WHO WE ARE
EXILED TONGUES IS A NYC BASED THEATER COLLECTIVE THAT PROVIDES FINANCIAL, ARTISTIC AND COLLABORATIVE SUPPORT TO ARTISTS OF COLOR WHO CENTER DIASPORIC CONSCIOUSNESS. WE REALIZE THAT MAINSTREAM AMERICAN THEATER SUFFERS FROM A SEVERE LACK OF REPRESENTATION AND DESERVES SERIOUS DISCUSSION ON COLONIZATION AND THE LEGACY OF POST-COLONIALISM ESPECIALLY WITHIN THE AMERICAN CONTEXT. OUR PRODUCTIONS SHOWCASE THE COMPLEX STORIES OF PEOPLE OF THE GLOBAL MAJORITY AND ACKNOWLEDGE INTERSECTIONAL IDENTITIES. WE USE OUR INTERSECTIONAL IDENTITIES AS A FORM OF THEATRICAL EMPOWERMENT AND SEEK TO MAKE CHANGE BEYOND THEATER AND INTO OUR COMMUNITIES.
Our inaugural 2020/2021 season featured our first production, "CUT WOMAN", which was presented at the Prelude NYC 2020 Festival. Our second production, "CON DOUGH: Stories of 1 in 5 Gentrified" was commissioned by the Center at West Park in February 2021, and premiered at The Tank in May 2021. "CON DOUGH" is a fiscally sponsored project by the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA).
EXILED TONGUES' 2021/2022 season features "Diasporic Dreams From a Boy Who Wished He Could" (Rogue Theater Festival), "First Sight: A Queer Indonesian Love Story" (The Tank, Rogue Theater Festival), "(Re)imagining Greenpoint's Green Waters" (Newtown Creek), "Our Bang For Their Buck: No Pipeline for LNG" (North Brooklyn), "Querencia (Jamaica Performing Arts Center), "Mixed Asian Media Fest", "After the Cut" (Queens Theatre), and"Ghana, Guinea, or Guatemala? A Historiography on Guyana by Jim Jones (Fifth Avenue Theater)
THE TEAM
RAY JORDAN ACHAN
he/him
FOUNDING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
DENA IGUSTI
they/he
MANAGING DIRECTOR & FOUNDING EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
ARLINE PIERRE-LOUIS
she/her
FOUNDING EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
2021/2022 SEASON
THE 2021/2022 season is EXILED TONGUES' second season! Our first production of the season "Diasporic Dreams From a Boy Who Wished He Could" written and directed by Ray Jordan Achan premiered at Rogue Theater Festival in July 2021. "First Sight: A Queer Indonesian Love Story" written and directed by Dena Igusti premiered at Rogue Theater Festival in July 2021, and will premiere at the Tank's Lime Fest in August 2021. Our next production, Ghana, Guinea or Guatemala? A Historiography on Guyana by Jim Jones, a one-man show written, directed, and performed by Ray Jordan Achan will premiere at the Fifth Avenue Theater in October 2021.
We are developing two site specific documentary theater pieces, "(Re)Imagining Greenpoint's Green Waters", a piece about the history of environmental violence at Newtown Creek; and "Our Bang For Their Buck: No Pipeline For LNG", a piece documenting the experiences of activists and community members negatively affected by the proposed installation and extension of the North Brooklyn Pipeline, proposed by National Grid.
We are co-sponsoring, "Querencia", an original play by Artist-in-Resident, Francis Madi about a Venezuelan immigrant family dealing with the trials and tribulations of living in America while still connected to their land of origin. EXILED TONGUES is also co-sponsoring the first annual, "Mixed Asian Media Fest", a five day festival filled with programming highlighting the diversity of talent amongst Asian creatives.
2020/2021 SEASON
THE 2020/2021 SEASON is EXILED TONGUES' inaugural season! Our first production, CUT WOMAN written by Dena Igusti and directed by Ray Jordan Achan premiered at the Prelude NYC 2020 Festival. Our second production, "CON DOUGH: Stories of 1 in 5 Gentrified", written by Dena Igusti and Ray Jordan Achan premiered at the Center at West Park in February 2021 and premiered at the Tank in May 2021. Our upcoming production,"Diasporic Dreams From a Boy Who Wished He Could" will premiere at Rogue Theater Festival in July 2021. We are also developing "La Violecion of My PapiYon, written by Arline Pierre-Louis. EXILED TONGUES has also started an Artist-in-Residency program which will provide $200 unrestricted microgrants to emerging artists of color in NYC to articulate a new future for American theater. Find out more about our programs and how to sign up below!
CON DOUGH: STORIES OF 1 in 5 GENTRIFIED
WRITTEN BY: DENA IGUSTI & RAY JORDAN ACHAN
DIRECTED BY: RAY JORDAN ACHAN
PRODUCED BY: EXILED TONGUES AND SHORT LINE REVIEW
RESIDENCY AT CENTER AT WEST PARK; PREMIERED IN FEBRUARY 2021
PREMIERIED AT THE TANK ON TUESDAY, MAY 11TH AT 7PM
ABOUT: CON DOUGH: STORIES OF 1 in 5 GENTRIFIED is a new documentary theater piece that captures the violence gentrification has done to low income communities and communities of color across NYC. It uses a culmination of interviews from residents, students, organizers, and educators that have grown up in the NYC for over a decade as well as project leaders Dena Igusti and Ray Jordan Achan’s personal experiences as born and raised New Yorkers that have been traumatized by gentrification. The production highlights the way the constant fear of displacement affects New York identity, and what it means to call a place that neglects your livelihood “home." By bringing community awareness around the issues of gentrification and how it is inextricably linked to racial and class politics, writers Achan and Igusti strive to give marginalized communities a voice and motivate individuals to demand accountability from their elected leaders.
Get your tickets here: https://ci.ovationtix.com/35658/production/1047426
CON DOUGH: STORIES OF 1 IN 5 GENTRIFIED IS A FISCALLY SPONSORED PROJECT BY THE NEW YORK FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS. DONATIONS TO THIS PROJECT ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.
DONATE HERE: bit.ly/2Z1jh9k
There will be a livestream of the performance on Friday, February 26th at 7:30pm and two prerecorded performances on Saturday February 27th at 7:30pm and Sunday February 28 at 2:30pm. TICKETS ARE $10 and are available to purchase here.
If you are interested in participating in this documentary piece, please email artistic@exiledtongues.com.
IN DEVELOPMENT
LA VIOLECION OF MY PAPIYON
WRITTEN BY: ARLINE PIERRE-LOUIS
Set in the beautiful town of Jacmel, Haiti during the late Reagan/Baby Doc Era, Gylda and Angie are powerful sistas attempting to balance their daily lives while navigating through the in-betweens of surreality and lucid dreams. Meanwhile, an Erzulie awakening is underway for the sistas with no time for patience. This play is infused with Caribbean music and dance and breathes life and hope in a world that denigrates black lives.
**This show was originally scheduled for July 2020 but the production was put on hold due to COVID-19.**
CUT WOMAN
WRITTEN/PRODUCED BY: DENA IGUSTI
DIRECTED BY: RAY JORDAN ACHAN
CO-PRODUCED BY: EXILED TONGUES
CW: Descriptions of Female Genital Mutilation
Female Genital Mutilation comprises all procedures involving the full or partial removal of the clitoris or other injury to assigned female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
https://www.endfgm.eu/female-genital-mutilation/what-is-fgm/
