Director

A transdisciplinary opera and creative act of resistance. Born from the vibrant collaboration between composer Jonathan Berger, visual artist Enrico Riley and poet/librettist Vievee Francis, the work responds to the murder of Eric Garner and the ongoing theft of Black life at the hands of the State. Music, text, projected visuals, and movement interweave in a story centered on Garner’s daughter, Erica. Uplifted by a 75-person choir of singers, the project gathers us together as co-conspirers to breathe and keep breathing any way we can.

The Ritual of Breath is the Rite to Resist

Damrosch Park

On March 13, 2020, as theaters shut their doors and so many of us went into lockdown, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and The Public’s Writer-in-Residence Suzan-Lori Parks picked up her pen and her guitar and set out to write a play every day. What emerged is a breathtaking anthology of plays and songs that chronicle our collective experience and the hope and perseverance that occurred throughout that troubling year. 

Director

Niegel Smith

Events

Past events

Jul 19, 2024

The Ritual of Breath is the Rite to Resist · The Flea Theater

5 - 30 Apr, 2023

Plays for the Plague Year · Public Theater

About

Niegel Smith hasn't added a bio