7 Stages Artistic Director Heidi S Howard talks with long-time collaborators Tim Miller‬ and Scott Turner Schofield ‬ about their lives and works. This conversation is in anticipation of a double-feature at the theatre: Miller’s performances of “A Body in the O” and a screening of Schofield’s film “Becoming a Man in 127 Easy Steps“.

In anticipation of upcoming Human Sunrise Festival, we talked with our dear friend, collaborator, and 7 Stages Education Director Destiny Renee about the festival and what led up to this multifaceted event.

Destiny has spent the last year helping students across Atlanta craft artistic responses to An American Sunrise by U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo. This book of poetry speaks to the experiences of Muscogee (Creek) people, whose land we now call Atlanta. Destiny chose to explore An American Sunrise for its universal themes of grief, hope, displacement, loss, ancestry, nature, and to learn about Muscogee people while honoring their lives and work.

DR – 7 Stages has truly drawn me in because of the important work that they do within the community; everyone is important and their stories matter. They have nurtured me as an artist during a time when I didn’t know I needed that space to grow and strengthen my creative voice. There’s always an overarching goal! To uplift everyone, especially the youth and give them a platform to be heard and create from the heart.

DR – Well honestly after reading like the first 10 poems within An American Sunrise I was already crying and texting our Artistic Director, Heidi Howard, telling her that it was a MUST. The themes within the book were universal: Grief, hope, displacement, loss, honoring ancestry and nature. There’s also a historical aspect which fit really well within our education program. I knew that all communities would benefit from taking a deeper look into the stories of Native & Indigenous people, the first voices. We could all learn a lot from them, especially when it comes to caring for our beloved planet Earth.

DR – We can expect to have fun! There will be a variety of artistic responses to Joy Harjo’s beautiful poetry. With text so rich like An American Sunrise, all of our students and Artistic Associates really dug deep to create from a vulnerable space. There will be music, art, dance, short plays, aerial performances, spoken word and so much more. This event will also leave room for community members to tell their own stories inspired by the themes within the book on an open mic as well as different interactive experiences within our lobby. It is my hope that everyone will leave feeling more open to express their truth freely, acknowledge their history and find ways to make a brighter tomorrow.

We invite you to our Human Sunrise Festival on May 28th, from 3 – 7 PM in our lobby and outdoors. An eclectic range of artistic responses to Harjo’s journey encourages audiences and L5P visitors to honor the Muscogee and Creek people and their land. As we shed light on colonialism and complacency, we celebrate all of our ancestors and commit to future generations through art making and story sharing.

An immersive installation explores the four classical elements and our stories’ relationships to them. Visual art created by our students, teaching artists, community members, as well as local, national and international artistic associates decorates our gallery. Spoken word poetry, music, dance, aerial performances, and a screening of selected films create a flurry of activity, engagement and connection throughout the event.

Join us for an artburst of sunrise and possibility! CLICK TO LEARN MORE & RSVP.

7 Stages takes the opportunity to chat with performers after rehearsal of Corian Ellisor Dance’s April 29 – May 1 run of Charmed Ones.

This will be our first in-person performance of 2021, held outdoors behind the theatre, and we couldn’t be more excited.

To read out more about Charmed Ones and grab tickets, check out the show page!

7 Stages is a hub for artistic innovation. Our work serves as a force for social change as we aspire to eradicate the white supremacist narrative and binary systems of power on which the American theatre was founded. In this effort, we are thrilled to announce the appointment of Elizabeth Dinkova, Ashley James and Marium Khalid as new Associate Artistic Directors. These dynamic women will share responsibilities with newly appointed Director of Education, Destiny Renee, and Artistic Director Heidi S. Howard. This decision marks 7 Stages’ commitment to collaborative leadership: to run as an inclusive, non-hierarchical collective in order to weave a vision of radical transformation.

Ashley James (Associate Artistic Director) is a producer, director, and creator, originally from Mobile, Alabama. In 2015, she received the Princess Grace Theatre Honorarium Award to continue her work as an emerging director with Double Edge Theatre in Massachusetts. She graduated from Florida State University with a BA in Theatre and returned in 2018, earning her MFA in Film Production. Her latest short film FO[U]R has recently screened at the Toronto Black Film Festival and Through Women’s Eyes International Film Festival.

