

Death Be Not Proud

As a Queer Black Southerner, I am humbled and shrouded in the honesty of Azure's writing. I am haunted by a prevailing sense of love that could not shatter. I did not want anything more, but to  drape in the shadows that guides us through Bird's house.

How many matriarchs, by social classification, sacrificed exclusivity in their Queer relationships? Secrecy to avoid further harm than being Black and seen, which can be Death.

Black plays quote 2 by Azure D Osborne-Lee reads as follows: “Wasn’t neither of us too good with sayin’ we was sorry and I guess time just got away from us..”

But Death need not be proud. Belle lives on, the woman who is socially-downtrodden. Rather it be because of her "ways" or identity. She lives through them all.

Similarities to Whitney Houston and Robyn Crawford

So much of Belle and Bird's relationship reminds me of Whitney Houston and Robyn Crawford. Masculine-presenting AFAB folx (Female assigned at Birth) face the brunt of violence. Queer people risk saftey depending on where they love in public, or what family they’re born into. Sometimes the violence is scrutiny. If Whitney had a community who could see her, they wouldn’t have had to only remain “close” all those years.

A rose laying across a hand-written love letter.

There is a star-crossed feel to Belle and Bird. There is something unspeakable in the bond. They had known each other for so long. Kids, they were. Similarly to Houston and Crawford.

Robyn Crawford writes in "A Song For You: My Life With Whitney Houston" that they met as camp counselors. A history, beyond romance. A lover that knows your beginning.

Bird encounters these harsher realities. While Belle, like Whitney, being femme-presenting served as an advantage. Belle avoided similar treatment by happenstance of being consumed to the male-gaze.

Black plays Azure D Osborne-Lee, a quote from Mirrors reads as follows: “I can tell you, though, that right there, letting the time get away, is one of the things so done in this life that I truly am sorry for”.

All I'm saying is that Belle and Bird were loving each other in the 1960s South. I mean, this isn't The Fosters. The consequences were grave then. Maybe that’s all the fear that Whitney felt?

What we will never know, we must explore through a created perspective. We need more artists to explore the depths and possibilities of humanity. I haven’t read a story in a long time that has moved me to understand the un-condition in love. I would highly recommend viewing the in-person or digital screening of this production.

Azure D. Osborne-Lee's Mirrors premieres online this Fall. Get tickets here.

MIRRORS Teaser Trailer

Watch our teaser trailer for the upcoming filmed premiere of Mirrors by Azure D. Osborne-Lee.

Get your tickets here to join us Wednesday, November 10th at 6PM for the premiere.

LGBTQ Representation in Mirrors

Mirrors explores representation in many layers. What about the audience members who will relate most to Bird? What does it mean to be a darker skinned lesbian in the South? What if you're plus-size, or masc-presenting?

And what about Belle? She could possibly be seen as a bisexual portrayal of a woman within then 1960’s. And not just any woman, a black woman. It's critical that the portrayals of the LGBTQ communities be of full accuracy and complexity. I wish that wholeness was exclusive of the stories told of us. 

Many times, the portrayal of bisexual people are watered-down. People are usually either closeted or open. But what about the shades in-between? It feels dishonest when we tell stories of sexuality from a black and white perspective. 

LGBTQ Representation in Media

We know Will and Grace, and probably The Kids Are Alright very well. Even Annalise Keating gave us some black bisexual representation on television on How to Get Away With Murder.

There must be further conversations around ideas of queer baiting within media. There is also a lack of authenticity within portrayals of LGBTQ experiences... as if queer and trans people do not exist. Why is there ever a need to cast anyone other than these experiences? And are not at times, fighting to stay alive. But, I digress. Make no mistake. Representation most certainly matters.

Mirrors, is part of the representation that we require to be painted fully as Black LGBTQ+. We are hungry to be seen as whole beings. Azure D. Osborne-Lee's Mirrors premieres online this Fall. Get ticketshere.

Why Black Actors Need Black Writers

A Black actor performs.

I love a good telling, based on the superstition of covered mirrors. Unveiling the mass of heartbreak in the 1960s South. The reflections illuminate past loves that never leave.

