QUEER CAT PRODUCTIONS is proud to announce
ARTIST OFFERING 2021
✨
CALL FOR ARTISTS!
The Call for Artists is here.
The Applications Portal is here.
The application portal is OPEN as of April 5th, 2021. It will close April 20th, 2021, or when we receive 50 applications. This application is open to Black Queer/Trans artists anywhere in the world.
You can read more about the commission, the Manifestation Council, and our readers below. You can find out more about our company here. You can email us questions about this commission at [email protected].
ABOUT THIS COMMISSION
FAQs:
WHO ARE WE?
Queer Cat Productions is a theater company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. We create consent-forward, accessible, immersive experiences that leave our audiences more connected. We are committed to to curiosity about evolving forms; haunting: memory, resilience, genre-fluidity; and to the spirit of play, as interactive and consensual, as a space for risk and spectacular failure, as stories that we co-create, storytellers and audience, and that create us in return. Here’s where you can learn more about our company and our mission and values.
WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR:
An artwork that falls under the Performing Arts umbrella (theater, solo performance, music, dance, etc.)
An artwork that can be performed safely in 2021 (virtual / outdoor / pre-recorded). We cannot wait for ideal conditions or even customary ones. Now, more than ever, we have an imperative to create work that connects us.
An artwork that answers this question: What encourages your personal playfulness, engages your curiosity about our humanness and how we connect with each other, and/or what haunts you and drives you to build work that makes space in and/or for the places where you feel that “space” is needed the most?
WHAT ARE WE OFFERING:
Pay:
$19/hour for 60 hours of work developing the piece (i.e. writing, devising, etc.); $1,140 total
Royalties of $75 per performance
Additional pay at $19/hour to be offered for rehearsal and/or performance time as applicable. (For example, if you are a solo performer you would be compensated $19/hour for your time in rehearsal as well as $19/hour for your time performing the show.)
Other Resources:
Accommodations (i.e. ASL interpretation, flexible scheduling to accommodate childcare, and/or other accommodations you share with us)
Tailored creative support specific to your artistic needs (i.e. dramaturgy, feedback and brainstorming, mentorship, and/or other creative supports you share with us)
A development opportunity, such as a workshop or reading, to aid in the development of work partway through the creative process
Connection to a community of Queer Cat Productions artists
Our commitment to create a supportive environment for your artistic process
WHAT ARE WE ASKING YOU TO COMMIT TO IF PICKED:
Creation of the artwork!
Virtual monthly meetings with a team of Queer Cat Productions artists
Short, creative form updates on your process (i.e. blog posts, videos) that we can share with our audiences and on social media
WHO IS PRODUCING THIS COMMISSION: Troy Rockett (he/they). You can find out more about Troy below!
HOW DO YOU APPLY? The application portal can be read here and will open April 5th. The application consists two parts: About You: An artist questionnaire; About Your Art: You will upload either: A 1-2 page idea, concept, or pitch. OR 2. a creative work sample. (This path is especially designed for more established artists who have experience performing and/or having their work performed, but may not know what they want to create yet.)
WHO DESIGNED THIS?/ WHO WILL BE READING YOUR APPLICATION?
This process was designed by the Manifestation Council: Genevieve Jessee, librecht baker, and Troy Rockett. You can find out more about them below.
The artists who will read submissions are: Genevieve Jessee, librecht baker, Troy Rockett, Pam Drummer-Williams, and Rawiyah Tariq. You can find out more about them below.
HOW DOES THE SELECTION WORK?
The process has three rounds. In Round 1, all five Readers read all submissions. Readers give a “yes” or “no” vote on whether each submission should go to the next round. Submissions that receive at least three “yeses” move on to Round 2.
In Round 2, Readers evaluate applications according to a rubric and select three finalists. The elements on the rubric are: 1) The application demonstrates a desire to generate work that is immersive and/or will leave audiences more connected to each other; 2) The application demonstrates a desire to generate work connecting to and/or elevating the humanity of the artist’s identit(ies); 3) The application demonstrates a desire to generate work that explores playfulness, curiosity, and/or haunting (in whatever way the artist defines it); 4) The application demonstrates a desire to generate work that has qualities of an evolving form, and/or expands or elevates the genre(s) the artist works in; and 5) I want to hear more from this artist.
In Round 3, Readers interview each finalist and choose one artist. Finalists will be compensated for their interview time at a rate of $19/hour for about 2 hours.
QUESTIONS? Email [email protected].
MORE ABOUT THIS COMMISSION: This Commission is supported by Theatre Bay Area’s CA$H Program, The Zellerbach Family Foundation, The Awesome Foundation, and by our community. Thank you! If you would like to support Artist Offering, you can do so here. Thank you!!!
THE MANIFESTATION COUNCIL
Creators of our 2021 Commission!!