Marium Khalid (Associate Artistic Director) is a Pakistani-Kashmiri American writer, director and creator leading her companies SAiAH Arts and Sky Creature Productions to receive over 25 major awards. Her previous work includes TERMINUS, an award winning immersive multi-layered story, and an experiential retelling of Moby Dick, winning her Best Director and Best Show. She received the CREATIVITY AND ARTS IMPACT AWARD from Emory College Center for Creativity & Arts. Most recently her short film MAZLOOM, was awarded Best Director, Best Film, and Best Actress from major film festivals as well as receiving official selections from others including the Atlanta Women’s Film Festival and the Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival.

Elizabeth Dinkova (Associate Artistic Director) is an itinerant collaborative creator who explores alternative realities at the intersection of theater, film, and music in pursuit of social justice. She was born in Bulgaria and recently graduated from the MFA Directing program at the Yale School of Drama. She was the 2017-18 Directing Fellow at the Alliance Theatre. Her most recent work with 7 Stages, the visual album “TIT,” has been selected for the NYC Indie Theater Film Festival.

Destiny Renee (Director of Education) is an actress, teaching artist and poet based in Atlanta. She has trained in performance in London and studied ensemble theatre with Double Edge Theatre in Massachusetts. Since settling in Atlanta in 2015, Destiny joined Shakespeare on Draught as an actress and company member, been a founding member of the local Tipsy Tales show and continued her work with young artists with companies like 7 Stages, Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse and the Boy & Girls Club. She aims to foster dialogue about issues that deeply affect society through mediums like devised theatre, film and poetry. She holds a B.A. in theatre from Florida State University.

Together this team will embark on a journey. Leading the charge to re-envision the mission, vision, and values that guide this organization, they will uplift what has made 7 Stages a beloved community, while also charting a course for a future that promotes fierce dreaming and meaningful engagement with the evolving circumstances of our landscape. Dinkova, James, Khalid, and Renee bring a collective expertise in original work, co-creation, immersive theatre, film, artistic leadership, and cross-cultural collaboration and we look forward to the brave new ideas they will bring to this ever-evolving company.

Hard to ignore – Written by Caroline Baxter

This spring, 7 Stages will release a new Film, What Are You?. Created by Nicolette Emanuelle, this film will look at not only her own experiences with being a mixed-race individual but will include experiences shared during interviews that Emanuelle conducted while creating the film. Below, find out more about the film, if it’s okay to ever ask someone what they are, and the future of this project:

[Caroline Baxter]

What Are You? is based on your own experiences as a mixed-race individual. What was the catalyst to creating this piece?

[Nicolette Emanuelle]

For most of my life I was treated and referred to as a person of color, someone who was racially ambiguous. Not black, not white – other. When I came to Atlanta in 2012 that sort of interaction mostly stopped. One day I was at a gig and someone casually referred to me as white. My reaction was immediate and visceral, “I am not white,” I said. But more than that it hurt. I went home that day and starred in the mirror trying to see what they saw and ultimately was confused. I had the same hair, same olive complexion, same slender lanky frame, same oddly shaped nose that had garnered so much negative attention for years. 

So when I was asked to participate in one of 7 Stages’ Human: A Citizen’s Encounter in May 2019 I did something I never did before with my art, I offered up myself. They accepted my proposal to install a 76-inch diameter dream catcher aerial apparatus that had video of me talking about my ethnicity, culture and race projected through the center. From there the project has grown and has changed direction a few times, and I am excited at where it has taken me.

 [CB]  Dialogue regarding race is incredibly important, your show looks at the language used, both good and bad, to do this. Can you talk about some of those instances?

[NE]  Sure. Unfortunately looking at language that has been hurtful was an easy discussion to have because we’ve all experienced it. And for a group of people who often feel like they have no voice because they are often seen as not belonging to any group or don’t relate to the group society puts them in, this was a rare opportunity to have those discussions with other people who “get it.” And these discussions fueled the show’s content.

