Books & Roses by Helen Oyeyemi
Pt. 1 released February 14
Pt. 2 released February 21
Pt. 3 released February 28
“Books & Roses” is the story of Montserrat, a foundling left in a Catalonian chapel at the feet of the Virgin de Montserrat. Her only possessions are a key hanging on a golden chain around her neck, and a note. Cared for by the monks of the order, she grows up and finds work in a laundry, where she encounters Señora Lucy, a painter who also wears a key. Montse eventually discovers that she and Lucy are linked, when she finds the lock that fits her key. Her reaction is bittersweet: "She'd carried the key to this place for so long and now that she was there she didn't know where she was." "Books & Roses" is from Oyeyemi's short story collection, What Is Not Yours is Not Yours (described as "flawless" by NPR).
After the story in Part 1 - A conversation with Performer, Educator and the Dramaturg for "Books and Roses" Lindsay Jenkins and Word for Word Co-artistic Director JoAnne Winter.
After the story in Part 2 - A conversation with Michael French, Leontyne Mbele-Mbong, Jeunée Simon and Word for Word Co-artistic Director JoAnne Winter.
After the story in Part 3 - A conversation with podcast host JoAnne Winter, Co-Artistic Director Susan Harloe, and Production Manager Colm McNally about the evolution of our podcast series and where we'll go from here. Plus thoughts shared by our fans!
CRedits
Script Creation and Directed by Michael French
Cast:
Rotimi Agbabiaka* - Sra. Gaeta, Isidoro Salazar, Ensemble
Sofia Ahmad* ** - Safiye, Ensemble
Leontyne Mbele-Mbong* - Aurelie, Ensemble
Brian Rivera* ** - Monk, Gambler, Ensemble
Jeunée Simon* - Montse, Ensemble
Megan Trout - Lucy, Ensemble
Kelley Ho (Production Assistant)
Teddy Hulsker (Sounds Design)
Lindsay Jenkins (Dramaturgy)
Krys Swan (Line Producer)
Colm McNally (Production Manager)
Joe Moore (Sound Engineer)
Andrew Burmester (Marketing and Distribution)
Pictures and Biographies Below
*Member, AEA
**Member, SAG/AFTRA
"Books and Roses" from WHAT IS NOT YOURS IS NOT YOURS by Helen Oyeyemi.
Copyright © 2016 by Helen Oyeyemi, used by permission of The Wylie Agency, LLC.
Author
Helen Oyeyemi (Author) is the author of the story collection What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours, winner of the PEN Open Book Award, along with six novels, including Gingerbread and Boy, Snow, Bird, which was a finalist for the 2014 Los Angeles Times Book Prize.
Production / Creative Team
Michael French (Script Creation and Director) is a director, writer, and theatre maker. Originally from London, England, the Artist Development Coordinator at Afro Urban Society, the Co-Artist Director at Other Hand Studios, and an artistic associate at Oakland Theatre Project, Mr. French is currently directing an audio drama of Gina Harris’ The Magic of Ordinary Things, adapting the Heinrich Von Kleist novel Betrothal in Santo Domingo with Raymond Barglow for production in 2021, and creating his first book of short stories called Bable.
Kelley Ho (Production Assistant) is incredibly grateful to be working as a production assistant with Z Space for the first time! A Sacramento native, she found her calling in the performing arts playing the flute and saxophone. At University of California, Irvine, she graduated with a BA in Drama (Honors in Directing) and a minor in Art History. Most of her creative experience lies in arts management, directing for the stage, and marching band. She has seven years of experience as a drum major including four national tours in a drum & bugle corps. She also spent the past five years teaching different levels of marching band leadership teams in California and Hawaii. She currently resides in the Bay Area with her partner and their two kittens, Simon & Garfunkel. She sends her love & gratitude to her family, friends, and Z Space. | Portfolio: bit.ly/kelleyho
Teddy Hulsker (Sound Design) is a San Francisco Bay Area based multidisciplinary theater artist specializing in sound and projection design. Recent design credits include Art at the San Francisco Playhouse, Rime of the Ancient Mariner with Word for Word, Eureka Day at Aurora Theater, and Love with Marin Theater Company. He received the Landisman Fellowship for Emerging Designer in 2012 and has been awarded BATCC awards for his sound design for the plays Warplay with theater company NCTC, Jesus Christ Superstar with Ray of Light, and for his projection design on Sunday in the Park With George with the San Francisco Playhouse. In addition to his theater design work Teddy has created original installations and performances in San Francisco, Oakland, Berlin, New York, Detroit, and LA. In addition to his theater work Teddy also runs after school Dungeons and Dragons camps for children, teens, and families.
