March 8-17Manbites Dog Theater703 Foster Street Durham, NC 27701919.682.4974
The Play:
Genevieve and Moni have grown up playing double-dutch together, chasing fireflies on grandma’s front porch, and sharing the pain of the hot comb. Worlds collide with age and the search for identity as they attempt to make sense of the world through the complicated relationship they have with their hair. Theirs is a story of love and envy, silence and joy. Follow these two cousins and the family of women who love them, as they come of age together in the south, a south, too small to contain their curiosities. Sassy, lyrical and nostalgic, I LOVE MY HAIR integrates interview text, poetry, original music, movement and video, to explore family, community, race, class, politics and identity.
The Playwright:
CHAUNESTI WEBB is an interdisciplinary theater artist based in Durham, NC. This native Bull-City-Teaching Artist-Writer-Director-Actor-Mover-Lover of Music and Language, holds an MFA in Theater and Contemporary Performance from Naropa University where she trained in Viewpoints, Psychophysical Acting (Grotowski), Roy Hart Voice work, Butoh, Somatic Techniques, and Contemplative dance practices. Her interest as a Teaching Artist is in facilitating groups and individuals in creating original work for the stage. She has taught Self-Scripting and movement techniques for adults and youth with a specific focus on bringing voice and expression to marginalized experiences. She has worked as a guest artist at Duke University, Boulder Valley School District, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School District and various art centers and theaters, teaching movement and directing performances. She was a 2008 participant in the Urban Bush Women Summer Institute where she trained with company members and explored community-based art making. Chaunesti also works in media advocacy producing training and educational videos on issues including public health, social justice and institutional equity. She also works as an arts administrator for the Health Arts Network at Duke, managing performing arts programming for the medical center. Chaunesti is a 2010 Durham Arts Council Emerging Artist Grant recipient and a National Performance Network Creation Fund recipient. She is a member of, and administrator for, the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE). Chaunesti also holds a BA in Communication Studies from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