What I really want people to understand though is that there is no “magic term” for everyone. Everyone is a collection of their experiences, and those experiences inform how we react to different situations. Sure, you will find groups of people that have similar experiences and that’s the point. In talking with other mixed race/multicultural individuals, most of us agree that having a stranger aggressively ask the question “What are you” is offensive. But some of us don’t mind if you ask “do you mind if I ask what your race or ethnicity is” while others find any question about their race invasive.

Because of this show people have reached out to ask me “how do I ask” and they are often not satisfied with my answer “you don’t.”  When you ask someone where they are from, or what they are in the context of their day to day life in their hometown, you are pointing out that they don’t look or sound like they belong. And not belonging can range from a slight discomfort to being in bodily danger depending on who you’re surrounded by.

 [CB]  You collected stories from other mixed-race individuals to share many different experiences. How are these stories being told within the performance piece and why was it so important to you to share more than just your own story?

[NE]  The interviews helped us narrow what topics we wanted to tackle. For example every interviewee had a story about their hair as either a visual clue to people as to what their race is, or how they change their hair in an effort to control the perception people have of them. So we constructed a piece about hair.

By including other people’s narratives as well as my own, it gave me validation that what I had gone through growing up didn’t make me more unrelatable, it in fact gave me a way to relate to many different people. It also strengthened the narrative. If one person stands up and says they’ve experienced discrimination, or cruelty at the hands of society, it’s easy for people to roll their eyes and gloss over it. If a group of people stand up and use their voice in unison it’s much harder to ignore.

[CB]  This piece sheds light on some uncomfortable and offensive moments, but also seeks to celebrate the beauty of the multi-racial experience. How does the show accomplish this?

[NE]  One of the traits I feel I share with many other mixed-race individuals is the ability to obfuscate, in life and in art. We grew up having to blend in without the benefit of camouflage in order to survive. So there are definitely parts of the show where I feel like I’m hiding behind the absurdity in order to mask the pain, but at the same time using it to make a point. And there are parts that just hit it right on the nose. There is code that only people who’ve had these experiences will understand, and there is literally a list of offensive things people have said to me over the years because of my race.

The beauty of it all is that we are people and our diverse experiences have made us into who we are today. For one piece we created something as people just wanting to create – nothing more and that just by being ourselves is Something Beautiful.

[CB]  This performance will be part of the Home Brew @ Home series, what are the next steps for this production after the premiere?

[NE]  It is our sincere hope to have this eventually be a full scale live production that will go on tour! We will continue with our interviews and use this film as a means to see what’s reading and not reading to the audience so we can adjust, build and create!

Scott Turner Schofield

We constantly hear about self-acceptance, self-love, and striving to be authentic. But, when put into practice, the world actually wants that true self to remain in a particular (small minded) box. Luckily, there are voices who are getting louder than the critics. Scott Turner Schofield is one of those voices.

Schofield has been an artistic associate and teaching artist at 7 Stages for many years, as well as an actor, advocate, and consultant on series such as HBO’s EUPHORIA.

He joins us March 3, 2021 as this year’s National Endowment for the Arts keynote speaker. Below, find out what Schofield is working on next, his own journey to self-acceptance, and turning advice into affirmations.

Caroline Baxter

It is very fitting that you are this year’s Keynote speaker for the NEA Big Read featuring Stephanie Burt’s ADVICE FROM THE LIGHTS. Burt as well as yourself have used storytelling to counteract negative stigmas surrounding trans people. Can you talk about your own journey to self acceptance?

Scott Turner Schofield

I can and I do! I’ve done three one man shows about it—with the support of 7 Stages. The speech will be all about this journey, and how I had to get through so much resistance from everybody in the world to just do the simple thing of being myself—which is the first and most constant hurdle that trans and non-binary folks face. So I hope people will come listen, to learn about how this happens, and think about how not to do that to us anymore. 

CB – If condensed down, Stephanie Burt’s ADVICE FROM THE LIGHTS can be described as poems about becoming your true self. You have spoken out about your own authenticity, if you could give one piece of advice on how to do this in our very opinionated world what would it be?