Ashley Noel Jones is a musician, songwriter, educator, and actress. She worked on Parity Productions’ Mirrors. Jones played Alma Jean and composed some of the music for the show. Mirrors is gearing up for a premiere November 10th, 2021. A filmed-staged production of the play by Azure D. Osborne-Lee.

“Theater has always been a place where it felt like the rejects could go. So, it's really cool to say, ‘Yeah, can we continue that..?’ It's not just that there will be a place at the table. The table will be recreated by those eating at the table. There is no table, we are making the table together.”  

It was an honor: to hold space, and speak in real terms about the real footwork this story is. On behalf of the Black and Queer experiences in this world.

Jones was full of insights about the current state of our world, and how theater will hold as a marker for it.

In the rehearsal process there was a heavy awareness of identity. From Ashley’s recall, it seems that it was a space that felt inclusive, that felt inviting for people to be who they were.

What Is An Inclusive Performance Space

Ashley Noel Jones (she/hers), a Black actress, plays acoustic guitar in a spotlight.

“ ‘This is your name.. this is how it's pronounced.. what are your pronouns..?’ It was so beautiful to [create] this space that felt brave for people. To be who they are. We saw a lot of this in the “racial reckoning” during the pandemic.. But this experience continues to make me hopeful. Because you are in the space... where these are all different people, coming from all different walks of life. Coming together to create this thing, by this beautiful Black trans folx..”

Black actress and musical director photographed is Ashley Noel Jones in rehearsal for Mirrors.

Black Southern Hymns: Composing Mirrors

“This was a really cool experience with Mirrors because.. there is only one piece of music that Azure has written..  There is a moment where this song is very important to the script. In the theatre space that we were in originally at Next Door New York Theater workshop, the space is weird.

There are certain entrances and exits. Cast members would [have to] cross the entire theater down the back. 

You go through some stairs, the prop room, all the way around to center through the other side. [To] help cover that, Ludovica had had this idea to come up with these sort-of musical interludes. Early on in the process, I started talking with her about what that looks like.”

“I am from the South. I am into a lot of Roots, and BlueGrass [genres]. I was into the [music] that people don’t often associate with black folk. [And, I’m like] ‘No, we created this.’...  An incredible dramaturg, also helped create a lot of spaces for music. Between that and my own research, I was able to have a lot of tracks. Smithsonian folk [recordings] of black folk singing church music in the South. So, being able to start that research... to come up with songs [to see] where it could be placed… What’s happening [in] this moment? What is this about? And is there a song?”

Black theater in New York image of Ashley Noel Jones in Parity’s production of Mirrors.

“...You’re trying to follow what the melody is [through these old folk hymns]... It was really fun to arrange… The show isn’t a musical. It’s a play with music in it. And even with the cast, everyone could carry a tune… but there were a few people who were really strong singers.

For the film, the pandemic threw something completely different into it. Because we couldn’t be singing in the theater together. With COVID compliance we were very careful about keeping everyone safe. We know that transmission happens a lot in those spaces. Of singing, or people yelling.

We were just hitting our stride for the rest of the run.. and then having this moment where it was like, that was it… We all thought, ‘Yeah, ok, this will pass in a month or so. And then theatre will come back... and Next Door New York Theatre Workshop will give us another chance to do it in the summer.

Here we are over a year and a half later [and] theater is just now coming back.”

Accessibility in Theater: “..Tickets are expensive..”

“It's really amazing to see how artists got creative during this time…

‘How do we make live theater feel like live theater... if it has to be watched on a phone?’”

Live Theater versus Filmed Theater

“That line that you say...

You can have the same inflection... but there’s something different every time... or crazy stuff happens like, ‘Oh that person can’t get into their costume!’”

Black Actors Doing Work That Serves Them

“As an actor, you don’t always get to work on something that you like or that moves you... I’m trying to get to a place where I am confident in what I want enough... and what I want to tell the world what I want… If something doesn’t serve me, I’m ok with saying, ‘No, that’s a pass.’

I remember I had an audition tape for a short film... and I remember reading the beginning of the script and it was really lovely.

[I was like]... ‘Oh this is great'... And then it ended… of course it was about race, and then it ended with one of [Black] characters getting shot. It was a whole thing. Even the way it was written, they bleed out on the floor.”

