Artist in Residence: AriDy Nox – At The Bayou’s Mouth Reading and Talk

AriDy Nox will present a reading of excerpts from her triptych At The Bayou’s Mouth (working title). Afterward there will be a facilitated discussion about triptychs, nonlinear playwriting, and creativity rooted in black femme identity. AriDy will receive feedback and reactions to the works-in-progress and discuss the opportunities afforded us as creative thinkers when we go beyond traditional structure, as well as the stories we can explore when we allow ourselves to think outside of the box.

Residency Plan:
I am currently working on a magical realism triptych that follows a black family along the matrilineal line across three generations as they work to understand motherhood in nontraditional contexts. The triptych exists in a village that is a mix of all the Southern towns I have ever lived in, on the outskirts of a Bayou. I intend to finish a detailed outline of the second play of the series, water, as well as a rough draft of the third play in the series, witchling. I am also deeply excited by the idea of pulling in other artists to possibly engage in my process in collaborative ways, especially choreographers and musicians. The triptych will have a lot of underscoring and *movement*. As a fledgling composer, I would love to get feedback on some of the rough scores that I will be composing and possible movement that comes out of those scores. 

Bio:
AriDy Nox is a multi-disciplinary black femme storyteller and social activist with a variety of forward-thinking creative works under her/their belt including the historical reimagining of the life of Sally Hemmings BLACK GIRL IN PARIS (2020), the ancestral reckoning play A WALLESS CHURCH (2019), the afrofuturist ecopocalypse musical METROPOLIS (2019), and many others. AriDy creates out of the vehement belief that creating a future in which marginalized peoples are free requires a radical imagination. Their tales are offerings intended to function as small parts of an ancient, expansive, awe-inspiring tradition of world-shaping, created by and for black femmes.  As a graduate of the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at Tisch School of the Performing Arts at NYU and a beneficiary of the Musical Theatre Factory Inaugural MAKERS cohort, the Emerging Writer’s Group at the Public Theatre, The Civilians’ Research and Development Group, Horizon Theatre’s Black Women Speak Cohort, and the Live and In Color June Bingham commission, they have been inordinately privileged to share the workings of her imagination among a vast array of inspiring and supportive artists of various radical backgrounds throughout the country.