TROY ROCKETT (he/they)
COMMISSION PRODUCER, QCP Company Member
Troy Rockett (he/they) is a Bay Area based artist who finds liberation through honest and radical story-telling. Troy first explored acting through the Queer Women Of Color Media Arts Project, which is based in San Francisco but leads workshops all over the world. Almost directly after, he experienced his first prominent screen acting role as a lead actor in Dyke Central, the Bay Area's first Queer web series. He was later cast in a supporting role in Jewelle Gomez's Leaving the Blues, 2017; an unforgettable introduction to acting in theater. In 2018, he then landed his first lead role in WAAFRIKA 123 by Nick Hadikwa Mwaluko at TheatreFirst. Troy writes: “These necessary firsts have been so important in shaping my confidence as a Transmasculine actor and they have showed me there is space for me on stage and in theatre.”
GENEVIEVE JESSEE (She/Her)
MANIFESTATION CLOWDER, QCP Company Member
Genevieve Jessee (she/her) is a playwright based in Puerto Rico. She received her MFA in Playwriting from Boston University. Her work has been staged at PlayGround, The Source Festival, Atlanta Black Theatre Festival, San Francisco Fringe Festival, EXIT theatre, Those Women Productions and the Festival de Marseille. She is the recipient of commissions from PlayGround and Planet Earth Arts. Her awards include the June Anne Baker Prize, Best of the San Francisco Fringe (2012), Emerging Playwright Award (PlayGround), Congo Square Theater's 2021 Emerging + Professional 10 minute play competition winner, and the recipient of a California Arts Council Artists-in-Communities grant. She was a fellow at the 2018 Cultural Diaspora Playwriting Residency at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France where she further developed her play The Diaspora Cycle, which was a finalist for the 2019 Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Semi-finalist for the 2019 O'neill National Playwright's Conference and appeared in the 2020 Kilroys list.
librecht baker (she/her)
MANIFESTATION CLOWDER
librecht baker (she/her) is the author of vetiver (Finishing Line Press), an English Professor, and a Sundress Publications' Assistant Editor. She was part of The Vagrancy’s 2018-2019 Playwrights’ Group and Eastside Queer Stories Festival 2019 and 2017. baker has attended Ragdale, VONA/Voices, and Lambda Literary Writer’s Retreat. she has a MFA from Goddard College. Her poetry appears in Solace: Writing Refuge, & LGBTQ Women of Color, Bone Bouquet (Issue 8.1), Sinister Wisdom 107, and other publications. Baker's play, "Lineage Undone," was awarded Top Performance in the "Top Papers and Performances in Performance Studies" category at Western States Communication Association’s 89th Convention.
Our Selection Committee / Readers are: Rawiyah Tariq, Pam Drummer-Williams, librecht baker, Troy Rockett, and Genevieve Jessee
RAWIYAH TARIQ, READER
(They/Them)
Rawiyah is a witch, healer, art activist, and storyteller. For over a decade, Rawiyah has woven music with spoken word and song to create cathartic pieces that center Blackness, Fatness and Queerness. A former member of the award winning and internationally traveled troupe Rubenesque Burlesque and co-founder and lead of A Sovereign Embodiment they continue to highlight body and soul liberation in their solo career. Their art is often political /ritual and is rooted in a vulnerability that can be both humorous and heartbreaking. For information, bookings and connects find them at www.mammyisdead.com.
PAM DRUMMER WILLIAMS, READER, QCP COMPANY MEMBER
(She/Her)
Pam Drummer-Williams’ (she/her) first role in a production was in The Wizard of Oz as a Winged Monkey in the 6th grade and made the theater home from then. She took a 22 year hiatus for the role of mommy and returned in 2009 as ensemble in ACLO’s Ragtime and hasn’t slowed one bit.
She was last seen as a part of Same Boat Theater Collective’s 2020 EarthQuake Global Theatre Festival in The Ballad of the Dying Body as Naima, Geointerfering as CEO, Sisters Three and a Tree as Sister A, and Narrator in Post-Apocalyptic Beer Fest and Untouchable. She made her debut as Lady Ptomaine in Bibbidi Bobbidi Boos with Dragon and Fuse Theatres, with Playland Production in Bitsy Bites Back as Pepper, A full Zoom play with Same Boat Theater Collective in The Emeryville Horror as The Mayor. Also, on Zoom Pam has been seen in living rooms via Zoom with Queer Cat Productions in Felix B. Love Is Not Alone as Dr. Ray Daly.
Some of her favorite roles have been with B8 Theatre Co. in Strange Ladies as Suffragist Mary based on Mary Church Terrell, with Queer Cat Productions in The Gay Divorce Play as The Officiant, with Contra Costa Civic Theatre in Ragtime as Sarah’s Friend, with Contra Costa Civic Theatre, in You Can’t Take it With You as Penelope Sycamore, and with Pinole Community Playhouse in Godspell as Pam.
When not working or performing, Pam is living vicariously through her daughter, a commercial pilot who is living her dreams as we all should!!
FIVE QUESTIONS WITH GENEVIEVE JESSEE, MEMBER OF OUR MANIFESTATION CLOWDER (March 8th, 2021)
WHEN DID YOU REALIZE YOU WERE A THEATER ARTIST?