Black actors Ashley Scott (she/her) and AnJu Hyppolite (she/her) in Mirrors.

“And I was like, ‘Nope, this [don’t] serve me. And I remember having that moment with my reps like, ‘No, I’m gunna pass on this.’

As an actor, you don’t always get those moments… When I got the audition for Alma Jean [in Mirrors] I was just blown away.

I think my only trepidation [was] imposter syndrome, like am I good enough to do this?...

I didn’t have any real fear of delving into those places. She’s going through a traumatic experience of having loss this parent... and coming from a single parent home... Where there is no other parent... She really is on her own… And to think about the way in which we all hold trauma… How it manifests within our actions. As a black woman, we are the strong ones, you gotta be strong and tough for everybody.”

Suzanne Darrell (she/her) and Ashley Scott (she/her), two Black actors in Mirrors.

“Getting a chance to play with what that looks like, with this young woman who is coming into her own. And who is coming of age. Whose dealing with this trauma. Where in these moments, it seems like it's almost not affecting her. But it's because it's affecting her so deeply.

.. Getting a chance to do it in this film capacity, you have even more of a chance to capture that.. The audience is going to get to see the way you might tuck your hair behind your ear.

There are a lot of moments where Alma Jean doesn’t speak.. During this time, all these other things have to be happening.”

Fences, But this time Osborne-Lee not Wilson

“I can't wait To see people in college, people in grad school, doing scenes from Mirrors, in their scene study class. And getting a chance to really connect to something... This is [...] the tip of the iceberg for Azure. There is so much more to the work that I'm so excited to watch to see how that unfolds. We need it. I can't wait for people to get to see it. And for us all to get to learn... What are the next steps for Black theater? What's the next steps for Queer theater? ... There is going to be a section in theater history books that's going to be about this time. Of what people did and how they challenged things... Some kid could [...] watch this, when they are doing a scene from Mirrors, twenty, thirty forty years from now... which we all do. These scenes from forever [ago], 'Oh yeah, we're going to do this O'Neal play'!... Getting to watch. I've watched ... I'm a nerd... so I spent a lot of time at NYU at the library at Lincoln Center... watching old clips of plays and  watching Viola Davis doing August Wilson. Getting to see those clips of those recordings. It's cool to think ... 'There could be a  [point in] time where some kid is prepping for their scene for this. And it's going to be their audition monologue... is going to be Alma Jean's moment, where she talks about her mom…”

Azure D. Osborne-Lee's Mirrors premieres online this Fall and has a physical premiere at the AC&C. Get ticketshere. You may also find more on Ashley on Parity’s Database.

The Changing Face of Theatre

Two white theatrical masks leaning against one another against a black background.

March 2020 served as a rebirth for theater. It has been a conquest to consider health, in a medium that thrives off of socialization. A catalyst was born out of the pandemic. An evolution of thought.

 Paul Notice directs a filmed adaptation of Mirrors by Azure D Osborne-Lee. In the black space. The negative space left within the dark gives the space its name. It's a double entendre that pays ode to Black artists, as well.

 It directs your attention “only to the characters,” a paraphrasing of Paul's words.

 The black space does much more than this, though. And any work that comes after this, is posing similar questions like 'What now in theater?'

 What can happen now is dependent on our imagination and resources?

Advantages of Filming

A Black man holds a clapperboard.

There is something very groundbreaking within this medium. Something informs our future, here. When theater is a challenge to make, what else can we do?

We make it anyway, with the resources available to us. We tread the plague by creating different ways to consume stories. Parity Productions is certainly not the only one to make this work.

The future shifts without prompting. Just as a story does. There may be triggers and heaps unknown to the outcomes. However, this is when the creative process begins again. When we are met with obstacles, with an objective that remains, even if obsolete.

And what are we creating in the process of overcoming these obstacles? Is it a recreation of a moment that we have seen in theatre audiences before?

These answers are for the artistic direction to execute. A choice of style for the production. An imperative choice to make. It will deeply depend on the artistic goals of the exact production.

Disadvantages of Filming

A Black woman holding a clapperboard.

