if millie jackson, roxanne shante, outkast and monty python had a baby in the year 3030 you’d get shasta geaux pop! completely uncensored and outrageously hilarious this would-be icon brings you her signature brand of basement get-down party. if bubble yum met colt 45… when opposites collide …if saltwater taffy threw a party. crazy, irreverent and uplifting shasta keeps it real with her gospel of laughter and her free flowing emcee style, tackling naughty topics while paying sonic homage to the 80s/90s classic era of hip-hop
The collective of artists creating this production have been making art together for several years producing innovative theater, music events and installations in New York City and beyond. Director Charlotte Brathwaite and writer/actor Ayesha Jordan met back in 2001 and became friends while living and making art in the Netherlands. Fast forward to present day New York City, and the stars aligned for Charlotte and Ayesha to meet again and finally continue collaborating.
Ayesha Jordan is a New York City based multidisciplinary performer and creator. Shasta Geaux Pop was recently presented at the Public (NY) for Under the Radar, at the La Jolla Playhouse's 2017 Without Walls (WOW) Festival, and at the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center. Ayesha has performed both on and off broadway as well as in, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, and Japan.
Director Charlotte Brathwaite (Canada/Barbados/UK) was recently named as one of the “up-and-coming women in theatre to watch” by Playbill, and is recipient of several awards and citations including the Prelude Festival Franky Award, the Princess Grace Award, the Julian Milton Kaufman Prize (Yale), a Rockefeller Residency, and the National Performing Network Creation Fund. Currently she is a freelance director and Assistant Professor of Music and Theater Arts at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Musical direction, composition justin hicks
additional music/dj jo collura
lighting tuçe yasak
costumes abigail deville
video kent barrett
this project was supported, in part, by a foundation for contemporary arts emergency grant.