STS – I don’t have as much advice as I do affirmation. You do know who you are, and you have every right to become your true self. It will be the most difficult thing you will ever do—because our culture insists on pushing back—from questioning you, to concern trolling you, to not protecting you with the same rights, to excluding you in all sorts of ways, to reacting violently against you. That’s not about you, it’s about them. Don’t let them win, don’t miss out on finding yourself.  Don’t regret and don’t be afraid: be yourself without apology, and thrive.

CB – Your advocacy and creative work seem to very much overlap, what made you feel a responsibility to educate others on inclusion surrounding trans rights both onscreen and off?

STS – I don’t know that I felt a responsibility. I just knew that if I wanted to have the life of my dreams—being an actor—I was going to have to help change the world so that I could be included in it. Because of where we are, culturally—how much people resist trans and non-binary people living our truths—it’s just kind of a process that hasn’t ended. Yet!

CB – Burt explores the pull to make art to find one’s true self, how do you use your art to process external and internal influences?

STS – That’s more a question a critic would answer! I don’t know, I just do! I cannot find any other way to interpret or share my experience than by telling stories about it. And really, there’s no more universally human impulse.

CB – Where can audiences find you next?

STS – I’m currently on two series that folks can watch: STUDIO CITY on Amazon Prime, and EQUAL on HBO Max. You can also join my “Choose Your Own Adventure” journey with films, podcasts, and stories by becoming a member of the community supporting Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps on Patreon (Patreon.com/127steps). 

If you’ve had the opportunity to see Theresa Davis perform as a spoken word artist, or have read her work, then you know that there is a lot of love behind those words.

As we get ready for the Love Letters to Your Younger Self workshop (Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021 at 7 PM EST) featuring Davis, we thought it was a great time to reacquaint you with one of our favorite writers, teachers, and members of the 7 Stages family. Below, Davis talks about the upcoming workshop and how she has adapted during these isolating times to keep the creative energy flowing. 

[Caroline Baxter]

The Love Letters workshop is not a love letter in the traditional sense, it’s a love letter to your younger self. Why was it important to you to shift the focus of the love from another to oneself? 

[Theresa Davis]

You don’t necessarily need to shift the focus of love from another to oneself, I think you need both. This workshop is more about acknowledging those moments in your past where something shifted in our lives that reveals something that pointed you in a different direction or provoked a new way of thinking. After the last year of so much disinformation and unbelievable dysfunction, writing a love letter or poem to my younger self, reminds me when the strength to endure and overcome slights shifted. 

C – What are some of the ways that participants will tap into this self-love and embrace the qualities that make them authentic and then write about it?

T – When strolling through our pasts, it is important to wade in and be as vulnerable as make participants feel safe. Sometimes writing takes you to places you didn’t expect, so make sure you can swim in those waters. 

C – Is there a certain piece of your own writing that makes you feel the love?

T – I have many pieces that make me feel the love, even if that love is rooted in fear, anger, hope or activism. When we trust ourselves with our own stories the love is always there whether it makes you laugh or cry. I write for myself, connections, conversations, all these things equal love.

C – You have been working with 7 Stages for many years as a teaching artist, performer, and creator, what pulled you into the 7 Stages family, and what can audiences look forward to next? 

T – My parents pulled me initially into the 7 Stages family in my teens, kicking and screaming no doubt. My work at Horizons School brought  Heidi S Howard and Youth Creates into my sphere. The attention to work that is not so traditional and the openness to all kinds of art keeps me connected and being a teaching junkie has a lot to do with my connection to 7 Stages as well. I am plotting my next project, I’ll let you know what I come up with.

C – Since it is a writing workshop based on this year’s Big Read pick, ADVICE FROM THE LIGHTS by Stephanie Burt, what is your advice to writers to keep the light inside themselves burning bright?

T – In this time of strangeness, I think it is important to unplug from screens when you can. And while we can’t gather in large groups I’ve seen some very creative ways to check in with each other. I have had some laughs standing in parking lots and yards shouting at my friends. I’ve also taken up old hobbies that calmed me and brought joy in the past – puzzles, miniatures and journaling have kept the lights on in myself.

Our beloved co-founders Del Hamilton and Faye Allen sit down with Best of Atlanta Concerts during the production of Waiting for Godot (2018) to discuss the founding of 7 Stages, the mission, the vision, and the history of 7 Stages.