Gaining access to the equipment can be expensive. Just as tickets to a show can be expensive. There are creative perspectives that many artists can cultivate within reasonable camera prices. But reasonability is relative.

It's something to consider. The disparity can be found within the doors creating theater, along with outside of it. Money will always be an essential part to making media.

I don't underestimate the novelty that theater makers will find... in whatever material they have. What creativity births out of the medium of film and theater, can be endless. And you’ll see this in Mirrors.

But, I digress. There are still many things to consider, in the conceptualization of film making of any kind.

There are many financial elements to consider. Listed below are a few: 

• Sound/Editing

• Video/Director of Photography

• Video Editing

• Music

• Mics on set

• Lighting

Of course this should not limit you, there are ways to get creative without. And perhaps access to resources, you did not know you had. Theater is not as stiff as a medium, as many might like to present.

New Theatrical Experiences

Do theatre productions need to make you feel as if you are actually within a theatre? Are you creating a moment unlike any moment?

This is an evolution of theater. Theater artists during this era in history, might consider film.

Those who love it. Unconditionally, regardless of form.

These are the types of works that we should encourage, and are part of accepting our new reality. There should be more access to virtual productions. If we care about the form being preserved, and if we truly care about access.

Mirrors creates moments unlike other moments. You shouldn’t go into expecting Hamilton the Musical. But instead something that feeds a novice void within art. It's a style of its own. You should go into Mirrors expecting something that feels familiar. But you won't remember seeing it before. The perspective is new, or in some ways an old stranger. Reacquainting itself.

By the way, are you in New York City? Click here for ticket information to the Mirrors set to premiere on November 10th, 2021.

The Evolution of Theater

March 2019 served as a rebirth for theater in a few ways. It was time to recreate telling stories on stage for the safety of others. A catalyst was born out of the pandemic. An evolution of thought.

Paul Notice directs a filmed adaptation of Mirrors. In the black space. The negative space left within the dark gives the space its name. It's a double entendre that pays ode to Black artists, as well.

It directs your attention “only to the characters,” a paraphrasing of Paul's words. 

It does much more than this, though. And any work that comes afterwards, is posing similar questions like 'What now in theater?'

What can happen now is dependent on our imagination and resources.

Advantages of Filming

There is something very groundbreaking within this medium. Something informs our future, here. When theater is a challenge to make, what else can we do?

We make it anyway, with the resources available to us. We trend the plague by creating different ways to consume stories. Parity is certainly not the only one to make this work. There is an importance to be self aware of in what ways the future can shift within our dealings of the present.

And what are we creating in that process? Is it a recreation of a moment?

That is for the artistic direction to execute. A choice of style for the production. An imperative choice to make. It will deeply depend on the artistic goals of the exact production.

Disadvantages of Film Making

Gaining access to the equipment can be expensive. Just as tickets to a show can be extremely expensive. There is a creative perspective that many artists can find with reasonable camera prices.

It's something to consider, though. The disparity can be found within the doors of creating theater, along with outside of it. Money will always be an essential part to making media.

I don't underestimate the novelty that theater makers will find... in whatever material they have.

There are many elements to consider. Listed below are a few:

• Sound/Editing

• Video/Director of Photography

• Video Editing

• Music

• Mics on set

• Lighting

Of course this should not limit you, there are ways to get creative on a budget. And perhaps access to resources, you did not know you had. Storytelling is not as stiff as a medium, as many might like to present.

New Theatrical Experiences

Do theatre companies need to make you feel as if you are actually within a theatre? Are you creating a moment unlike any moment?

This is potentially the evolution of theater, that should at least affect us all to some degree. Those who love it. Unconditionally, regardless of form. These are the types of works that we should encourage, and is part of accepting our new reality.

There should be more access to these types of productions.

Mirrors creates moments unlike other moments. You shouldn’t go into expecting Hamilton the Musical, but instead something that feeds the novice void within art. It's a style of its own. You should go into Mirrors expecting something that feels familiar. But you won't remember it. The perspective is new, or in some ways an old stranger. Reacquainting itself.

By the way, are you in New York City? Click here for ticket information to the Mirrors physical premiere for November 10th, 2021. 

Where were you when the pandemic started?