Lindsay A. Jenkins (L.J.) (Dramaturgy) A dramaturg, educator and producer based in Los Angeles by way of Dallas, TX. Like many theatre practitioners, L.J. has performed a variety of roles over the years; however she considers her time as a middle and high school theatre teacher her most valuable experience. Though no longer a full-time teacher, L.J. still works as a Teaching Artist, engaging students at public and charter schools across Los Angeles. L.J. holds an M.A. degree in Theatre from California State University, Northridge. Her specific area of research is Black performance heritage, connecting past performances to contemporary experiences. L.J. has had the pleasure of working with universities, as well as organizations of various sizes including: The Playwrights Foundation, Naked Empire Bouffon Company, Critical Mass Performance Group, Cornerstone Theatre Company, and Center Theatre Group. She is the recipient of the 2020 Field Grant from the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas and is currently developing an audio drama with support from the Spotify SoundUp program. L.J. can also be found in the upcoming anthology Rhetoric, Politics, and Hamilton: An American Musical where she co-authored a chapter on “the eye” of history with Dr. Jade C. Huell. She’s dabbled in the film and television industry working on the Netflix show Astronomy Club and the upcoming film Judas and the Black Messiah. L.J is the Founder of Maroon Arts and Culture, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowerment through performance.
Krys Swan (Line Producer) (he/him) is a Bay Area native and a graduate of San Francisco State University, with a BA in Technical Theater. He is a passionate activist for BLM and the LGBTQ+ community. Krys is a lighting electrician for Marin Theater Company, and Smuin Ballet. Recent credits include Zoom Festival 2020 with Playground.
Cast
Rotimi Agbabiaka (Sra. Gaeta, Isidoro Salazar, Ensemble) most recently originated the roles of Salima in House of Joy (California Shakespeare Theatre) and Cellphone/Narrator in If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka (Playwrights Horizons, NYC). Other acting credits include Father Comes Home from the Wars … (American Conservatory Theatre/Yale Repertory Theatre), Tom Waits’ Black Rider (Shotgun Players), Bootycandy (Brava Theater/BACCE, Theatre Bay Area award), originating the title role in runboyrun (Magic Theatre), and several shows with the Tony Award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe. Rotimi penned the plays Type/Caste (Theatre Bay Area award), MANIFESTO, and Seeing Red; teaches performance to students from pre-school through college; and has graced nightlife stages around the world (as alter ego Miss Cleo Patois) Rotimi is a Core Company Member of Word for Word. www.rotimionline.com
Sofia Ahmad (Safiye, Ensemble) has served as a teaching artist with Word for Word’s Youth Arts program and performed in staged readings of When Women Speak and The Sky is Everywhere. She is a resident artist with Golden Thread, where she most recently appeared in the World Premiere of On the Periphery (a co-production with Crowded Fire). Other local credits include SF Shakespeare Festival, Magic Theatre, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Those Women Productions, Arabian Shakespeare Festival, San Jose Stage, Pacific Repertory Theater, and Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Up next: a workshop of 1001 Nights (A Retelling), originally slated for Cal Shakes’ 2020 season. Sofia is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and a proud member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA.
Leontyne Mbele-Mbong (Aurelie, Ensemble) was last seen at Word for Word in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Her last project was TheatreSquared’s The Half-Life of Marie Curie, streamed from Arkansas. This summer she appeared in a live-streamed King Lear with SF Shakesespeare Festival. Favorite SF Bay Area credits include Bull in a China Shop, Temple and Breakfast with Mugabe (Aurora Theatre); Macbeth, Richard III, Much Ado, and title roles in Medea [TBA Award] and Antony & Cleopatra (African-American Shakespeare Company); Watch on the Rhine (Guthrie/Berkeley Rep). Other credits include Top Girls, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Fences, Andromache, Twelfth Night, and Intimate Apparel.
Brian Rivera (Monk, Gambler, Ensemble) has previously worked with Word for Word in the school tour of The Master-Maid as well as the sold out, extended run of Amy Tan's Immortal Heart. He was also featured in the Word for Wordcast The Machine Stops. Brian last performed onstage in Translating Selena for Campo Santo. He made his Broadway debut in the Tony Award winning revival of The King and I at Lincoln Center and subsequently traveled in its first national Broadway tour. Other credits include the US premiere of The Orphan of Zhao at A.C.T. and La Jolla Playhouse, Major Barbara at A.C.T and Theatre Calgary, Berkeley Repertory Theatre's Yellowjackets, and California Shakespeare Theater's American Night. Brian can be seen as a principle character in the dark Christmas comedy Bitter Melon, available on Amazon Video and Google Play. He can be currently heard in Tales of the Resistance, San Francisco Mime Troupe radio play episodes available at www.sfmt.org. He is a Core Company Member of Word for Word. Brian is a proud member of AEA and SAG/AFTRA.
Jeunée Simon (Montse, Ensemble) is an actor and director in the Bay Area. Recent credits include: La Ronde (Cutting Ball Theater), Men On Boats u/s (American Conservatory Theater), HeLa (TheatreFIRST) The Daughters (SF Playhouse), Bamboozled and Roan at the Gates (Central Works). Simon is a proud recipient of the 2017 RHE Artistic Fellowship and a 2019 Directing Apprentice with PlayGround. She is delighted to be part of this Bay Area community and humbled by the talent of those around her. www.jeuneesimon.com
Megan Trout (Lucy, Ensemble) is a Bay Area-based actor and voice artist. She has been seen and heard on stage, screen, radio and podcast. No matter what form they take, she loves stories! Megan is an artistic company member of the Shotgun Players in Berkeley, CA. She has trained with VoiceOne, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, The Moscow Art Theatre School and holds a degree in Theater Arts from San Francisco State University. When not performing behind the mic or on stage, she enjoys refining her skills on roller-skates and snuggling up with her grumpy calico, Adelaide.
