(PRAY)

Past Show

September 23, 2023 - October 28, 2023

We joyously welcome you to nicHi douglas’ (pray)! Channeling the energy and vitality of a Sunday Baptist Church service, this kinetic and vibrant choreopoem celebrates and confronts the complexity of spiritual inheritance. Join this multigenerational congregation of Black womxn and femmes for an evening of song, dance, fellowship and the opportunity to reflect on your own beliefs.

Co-Producer

Ars Nova

Playwright, Director, and Choreographer

nicHi douglas

Music

Starr Busby and JJJJJerome Ellis

Designers

dots (Set) DeShon Elem (Costume) Cha See (Lights) Mikaal Sulamain (Sound)

“Transcendent, paradoxical & joyous! (pray) is an exploration of how faith intersects with Black womanhood through a mix of music, movement, ritual & poetry. Let’s call this a house of song & praise — yahleloo!”

The New York Times

"the piece is immersive in the truest sense, happening entirely around us within the rows and the aisles."

Theatre Mania

"It’s beautifully costumed, gorgeously lit, energetically performed by a talented ensemble."

New York Theatre

nicHi Douglas

Playwright, Director, & Choreographer

nicHi douglas is a Brooklyn-based artist, educator, activist and 2021 Princess Grace Award winner. you can refer to her/him/them/us using any pronoun said with Respect. we have developed original theater work at The Public Theater, Roundabout Theatre Company, New Victory, Lincoln Center, Long Wharf, Pig Iron, Denver Center, and Berkeley Rep, among others; our work is multigenerational, working with folx ages 2-82. they have created interactive dance exhibits for the National Museum of African-American Music and the New York Hall of Science. nicHi’s mutual aid fund, nicHi’s SuSu, launched in 2020 and has raised over $14K for Black artists. nicHi has been commissioned by Tony Award-winning scenic designer Mimi Lien & Itohan Edoloyi to develop an original piece of dance theater to be performed at Lincoln Center in Summer 2023.

nicHi is a member of the Faculty Leadership Committee in the Playwrights Horizons studio at NYU Tisch Drama (Undergrad), where she teaches in the Movement Area and Advanced Training Project Track. nicHi also guest lectures at Yale School of Drama. stage credits: Girl From the North Country (Public Theater, Associate Choreographer), SKiNFoLK: An American Show (NYT Critic’s Pick//The Bushwick Starr/National Black Theater, Choreographer), The Watering Hole (Signature Theatre, Choreographer). upcoming: Weightless (WP Theater, Choreographer), The Harriet Holland Social Club Presents … (The Movement Theatre Company/New Georges, Choreographer) | www.mynameisnichi.com