We had gotten into the groove of our run for Mirrors by 2018 Commission Winner Azure D. Osborne-Lee, when New York City shut down for over a year. It's safe to say that we all thought this would be a blip on the radar of New York Theater. A blip in our lives.

But it wasn't. We couldn’t run our show. We were forced to go online and enter the world of virtual theatre. And where we are now, we believe, is redefining the way we do theater.

Virtual Theatre Experience

We acknowledge the elitism that our craft has fostered within the past. Those very systematic structures are being questioned. 

Theater does not have to be a physical location. That’s not the heartbeat. 

Let theater be a place to fight for parity, even from the comfort of our homes. Let’s support the work that affirms the change we need in the world. 

How to Support Mirrors

If you’re looking for tickets for plays in NYC with Trans and Gender inclusive stories, we invite you to Mirrors. We are gearing up for our filmed production. Our physical premiere is November 10, 2021 at AC&C, and we are hoping to celebrate with you safely. 

The filmed staged production of Mirrors by 2018 Commission Winner Azure D. Osborne-Lee will premiere at Parity’s 5th Annual Awards Ceremony & Celebration on  Wednesday, November 10th, 2021 at 6 pm ET. Click here for in-person and online tickets or sign up here to know when General tickets are on sale. 

Mirrors stands true to our mission and we would love for you to share this experience with us in any way that you can. 

Thank you for your support, without you - we couldn't do this work. Be part of changing theater.

Body Diversity in Mirrors

The world teaches us to look at plus size bodies as less desirable. We look at the word fat as derogatory. We have used it that way to ourselves and each other, as a society.

But regardless of how you identify, bodies of all shapes can be earnest in their pursuits of love. And this has to be said. It can't be implicit. Our brains are not as nuanced as we would like them to be.

 Representation matters to your neurological wiring. How your mind reacts to body size, gender presentation and color are programs.

And sometimes art reflects life. In this way what we witness in Mirrors by Azure D. Osborne-Lee is a reflection of many social layerings.

Mirrors is a particularly revolutionary piece. Its protagonist is a plus size Black masculine-presenting woman. We are not prompted to captivate on any of these external markers of identity.

Our attention is instead drawn to the pursuits and failures of love, that we all relate to.

Are We Creating Love Scarcity?

When we write stories about people of sizes outside of a social standard... their wholeness is often missing. This has become a norm. But do we realize that we have people’s self love on the line? 

It's important that our media reflects practices that are inclusive of all peoples. And not as a plot line. Not actors in bodysuits. Mirrors isn’t a story about someone desirable being unexpectedly fond of someone not. 

Mirrors is, according to Azure about, "Foundational love.” The body should always be granted visibility to love and be loved.

Body Positivity is Not a Niche

Nothing is a niche, when it can be a matter of life and death. When our words and media can rewrite someone's narrative. What someone feels they could expect from life.

As if being fat could mean having something to prove to the world. As if people of different sizes, diverging from privileged norms, must earn a keep.

Racial preferences, size phobias. Both present underlying sickness within our society. It is odd to debate the worthiness of another's love. Yet the value of our love is questioned by a manufactured-worthy. Uninterested in our bodies beyond consumption.

How to Produce Body Positive Work

• For one, avoid the use of body suits - hire plus size actors.

• Avoid having actors on their knees pretending to be little people.

• Avoid using size as a comedic touchstone, get more creative.

• Don't write stories about plus size actors swooning over "the popular cis-het guy at school."

• Let plus size characters' transformation be within their thoughts, not their size. Not popularity. Avoid making stories about normalized versions of beauty.

• Focus on telling a full story of people with complexities. Not a gimmick. Not a lesson of self acceptance from a gaze outside their own.

Mirrors tackles these deep rooted issues, simply within the casting of this play. It does not soliloquy around the ideas of race, size,  gender, or colorist societal effects. It is here to tell a story.

Mirrors premieres November 10th, 2021 at 6 pm ET at Parity’s 5th Annual Awards Ceremony & Celebration. Get in-person or online tickets to Mirrors.

Rising Black Queer Playwright: Azure D. Osborne-Lee

Azure D. Osborne-Lee is the mastermind and playwright behind Mirrors.