In 9th grade I took my first Drama class at school. It feels a little corny to say that it was love at first contact, but it kinda was! I knew right away I'd struck something in myself that was going to be alive for a long time. The realization that I was a theatre artist happened in college. I was a theatre major at an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) and all the work was centered on Black theatre artists from playwright to director to scenic design. That was when it dawned on me that theatre was truly a viable life path and one that could be mine. That sort of changed my perspective on who I was and who I could become.
WHAT DOES BEING PART OF THIS COMMISSION (AS A MEMBER OF THE MANIFESTATION CLOWDER) MEAN TO YOU?
I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to bring all of my identities to the forefront of my work. As a playwright, most of my plays have been concentrated on exploring the perspective of Black women. However, they've been absent the queerness that exists in my own life. I'm excited to be a part of a project that centers intersectionality. I've been feeling a void, and I'm eager to participate in this commission to help build what I want to see in the world of theatre and in my own body of work.
WHY THIS PROJECT NOW?
The pandemic stole so many moments of togetherness from all of us over the last year. As far as I knew up until now, theatre walked hand in hand with groups and a shared experience in a physical space. I love that it has challenged us to figure out how to connect at a distance. I've seen a number of Zoom presentations and theatrical performances that were the result of theatre shapeshifting, because what became clear is that no one was willing to give up theatre for any length of time. I learned that the time to make theatre is always right now. We cannot wait for ideal conditions or even customary ones. Now, more than ever, we have an imperative to create work that connects us. Especially for and by those who've lived in the margins. I believe folks who have thrived in spite of exclusionary culture have a lot to offer on how to navigate an isolated world and come out on the other side.
HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE QUEER THEATER?
What I love about the word "Queer" is that it's an umbrella term that can encompass a variety of perspectives, experiences and identities. I define Queer Theatre as work that's centered on a wide rainbow of folks that include the LGBTQ+ community, and seeks to defy norms while expanding what we know as theatre.
IF YOU WERE A CAT, WHAT KIND OF CAT WOULD YOU BE?
This question implies I am not a cat. Ha! I love cats because I feel like I must have been one in a past life, and I've been lowkey obsessed with them as long as I can remember (my dear, allergic mom let me adopt some kittens born on our back porch and keep them in my room as a kid). My eldest cat Hunter, whom we affectionately refer to as "Fat cat" (given his affinity for food and lazing about) has a pretty sweet life. His favorite time of day is meal time. Almost nothing ruffles his feathers. He loves cuddles and companionship, but is also perfectly content with his own company. Same, Hunter, same.
FIVE QUESTIONS WITH TROY ROCKETT, PRODUCER OF OUR 2021 COMMISSION! (January 27th, 2021)
WHEN DID YOU REALIZE YOU WERE A THEATER ARTIST?
I was 20, had just performed in my first drag, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have called myself a theater artist, but since then I have always found myself in spaces making some kind of theater or performance with others. I've been in charge of sound and lights, I've been a stage manager, a performer, worked box office, been an event organizer you name it. I was so eager to be part of the world making and ceremonious aspects of queer theater because my healing as a young queer person depended on those spaces.
WHAT DOES BEING A PRODUCER MEAN TO YOU?
This is my first role as a producer. I'm excited to meet the artist and the team that will come together to lift up the project. Right now, I'm focussed on this moment and what it will require of me as a producer. There's so much that can't be anticipated right now, but overall I want to help create the best case scenario that honors the artist, the project, crew and our overall experience as we journey together.
WHY THIS PROJECT NOW?
On December 18, 2020 Nicole and Carson sent me an offer letter to produce a commissioned project. It was a reverberating yes throughout my body. Now? Because I have the amazing opportunity to learn from two experienced producers while having my first go and also, it's a role that I've naturally leaned towards while supporting artists in developmental works. ALSO, this new wave of queer and trans+ art is literally giving me life. I want to be a part of ushering it in. The restrictions we've experienced as artists during a global pandemic has made it even more difficult to make art as a Black queer and trans+ person and still I see people using new platforms, creating new genres and finding ways to interact with their audiences.
HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE QUEER THEATER?
Oh wow! How can I define queer theater. It's like when someone is like define Hip hop and you have to take it back to the first tracks that put you on. Everyone is going to have a different origin depending on where they were at when it was happening for them. I'm from Cali, more specifically North Long Beach born in 85'. I spent my late teens and the beginning of my twenties in LA and the Bay. So the origin of queer theater and performance for me is Adelina Anthony's Las Hociconas, Cherríe Moraga, D'Lo (the works), open mic scenes, Miss Mona Webb, The Shepeople Artisit Collective founded by esteemed Jazz musician Miss Valerie Trout, Culture Fuck, burlesque and drag. This is where my in-the-closet baby dyke brain was blown and where the endless possibilities were proposed for what being in a theater with my identities could be.
IF YOU WERE A CAT, WHAT KIND OF CAT WOULD YOU BE?
If I were a cat I'd be The Pink Panther or I'd be the song Jazz Cats pt. 1 by Quasimoto/Madlib.