Script Session with Marissa & Chip: "Frida ... A Self Portrait"
Join us for the first in a series of rich discussions around plays we love; led by Marissa Wolf and Chip Miller, and occasionally joined by special guest artists. Dig deep into our 2020-2021 season long before the play hits rehearsal. Investigate the playwrights’ use of language, imagery, and structure. Discover the script's resonance and relevance right now. All you need to participate is a love of theater!
Advance registration is required to join the zoom session (limited spaces available). Once you've registered, you will receive the first three pages of the script to preview in advance.
For our first script session, we’ll be joined by playwright and performer Vanessa Severo, to explore her play Frida … A Self Portrait.
About Frida … A Self Portrait
Set on the eve of Frida Kahlo’s death, this intimate show plunges into the brilliant, nuanced world of Kahlo’s tumultuous, extraordinary life. Writer and performer Vanessa Severo cracks open a powerful portal between herself and the celebrated Mexican painter, bringing breathtaking physicality and raw honesty to this stunningly creative production. “Colorful and imaginative … a deeply affecting drama that leaves an ineradicable imprint.” –The Pitch
You can also learn more about the play in this video:
Vanessa is the playwright and star of the solo-show Frida … A Self Portrait. Other recent credits include: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Sex with Strangers, Vanya Sonia Masha and Spike, August: Osage County, Cabaret, Roof of The World, Lot’s Wife, A Christmas Story: The Musical, A Christmas Carol (Kansas City Repertory Theatre); Desdemona, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Death And The Maiden, Blithe Spirit, and Hamlet (The Kansas City Actors Theatre); The Revolutionists, Venus in Fur, Men on Boats, The Clean House (Unicorn Theatre); Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night (Heart of America Shakespeare Festival); The Miracle Worker (The Coterie); Annapurna, Black Bird, Burn This (The Living Room Theatre); Black Pearl Sings!, West Side Story (Spinning Tree Theatre). Vanessa is the recipient of the 11th Round of the Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowships, 2017. AEA Member. VanessaSevero.com
Marissa is currently in her second season as artistic director of Portland Center Stage at The Armory, where she recently directed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley. Marissa previously served as associate artistic director/new works director at Kansas City Repertory Theatre and artistic director of Crowded Fire Theater in San Francisco. Select directing credits include Fire in Dreamland by Rinne Groff (The Public Theater; world premiere at KCRep); Man in Love by Christina Anderson and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Simon Stephens (KCRep); 77% by Rinne Groff (San Francisco Playhouse); Precious Little by Madeleine George (Shotgun Players); The Lily’s Revenge (Act II) by Taylor Mac (Magic Theatre); and The Late Wedding by Christopher Chen (Crowded Fire). She’s been nominated for Best Director by Broadway World San Francisco and the Bay Area Critics Circle. Marissa held the Bret C. Harte Directing Fellowship at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and has a degree in drama from Vassar College, with additional training from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
Chip is a director and producer, currently in the role of associate producer at Portland Center Stage at The Armory. They were previously the artistic associate/resident director at Kansas City Repertory Theatre. Directing: Hedwig and the Angry Inch and the world premiere of Redwood (Portland Center Stage at The Armory); School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, Welcome to Fear City, Sex with Strangers, A Raisin in the Sun (Kansas City Repertory Theatre); Becoming Martin by Kevin Willmott (world premiere, The Coterie Theatre); dwb: driving while black (Lawrence Arts Center); 4:48 Psychosis (The Buffalo Room). Chip has developed work with playwrights including Kevin Willmott, Kara Lee Corthron, Brittany K. Allen, Catherine Trieschmann, Darren Canady, Andrew Rosendorf, Michelle T. Johnson, and Michael Finke. They have developed work at The William Inge Theater Festival, NYU Steindhard’s New Plays for Young Audiences, Portland Center Stage at The Armory’s JAW, Orlando Shakes’ Playfest, Midwest Dramatists Center, and Kansas City Repertory Theatre’s OriginKC: New Works Festival. Education: B.F.A., NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
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