Mirrors was recently filmed and is set to premiere November 10th, 2021. There is a beauty in letting a writer weave thoughts into abstracts.

Read along with the transcript of this interview below.

For more information about Mirrors head over to our website.

Azure D. Osborne-Lee (he/him, they/them)

 

Starting a Play: Objects Tell Stories

I started writing Mirrors in 2010, and I didn't necessary know how to go about writing a full length play. So, the first thing that I had was this image of this covered mirror and this sort of older house... I knew it was going to be a play about a death ritual. So, then what I went about doing was researching certain death rituals... and aspects of Southern culture. And that involved going to the public library and checking out a bunch of books... also calling up a librarian I knew from college. I learned how to make biscuits.

 

Births, Weddings, Deaths: Azure on Themes

I'm not sure where the idea of death ritual came from. I guess that's part of my work... Red Rainbow is also [a death ritual play]. It's one of the most important times. Births, weddings, and deaths. I'm not exactly sure what brought me there. I think that one that enjoy a number of different stories and mediums... but maybe doesn't have complete control over what one will write.

Honoring the Dead and Queer Folx

I think sometimes that Queer Folx can end up being the keeper's of culture... One of the remarkable things about Bird is that is able to hold onto a number of... truths. And I think that she is really motivated by a desire to allow Belle to have a respectful home going. She is determined to make she that Belle receives her rights, in a very challenging situation.

 

Artifacts and Memory

I think that artifacts are a great way to enter a story. I have artifacts from a lot of my plays sprinkle throughout my apartment... This mirror is a touchstone for the piece. I found that I am fairly obsessed with radios or stereos. Memory is triggered by... a number of things. All of the senses that we have go into building a memory. So there are different ways to sort of get at memories and access events. I had this idea of sort of bell ringing to as part of ritual, but also to bring forth memories. That's part of what led me into this idea of the old time-y telephones with the bells. For me that is one of the rich potentials of theater.

 

Radically Accepting Space

When I think about theater, I think about the entire process... the rehearsal room, to the stage, to the post postmortem. I have been lucky enough to have a couple of really transformative experiences. I feel like that's what really gets us hooked on theater. Making sure we're creating a place where people feel like that they can be fully themselves... is really important to me. Particularly black people, black queer people, black trans people. Making radically accepting space benefits everybody. It makes room for our straight/cis friends, as well. And I think that all of that translates to the piece itself. When you allow people to be their full selves and it really empower them as people... and as artists then they're able to bring their best work to the table. That is the kind of theater that people are longing for.

 

Black Characters with Disabilities, Body Diversity

The characters themselves are maybe people... who wouldn't necessarily have a story told about them in traditional pieces. I focus on black lives, there is a southern sensibility around most of my work because I am southern. I also have queer and trans protagonists. Body diversity is really important to me. Having people with disabilities involved.

 

Under-parented Teens: Love Styles

Regarding inspiration for Belle and Bird's relationship. I don't know if I had a particular source of inspiration. I just thought about, what is the significance of foundational relationships... that form, touch and affect every relationship that comes after. I think a lot about teenagers. I teach. Teenagers are my favorite age group to work with. That's when their love style... that's when they learn to love. That is something that effects people for the rest of their lives. Learning how to be in loving relationships with other people. What is acceptable. What is not acceptable. People start to learn their place within society. How much love currency do they have?

 

Queer Relationship Models

Exploring queer foundational relationships is particularly important. People who are in queer relationships don't get a lot of guidance.

 

Role Models For Youth

This character of Alma Jean, she's 17. She's not necessary someone's who has had a lot of guidance. There is something so important about having all sorts of role models available. All sorts of people available within the community. Young people absorb information that they may or may not even realize. Who it's ok to be. Examples of personhood and possibilities for their lives. When it comes to being a person of size and not really seeing any models for a fat person being in love or desirable. It's important to see multiple possibilities. It's important to see dark skin folx. Different models of people doing their thing... How are you supposed to recognize that you can have a full existence?

