Teresa writes shows about women who have something to get off their chests. She is fascinated by the concepts of "feminism" and "femininity", and continues to explore and dissect both of these notions as she crafts stories for the stage.
COFFEE & BISCUIT (written and directed by Teresa Ann Virginia) received its New York Premiere in August 2014 as part of the Present Company's New York International Fringe Festival It was a Critic's Pick in TimeOutNY and was called "fascinating" by the New York Times. Not too shabby. COFFEE & BISCUIT went on to play at HERE Arts Center in May of 2015. We are currently investigating opportunities to share this story with new audiences. Please email [email protected] to start a conversation.
This play was originally conceived as Teresa's graduate thesis project (see below) .
ABOUT: Coffee & Biscuit is a Technicolor variation on Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House set in the 1950’s in which we see Nora Helmer’s perfect world of Hoovers and Jell-o molds topple around her. This physical, quirky romp, featuring both puppets and live actors, provokes its audience to examine the gender roles constructed by society and the media, by putting Ibsen’s classic story against 20th century feminist thought, playfully tearing at the seams of convention. - See more at: http://claricesmithcenter.umd.edu/events/2013/mfa-performance-festival-new-works#sthash.RZwjO2PW.dpuf
Photos by Stan Barouh
As an artist, I explore the relationship between artist and audience.
Alice- A New Play
Presented at the Archip Gallery Theater as part of the BoCoCa Arts Festival in Brooklyn, NY, Summer 2010. Directed by Brian Hashimoto.
The play Alice takes audiences to new worlds and different dimensions of reality through the use of video, sound, movement, and traditional theatrical storytelling techniques. Alice tells of a young woman struggling within her own wild imagination as the real world around her crumbles. A mother tormented by her own ghosts, a father distracted, a brother trying to keep it all together, a friend she can’t let in, and Alice must make a choice: up or down?
Alice appeared as part of the BoCoCa Arts Festival in Brooklyn, New York. The BoCoCa Arts Festival strives to encourage community engagement though theatre, music, and visual art in the Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, and Carroll Gardens area of Brooklyn.
The ensemble cast featured Caroline Calkins as Alice along side Rivka Borek, Jessica Carlsen, Savvy Clement, John DeSilvestri, Matt Roth, Nick Roesler, Franz Quitt, Lauren Weinberg, and Ali Rivera. Brian Hashimoto directs, assisted by Jay Spriggs.
The creative team included illustrator Helen Bayer, lighting designer John Eckert (LA Weekly Best Lighting Design Award recipient), costume designer Lisa Renee Jordan (New York Musical Theatre Festival - Design Award, Drama Desk award nominee), director of video Ayberk Sak, sound designer Jay Spriggs, marketing/PR by way of Heather Kane, and technical director Maximus Thaler.