AMERICAN BODY Solo Show

American Body is a solo show exploring how our bodies impact the way we experience belonging. Through eleven different characters, Deonna Kelli Sayed humorously reveals how size, race, the American diet, and ancestral history intrudes upon our bodies. Deonna revisits her childhood in the Florida Panhandle, wears hijab in the Muslim world, and consults her indigenous Catawba ancestors to reveal the stories of an "imperfect" American physique. 

Contributions will support the local artists helping make American Body happen. Funds raised will contribute to hiring a local director, technical support,  and a photographer and videographer.  Your support will directly impact local creative community in the Triad, North Carolina. While the show is about Deonna's perspectives, it speaks to larger themes about belonging in America. Deonna hopes this solo show will generate conversation about a kinder, more self-realized nation. 

American Body is made possible by a development grant from The Arts Council of Greater Greensboro and a performance residency from Creative Greensboro at the Stephen D Hyers Theatre. Learn more about Deonna here. 

This is important, too: I've had many moments in my life when I didn't have the funds to support my friends' creative projects. There are other ways to contribute besides donating. You can share this post. You can save the dates and come to my show (tickets will be a small fee but no one who wants to see the show will be turned away as long as there are seats). While money is necessary to do big projects like this, I believe creative community shouldn't be transactional. 

American Body director is local actor and writer Nicole Lungerhausen. Nicole Lungerhausen is a theater creator and writer. Born and raised in California, she worked in the San Francisco Bay Area theater community for 10+ years. As a professional actor, she focused on ensemble-created work and new play development with a wide range of companies and organizations including the Playwrights Foundation, mugwumpin, Shotgun Players Theatre Lab, San Francisco Fringe Festival, Golden Thread Productions, and Brava Theater. She was a founding member of Precarious Theatre, which premiered two new plays: Chemical Imbalance and I’m Yours (Deranged by Love). The productions played to sold-out audiences and won praise from the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Bay Times, among other publications. Her additional regional theater credits include acting work with Theatreworks, New Conservatory Theatre Center, and Pear Avenue Theatre.

Nicole’s approach to theater creation is rooted in 15+ years training in sensory- and physical-based techniques, including commedia dell’arte, Suzuki Method, Viewpoints, Linklater voice work, Middendorf breathwork, and dance. She trained with Anne Bogart’s SITI Company, American Conservatory Theatre, and the American Academy of Dramatic Art.

As a science fiction and fantasy writer, Nicole loves to call on the skills she learned as an ensemble actor to create new work. Her stories have been published in The Future Fire, Abyss & Apex, and Apparition Lit, among others, and a new story is forthcoming in Apex Magazine’s Strange Machines Anthology. She holds a dual B.A. in Theatre Arts and Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and is a member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. www.nicolelungerhausen.com