Things like recognizing that Bird is not light-skinned. That's not something that people talk about explicitly... but it's a thing that is programmed into the way she is treated by her community. That's a little tricky because that's something that black folks would know. There is this sort of thing that happens when people touch a story, if they are not familiar with that cultural identity, it gets converted back to the societal norm...  I think being very specific in the text is the best ways to keep the integrity... You want to make sure those collaborations of enriching the work, instead of diluting it.

I started writing shortly after moving to New York City. I move to New York to be a theater maker. I was 24. At that point I understood myself to be primarily an actor, but had started to explore writing for a stage. I hadn't shown it to anybody. I was given a chance to explore my voice as a writer. I think that stories come from what is important to you. I think there is a sort of meditative connection to Spirit and ancestry. I think that you can teach people things about craft and form and process. But there is always a certain of je ne sais quoi, something about being a writer that can't be taught. I write about things that are interesting to me. If I feel that little tug on my brain that says, 'Hey, we could really spend hours thinking about this.' Or I'm just really curious, I want to nerd out about this.' It might be mushrooms or biscuits or what's the difference between a rabbit and a hare. I translate that into a paradigm that works for me and usually what works for me is a black queer one.

Azure D. Osborne-Lee's Mirrors, is set to premiere November 10th, 2021. Click here for tickets.

Hymn Compositions in Mirrors

Hymns are defined as a sacred song. And Ashley Noel Jones, the musical director for Mirrors, crafted music of that sound. Below is a transcription of Ashley’s thoughts as music director.

The filmed staged production of Mirrors by 2018 Commission Winner Azure D. Osborne-Lee will premiere at Parity’s 5th Annual Awards Ceremony & Celebration on  Wednesday, November 10th, 2021 at 6 pm ET. Click here for in-person and online tickets. 

Sources of Inspiration

There were a ton of [hymns pulled from]. I like a lot of  old folk music and Roots songs. Smithsonian Folk Wave was an incredible resource. It was great for music recordings, but not just music... lots of things. "Soon One Morning" "Jesus Gonna Make Up My Dying Bed."

Rivers Original By Ashley Noel Jones

Rivers was an original song written by me. It's on an EP, it's the opening track on that record. It base structure of that song was written on an acoustic guitar. I don't write whole lot of up tempo songs, or mid tempo songs... I wanted to write a piece with a switch it in. The song is one thing and it transforms into another song within the song... It has a spiritual theme to it... I wouldn't call it a hymn. But it has a spiritual meaning to it... I just happened to be singing that song, and I said, 'This works.' A lot of times when I do it live, I do this sort of humming thing that I sort of get the audience to do.. The lead part that is sung before the rest of the cast.. was sung by Natalie Jacobs, who was in the play and who is a terrific singer.. It was really cool. I've never really heard anybody in that capacity other than my friends or people when they come to my shows live.. But it was really magical to get to hear Natalie sing this song. I've heard anybody other than myself.

Incubation of Southern Hymns in Mirrors

These types of communal songs, you know, they change. Depending on the region, depending on who's singing it. Depending on... the lyrics changing...with Blues and Roots music there's like 25 versions of every song. I would just go with what I could hear in multiple people's voices... Call and response. And things that you have to guess about, because it's like, this it's a perfect piece of music. Or here's your piano playing your melody and all these things... What does this sound shape into? ... Does the tempo need to be faster... melancholy? ... It was nice to craft those moments. We were singing a cappella, so it had to be stuff that could in the moment be created. But it couldn't sound so plain and bland... Using body percussion, and stomps. 

1960's Dramaturgy

We had a great dramaturg Arminda [Thomas], who was amazing. We have great packages... giving us more insight into the time periods. The music for the show in those moments of songs that might be relevant or could be meaningful or special to Bird or another character... A lot of times, our music and a lot of things we like... are attached to the memories. It could be a song that Bird really liked because her parents liked it. If that's the case, then we're going to talk about this could be music from the 1920s, this could be music from the 1910s... Getting to see those pictures, and there were already things to reference music wise.

Hymns and Faith

Throughout my script I had tons of pictures of moments that made sense of every scene of the play. Little clips and pictures associated with the music, so that it gave me a feeling of what those scenes meant... Arminda had sent a list of things with lots of songs... I was listening to music and field recordings of children's hand games or working songs... People were still sharecroppers... Interviews of people talking about music and their faith.